More »

Too fat to float

OK. The Surgeon General says we’re too fat. It’s his business to keep track of our health. But now the Coast Guard?

Eat Drink & Sail!

I wish I had someone else’s picture for this, but all the ones I found were too insulting or showed fatalities. So I used my own, and by God, I’m going on a diet.

Here’s the deal — the Coast Guard has changed the calculation for carrying capacity raising the assumed weight of passengers to 185 pounds. According to Soundings, since 1960 the assumed weight had been 160 pounds.

The call for change stemmed from two boating tragedies. In March 2004, a pontoon water taxi called Lady D overturned in Baltimore Harbor with 25 aboard. Five people died; four were severely injured.

In October 2005, a monachal called Ethan Allen sunk in 70 feet of water on Lake George in New York while carrying 49 passengers. Twenty elderly people died.

This doesn’t affect cruise ships or recreational boats, but does impact so called T boats. One Miami cruise operator points to his craft, which before the modification was allowed to carry 49 passengers and is now limited to 35.

Though we haven’t heard of a Fat Patrol, it’s not a stretch to imagine that Harbor Patrols will start looking a bit more closely at boats that are riding low in the water.

Share on Facebook

More »

Yesterday the moon was the closest it gets to the earth– 359691 km and today there is a New Moon.

So what(?) you say

Since you’ll most likely be home and not near or on a boat, a mighty shrug is all you need to convey your interest. But if you are near the water, you’ll see the greatest tidal range. In our marina, the low tides will find a few boats sitting comfortably on the bottom for a couple of hours. Look for masts canted to one side or the other, those are the ones in the mud.

We really don’t worry much about tides here. Our range is skimpy compared to much of the world — somewhere in the six foot range on a full or new moon, but for the next day or so it’ll be closer to nine feet, with the low a foot and half below datum (-1.55).

Low tide -1.55

It’ll be a good idea to favor the center of the channel and keep a closer eye on the fathometer as you transit near shore.

But what’s the problem with high tide? How can that cause a problem?

Hi tide +7.14

It’s a low probability worry, but a little surge could turn these floating docks in to, well, boats. That was one of the big factors in boat destruction in Florida in the last big hurricane.

The Florida disaster wasn’t because of a perigean tide, but it’s easy to see that the risk of having the marina drift off to sea is higher on these days.

Without mentioning all of these facts, NOAA has compressed it all into a coastal flood warning for today. They’re not forecasting much flooding, fortunately. We wouldn’t want to have to scramble to get underway with turkey on the table.

Hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving. You probably don’t care that this is my favorite holiday, but it is, principally because there is no holiday song that must be sung today.

BTW — there’s a hybrid solar eclipse, but we won’t see it.

Share on Facebook

More »

As most of my sailing pals know, I’m not all that interested in racing, but this video leads with a spectacular clip of Oracle’s America’s Cup boat capsizing during practice.

The film also captures a rescue at sea in 45 foot (15m) swells and bangs home the point that getting back to the victim is the easy part — the tough segments are keeping track of the victim and then getting them aboard.

Share on Facebook

More »

Rick reports that this sort of incident is NOT uncommon in the BVI.

This film has been getting a lot of play on Facebook. There are a lot of comments, suggestions, descriptions and admonitions, but I am at a loss. A few viewers suggested inebriation, but drinking and sailing is customary in the BVI. In any event, I don’t think a couple of Red Stripes or even several Rum Concoctions would be sufficient to explain this film.

“Ode to the Credit Card Captains” from Rick Moore on Vimeo.

Rick’s Commentary - Unfortunately, mishaps like this are not a very rare occurrence in the BVI’s… this was just an extreme case and we happened to have the camera running from the onset. Still amazes me how many of these bareboat captains are completely unqualified to operate these vessels, yet the bareboat companies keep renting them out without proper screening… and this one damaged 6 boats in 45 minutes, 4 of them private vessels like ours. Guess as long as you have a credit card… Can find out more about our charter business at www.WindInMySails.com and if you like the video, feel free to SHARE or RE-POST it anywhere!

Share on Facebook

More »

This is a new film from the National Park Service portraying the lush/stark/beauty of our islands and extolling the virtues of conservation.

The voice over is Kevin Costner, a local boy. How local? Costner attended elementary school at McKevette School in Santa Paula, California, Cabrillo Jr. High School and Buena High in Ventura, though he graduated from Villa Park High School in Villa Park.

But Kevin isn’t the star of this show; this is all about landscape and cinematography. I’ve watched the film a couple of times. It’s actually best set to mute. Kevin is superb, but the script is … well, not to my taste.

So, pour a glass of wine, click on the image of Arch Rock over to the right and begin thinking about buying a new camera.

It’s about a half hour long and should inspire you to visit the islands some time between now and the winter gales.

See you on the water.

Share on Facebook

More »

Bayliner -- though not the specific one in question

Two boats went aground two weekends ago.

A Bayliner slid onto the beach in mid-afternoon just northwest of the Channel Islands Harbor entrance and a sailboat headed for that harbor went aground about three miles south of the harbor and somewhat south of the Port Hueneme pier at 0215.

Though the accidents are seemingly unrelated – a powerboat, a sailboat, day/night – both captains might have benefited if they did what the big boys on the big gray ships do prior to entering port: they set the special sea and anchor detail.

Lessons from the incidents:

The key lesson from the big boys is that they consider going in and out of port special, especially hazardous. The Special Sea and Anchor Detail comprises top personnel in every location that affects safe navigation. From the bridge to engine room, the watch-standers are the best and most experienced personnel on the ship – the best helmsman, the best nav team, the best engineers running the power plant. They are generally the most experienced and their qualifications are manifest in training records and gold hash marks on their dress blues. And the captain himself is on the bridge running the operation.

My experience aboard Nimitz taught me that entering and leaving port are never routine operations. Each is carefully planned and deviations from the plan are studied and critiqued afterward. The team, although they’re the best, is in continuous training and is prepared to handle the unexpected, from a runaway reactor to pirate attack. All systems are constantly monitored and in the days before GPS, the DR position plotted at least once a minute.

So how does that apply to the two hapless recreational captains a few weekends back?

Day/Powerboat

The Bayliner’s engine quit, and that requires immediate when close to obstructions or the surf line. Had this captain mentally prepared for entering port, he would have briefed his crew and readied his equipment.

What equipment? The ground tackle – anchor, rode, swivel, safety wire and attachment point. He would have made sure that it was ready to deploy instantly and showed his crew how to do that. As that story unfolded, he finally got that done, but only after the Vessel Assist Ventura captain offered that advice on channel #16. It never occurred to him before that.

Had he been prepared and acted expeditiously, he’d have kept his boat out of the surf and not gone for a dangerous swim when he got thrown out of his boat in the rough water. Fortunately, no one was hurt and Capt Randy Davis of Vessel Assist Ventura saved the boat from catastrophic damage.

Night/sailboat

It’s a bright night with a full moon and unrestricted visibility. There is a slight swell and not enough wind to sail. There is a crew of two aboard. This Hunter 36 is fully equipped: GPS, chart-plotter, radar, depth sounder, compass, hand-bearing compass as well as a chart table containing nav gear and local charts.

CI Harbor NW corner, Ormond Beach Power Plant SE corner. Sailboat grounded 500 yards NW of power plant.

The run home to Channel Islands Harbor is several hours long but the Hueneme Light was most likely visible within an hour of their departure. Certainly more than one of the oil platforms was visible when they got underway. Navigation couldn’t have been easier. The only obvious hazard they faced would be traffic in the coastwise traffic lanes between them and the mainland.

The captain put the crew on the helm and headed below to take a nap. It was late and he was very tired. He left instructions to wake him in a half hour. We don’t know what he told the crew about looking for traffic, what heading to steer or if he showed the crew how to adjust the lighting in the chart-plotter, which shows the ship’s position, land, fixed obstructions and points the way home.
According to sources, the captain woke up when he was thrown from his bunk. He raced to the cockpit to find the boat in the surf south of Port Hueneme pier.

They had collided with the Continent.

They abandoned ship and called for help.

Fire and police departments responded, the Coast Guard showed up. A helicopter flew in.
Vessel Assist Ventura drove up. They put a swimmer in the water and attached a hawser to the boat. They towed it out of the surf, got a pump aboard and headed for the harbor, making arrangements for the Anacapa Shipyard to stand by to haul the boat out as soon as they got there.
Before hitting the Continent, this boat was worth about $200k. Damage to the keel and hull make it doubtful that it will be worth fixing.

The crew tried to do the captain a favor by letting him sleep longer than he’d instructed. It was also reported that as he maneuvered around what he thought was Platform Gina he ran aground. His analysis at the time was that he’d mistaken the Ormond Beach power plant for the platform three miles offshore.

He didn’t see the surf in the light of the full moon – apparently, didn’t look at the radar -apparently, didn’t have the chart-plotter on – apparently, didn’t see the lights of Port Hueneme or the condos on the beach. And then he mistook a power plant for an off-shore oil platform.

You’ve just got to wonder what sort of preparation these guys did.

You’ve also got to wonder if investigators are believing any of this.

Share on Facebook

More »

It's a no-brainer to don a life jacket

How many deaths did it take?

How many dead sailors have to line up before the leading authority on sail-training decides that everyone should wear a life jacket, at least in sailing schools?

The answer: none. Sort of. Seems the death of an American Sailing Instructor and his student prompted the insurer that covers us instructors to demand that everyone wear a life jacket.

They have also required that everyone sign a release.

That second step protects the insurance company, but the first step – putting on that life jacket – is the one that will save lives.

The ASA has always been a lukewarm promoter of life jacket use and a bit lame – my opinion – in promoting safety. Unlike the aviation community, which thoroughly investigates accidents and disseminates lessons learned, the boating community shrugs its collective shoulders when a mast fails, a boat sinks or a crewman is grievously injured.

Of course, aviation is covered by the FEDs. Boaters – at least small boat(ers) – are barely noticed by the Coast Guard. In fact, if there is no fatality, the Coast Guard does little more than log an incident. So in our game, it’s pretty hard to learn from others’ mistakes. You’ve got to make all your own.

Share on Facebook

More »

A signal you can't miss - a shot across the bow from a Coast Guard marskman

In some major ports, particularly those shared by civilian cargo carriers and warships, the Coast Guard is tasked with escorting ships to and fro. Apparently the sight of the Orange armed rigid inflatables (RIB) isn’t enough to deter sightseers from closing inside the limit.

So now, just to make things perfectly clear, the CG is experimenting with a less-than-lethal warning tool. It’s a 12-gauge plastic and aluminum shotgun shell that ignites after approximately 100-meters to create a bright flash of light and loud sound.

They’re experimenting with this device in Boston Harbor. If they ever deploy that in our neighborhood, I’ll be sure to stay tuned to #16.

BTW – less-than-lethal? What the hell does that mean? It’s a pyrotechnic shot gun shell that explodes at 100 meters. I don’t think I want my plastic boat anywhere near that.

BTW2 – vessels in proximity to warships are to slow to idle speed within 500 yards and approach no closer than 100 yards. Additionally, many areas are off-limits to civilians such as Port Hueneme.

Share on Facebook

More »

A float plan will trigger rescue efforts if you fail to show up on time.

The Coast Guard Auxiliary has something you want

No, we’re not talking about a set of coveralls and a fancy CG life jacket, we’re talking about a new, minimum-hassle float plan. It’s in Acrobat (.pdf) so you can e-mail it to someone who cares if you show up and will do something if you don’t make it home for dinner.

You can save the data and revise it for repeated use. It also has detailed instructions for the person you’re giving it to.

Don’t leave home without telling mom where you’re going and when you’ll be back!

For the record, we also carry a SPOT, two additional hand-held VHF’s, have our DSC programmed to show our location in the event of emergency … not to mention the required flares (plus a couple of daytime SOLAS high intensity flares) and an SSB radio.

============================

Download Float Plan

—————————————————————————————————————

captdan@sailchannelislands.com

Share on Facebook

More »

Mai Tai ashore at northwest end of Channel Islands Harbor near the world-famous Rudder Room. Photo: Rob Walton

It’s always easy to pass judgment when you’re viewing the wreckage the day after. Nice to look at it in the light of day and pontificate. And I’ve heard a lot of that (and done a fair amount myself), but as we used to say in Naval Aviation: There’s no point in having accidents if you don’t learn something from them.

Discounting, at least for the purposes of this discussion, the obvious preventatives – waiting until daylight so that he could see, or turning away from the beach when the depth gauge showed 15 feet or so, what are the other actions he could have taken?

Let’s just say that he had to come in that entrance and that he had to make the approach fairly close to the beach, how could he have set himself up better? How could he have used his GPS better? How might a hand-bearing compass have helped him out?

A quick aside – the captain did do some stuff right: He did deploy the anchor, but the rode parted; they did call in a Mayday; they were wearing life jackets and they successfully walked ashore.

We met a guy on the beach digging near the keel the day after the incident, who told us that the owner of the boat “sold” it to a passer-by, a guy simply walking the beach. Digging guy was walking guy’s friend. They were going to excavate before trying to tow it off the beach.

If the owner did actually unload the wreck and pass the pollution and clean-up responsibility to someone else, well that was one very excellent move.

There’s a bottle of champagne going to the best answer on how the captain might have prevented this accident by using a fundamental navigation techniques. Something you learned in ASA 105 or similar basic nav class.

Put your answer in the comment section below.

//

BTW – here’s the link to the Ventura County Star story. the story isn’t great, but the comments are fun.

Share on Facebook