Earthrace Eulogy

You might check out this Earthrace eulogy page. It's got some history, photos, a eulogy.

http://www.tongacharter.com/earthrace.htm

If anybody has any special photos or comments feel free to send them in to be posted.

Scott

 

LOL,
Scott I appreciate your informative posts, I know you're pimping your site but that's ok you've got some skills and you're generous in sharing some of them.

That being said you're stirring the pot a bit here. Are you unaware of the recent thread discussing this controversial craft? This post of your isn't really going to end up being a kumbaya moment if the last thread is any indication.

I was unaware this boat had already killed a fisherman before she started harrassing the japanese. Paul Watson is a terrorist and anyone closely associated with him risks being tarred with the same brush. My thoughts on this matter are already a matter of record, I haven't changed any of them.

Based on his prior activities if Paul Watson or any of his crew were harrassing me in open waters I would feel that my vessel and my life were both in jeopardy and act accordingly in an extremely brisk and robust fashion. Center of mass and all that sort of thing.

Good luck with your public relations posting here.

 

I didn't find any 'pot-stirring' to be so hot and heavy that I couldn't enjoy the photographs and history of a unique boat.

Nor do I think it's fair to link the unfortunate collision with an unlit fishing vessel to the deliberate harassment of a Japanese whaler, by entirely different owners and crew. It was over the top to say "this boat had already killed a fisherman...." as though it had been conceived and spent its life as a rogue vessel.

 

I also didn't find Scott's post objectionable in any way... I also am On Record concerning the recent Collision, and who, I believe, is, and was, the responsible party. It is my opinion that Scott's post provided a very nice look at the vessel, and its equipment, fixtures and fittings. The eulogy was well stated, and a Sorry End for such an interesting vessel. It just shows the WORLD, that if you give IDIOTS, enough Money, they will just blow it, faster than anyone can ever imagine.....

 

Maybe it's just me, but I don't hold third world skiff fisherman to the same equipment standards as I do the rest of us. They're doing what they've always done, working in a hard and dangerous occupation trying to scratch out a living with the primitive gear they've got.. Sure they've outboards now but it's not a whole lot different from the old days. Would it have been in their best interest to have a boat lit up to the same COLREGS standards as our boats? You bet it would. Is it practical? I don't know. Poor men have poor ways and sometimes you have to do what you have to do to make a living.

Perhaps it was over the top to include the killing of a fisherman and the harassement of fishermen in the same sentence. With hindsight I could have used different punctuation and sentence structure. I did find the two events rather ironic however.

Scott does driveby posts here as a form of advertising for his charter and publishing concerns. I don't have a problem with that, he is a talented guy and has some decent information on his site. I don't consider him a regular member of this little internet community. There is very little dialogue or interaction and never on any other post than his own. Thats ok. I sincerely think there is a good chance he was unaware of the other thread.

I find it hard to believe given his intimacy with the boat in question, that he would have failed to post on the first thread if he had been visiting this site with any frequency. Or being aware of that thread he would have posted a eulogy announcement.

I enjoyed the pictures too. Especially the motor. It was an interesting boat and an interesting engineering experiment. It may not have been conceived as a rogue vessel but it ended it's life as one, rerigged for pirate duty. There is a reason for black paint, it's not to increase visability. Selling weapons to terrorists is not the same as being a terrorist but it isn't hard to see where the former crewman's sympathies are. I'm not real interested in a eulogy for this boat but I'd love to write the epitah, "They had it coming."