Seven Spades
Well-known member
A Very Pistol is legal as long as it is kept locked up.
Strange story of yacht aground near Eastbourne
- Thread starter Seven Spades
- Start date
pvb
Well-known member
I'm confused. Are there 2 yachts involved? One is obviously on the beach, awaiting salvage. So what's the yacht in Sovereign Harbour?
Niander
New member
He must of been a threat to have been cuffed...strange indeed!
dunmor
New member
i was in sovreighn yesterday and no sign of that boat their then.
S
shannon9
Guest
You're in danger of letting facts get in the way of another ill-informed anti-police rant. Please stop.
Boo2
Well-known member
pvb
Well-known member
I think if it's kept permanently on the boat it becomes exempt as "ship's equipment". However, you'd need a firearms certificate to buy the flares.
davidej
Well-known member
Yes you are right - very sad case.
A couple on months ago, he was about to "set off for the caribbean" when his rudder fell off. Turned out that the rudder post was a piece of scaffold pole. He had the boat on the posts while it was re-welded .
From my meagre contacts with him, I am not surprised the authorities committed him under the Mental Health act
SeamanStaines
New member
I suspect this in no more than unused flares onboard and they called the bomb disposal squad to take them off. I wonder if this is a good way to get rid of out of date flares?
BruceDanforth
Well-known member
davidej
Well-known member
I really doubt it is as simple as that.
He has been around Mersea for two or three years.
I am afraid he is the nautical equivalent of men you see sleeping in doorways with their worldly goods in a shopping trolley. I would venture to suggest that no sensible person would have set out to cross the Channel, let alone the Atlantic in a boat in that condition.
That doesn't make you insane but that life style is associated with mental problems.
BruceDanforth
Well-known member
Well he got there from somewhere else. I've not seen a survey on his boat. It needs a paint job and a new rig but other than that I've no knowledge. Hospital shields him from your attitudes for a bit.
capnsensible
Well-known member
I particularly like the girl one in the Sopranos.
Plevier
Active member
Confusion with an incident 2 weeks ago I think.
http://www.eastbournernli.org/rnli-eastbourne-rescues-aground-yacht/
davidej
Well-known member
I'm sorry but you have really got the wrong end of the stick.
I have met the chap many times and helped him out now and again. I have also seen his boat at close quarters.
I am really sorry to say that IMHO the chap has a problem and is in need of help.
oldharry
Well-known member
If the guy already has mental health problems, the stress of losing his home could easily tip him in to increasingly violent reactions, which the Police would deal with under the MH Act. Seen it done elsewhere, but it does require a pretty high degree of 'unhinging' to qualify for MH sectioning
OTOH this could be a case a 'forcible rescue' which has got badly out of hand? That's a worrying thought. Right or wrong the bloke didnt want to leave his boat even in an extreme situation, and for whatever reason (and that could include error of judgement due to fatigue, hypothermia, seasickness etc as well as MH issues) decided he needed to fend off his would be rescuers. Error of judgment, probably, but it was HIS boat, and he presumably did not want to leave it, and tried to defend his right to be left alone.
Another step down a slippery slope for 'nanny state' or a not unreasonable response by plod to a bloke offering unacceptable violence?
OTOH this could be a case a 'forcible rescue' which has got badly out of hand? That's a worrying thought. Right or wrong the bloke didnt want to leave his boat even in an extreme situation, and for whatever reason (and that could include error of judgement due to fatigue, hypothermia, seasickness etc as well as MH issues) decided he needed to fend off his would be rescuers. Error of judgment, probably, but it was HIS boat, and he presumably did not want to leave it, and tried to defend his right to be left alone.
Another step down a slippery slope for 'nanny state' or a not unreasonable response by plod to a bloke offering unacceptable violence?
Captain Haddock
Member
Having chatted with him a few times ashore he certainly had his bizarre moments especially when he started detailing where he was going to travel to next (Caribbean, Amazon etc.). I never got the impression he was dangerous from the chats. It's also worth noting that Jerry lived aboard his boat in all seasons, in all weathers on a swinging mooring right at the entrance to the Mersea quarters.
What may have been rough for most of us he'd been living in, maybe this is why he felt confident being out there.
I think the last thing Jerry needed was societies "help" as he seemed quite happy getting on, minding his own business and doing what he wanted to do hurting nobody. To my knowledge he didn't impinge on people, he didn't beg and most people I know on Mersea who knew him offered him assistance in one way or another via spares or repairs. If he hadn't have made the mistake in navigation non of us would be any the wiser of where he was.
This is why I was surprised to see him in handcuffs on the video and I just hope he's ok.
I think there's a few more Jerry's out there who drift from place to place who certainly don't fit into the "norm".
pvb
Well-known member
Ah, so the post here saying that it had been towed to Sovereign was *******s then?
richardf
Member
Amazing how so many here condemn a man who doesn't own a boat that meets their strict standards and lives aboard a small boat in scruffy conditions - do you know anyone living aboard who doesn't?
I have met quite a few old sods on boats who were eccentric, to say the least, but no danger to anyone. Might even fall into that category myself.
Maybe the full facts have not been reported, but from what I have read he had every right to stay on his boat.
It was aground, and would have been left high and dry when the tide went out. It would have been uncomfortable on board, but I doubt that his life was in danger.
I assumed he simply wanted to avoid the boat being claimed as salvage.
Maybe next any old b*gger who tries to go to sea in a scruffy looking boat will be dragged off in 'cuffs.
I have met quite a few old sods on boats who were eccentric, to say the least, but no danger to anyone. Might even fall into that category myself.
Maybe the full facts have not been reported, but from what I have read he had every right to stay on his boat.
It was aground, and would have been left high and dry when the tide went out. It would have been uncomfortable on board, but I doubt that his life was in danger.
I assumed he simply wanted to avoid the boat being claimed as salvage.
Maybe next any old b*gger who tries to go to sea in a scruffy looking boat will be dragged off in 'cuffs.
davidej
Well-known member
I agree totally with the second half of this.
But, being reailstic, he was setting out on a journey in a boat totally unfit and ill-equipped for his plan.
he was certainly not harming anyone and maybe we should let him live his dream even if it all ends up badly.
It's a matter of degree -I'm not condemning him at all, but if he were my brother, would want him to get psychiatric help