Dumbest Move Ever Seen

Most coasties are fantastic, but this helmsman should have slowed while the small runabout was still 200-300 m away, let him cross the bow from starboard. Clearly the coasties' fault this time.

 

Charlie,
I might have missed that part. for an explanation see recent drivel

 

Masalai,

Yikes! broadband bill, dial up performance; that suxs.

Anyway, You're right about the Melbourne-Voyager comparison. We had a similar incident in the 70's when Belknap, a light cruiser on plane guard duty, collided with John F Kennedy.

Universal anybody's navy defacto Rules of the Road:

1. The carrier ALWAYS has right of way.

2. When in doubt whether the escort or the carrier has right of way in any situation, see Rule #1.

 

Except the joke where the carrier captain tells a lighthouse to give way before he is told "you move I am a lighthouse" --- see BOAT JOKES thread.

 

Charlie when you see clips like that you realise that at times the military have their heads so far up their own backsides that they forget all about simple 'rule of the road'! And as an ex military (Royal Navy - 10 years) cox'n I'm the first to admit that at times I've done the same bloody stupid thing! But your absolutely right that coast guard cutter was totally in the wrong! Bet he gets away with tho'! If I'd have been the boat driver I'd have been well pissed off, and would be giving the coast guard vessel some stick (OK he should have been keeping a better lookout but that only makes him some 10% in the wrong). Guess the reason he wasn't is because he was still in shock!!

 

Reeeaaally dumb move:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkqKpnU8sCE&feature=related

 

Now that is unbelieveable!!

 

Maybe he told the big ship to get out of the way
The handbreak turn didn't work out...
He was watching the blond on another boat
The guy on the boat was like the English would say 'here but not all there'

 

Perhaps our waterways around here are less chaotic than most... perhaps our boaters more alert.... perhaps they just care about their $300,000 yachts more.... but I have never seen a collision between two craft in this area (well, apart from 8' sail training dinghies) and virtually every collision reported around here seems to involve a seriously drunken skipper. Our Coasties and cops are starting to crack down hard on that one, as they are on lifejackets (about 85% of our ~150 boating fatalities a year involve missing lifejackets, and about 40% involve a drunken skipper- although there are reportedly far more non-fatal crashes due to booze.)

 

There is a recording on the Internet of the rescue of Roz Savage, the woman who successfully rowed solo across the Atlantic, and who radioed for a USCG rescue 10 days into her Pacific crossing. Sea anchor and other gear were carried away in a storm, the boat capsized several times, so she decided to radio for a pickup.

In the height of the storm that rolled her boat and made her call for rescue, as the chopper pilot tells her that she will have to go into the water with the rescue swimmer in order to be rigged for lifting, she radios back, "Roger, but give me a few minutes to get ready. I'll have to put on my lifejacket."

 

Yeah I know what she's saying - kinda foolhardy bravado, good for your moral maybe, but there are times!

Reminds me of the time when in a 'banana boat' (ship style not yot) we touched the edge of a hurricane, interesting couple of days - the Master sort of 'lost it' and had all the crew in their life jackets jammed in the passage way! Got a right shitty on with me (playing third mate on that one) either on the bridge or in my bunk, using the life jacket to jam me in! (apart from the odd tot and visit to the galley) I mean if we had gone down a bloody life jacket was about as much use as a chocolate fireguard! As I said there are times!

 

Hey Charlie,

Do you know if there were any deaths due to that idiot skipper crossing in front of the ferry? If it was the skipper at least the human gene pool is cleaned up a bit.

Tim

 

Hi, Tim,

Good to see you back, although you had the world's best reason for being away!!

I haven't been able to track down the source of that video, or the aftermath. I did see one comment by someone who thought it might have taken place in the 1980's around one of the islands offshore of Massachusetts, but that person wasn't sure.

Definitely a Darwin award nominee.

 

Hey Charlie,

Good to be back Sir. I figure it was Teddy Kennedy from his track record. Yes, Soraya & I had a great time. After 4 yrs. we (mainly she) was a bit nervous. But after the first hug all was well!

Send me a Private mesage with your email and I'll send you several photos from our time together.

Just a week and I'll be with her in England for 2+ weeks.

The fact that she, in the future, wants to live on a boat just adds to it all.

You take care friend.

Tim

 

Hi Tim - good to have you back. Got your pictures (couldn't reply earlier because you gave the wrong email address - dumbest move I ever saw)...

Congratulations - she looks a beautiful girl - but couldn't help wondering (picture-2) how she managed to smuggle that gorilla through customs.....