What is with boaters these days..??? - Page 4

hellosailor · #31 07-26-2008

I think everyone is assuming too much from one tiny Nooze story which is woefully poor reporting.

1-The story does NOT say the USCG rescued him three times. It says they made one sortie, and that he previously has received unspecified "assistance" twice before. That could be SeaTow for all we know.

2-The USCG does indeed have the power to do something about "repeat offenders". They can declare a vessel manifestly unsafe and physically arrest the vessel, and then the operator, if it leaves the dock after that declaration. They did this some years ago to some (dare we say loony?) family that was trying to go out on a flotsam raft time and again, and all the bleeding hearts ganged up about it.

3-Both USCG and state law enforcement can take action, in many ways, just depending on how motivated they are. But seeing that we have a terribly incomplete Nooze Bit that only says the USCG went out ONCE...

There's no reason shown that the USCG would be motivated. The vessel had torn sails and a failed engine. So? Maybe he got towed for the engine the last two times, and the sails were his fall-back. And they were rotten and untested. We still just don't know. All this story proves, is that many Noozepapers are best used for wrapping fish.

Halekai, if you ever find out some facts...Please do share.

xort · #32 07-26-2008

In the Great Lakes, it is generally understood that the CG will not tow. They will rescue by removing people but will not tow. Even if the boat is about to hit the rocks. This happened in Harbor Beach about 15 years back where a new boat was getting blown onto rocks. CG refused to save the boat, only the people aboard. Towing would have been relatively easy and towing companies were hours away.

hellosailor · #33 07-26-2008

xort, it sounds like your USCG District Commander has some loose screws. If his crew let a boat go up on the rocks, odds are there will be a fuel spill and other damages. Damages which the USCG is supposed to be PREVENTING, not just responding to.

There's a fine line you can usually walk with the boat crews, though. "I've got my arm stuck under the prop shaft behind the engine, it must have slipped, I can't be extracted from the boat." Now, they've got justification to tow the boat to safety, regardless of what the man upstairs has said.

The fine art of diplomacy.

sailaway21 · #34 07-27-2008

We get what we deserve. Years ago, the USCG was SeaTow if you based your impression on the number of times they had to go out and tow someone in. The no tow policy, now over twenty years old, was designed to encourage mariners to resolve that water in the diesel tank issue and the like before heading out for a day fishing off the Farallons. The USCG is in the life-saving business, not the vessel saving business. That being said, it seems just as ridiculous to not make a short tow in a direction they're heading anyway. It's sort of like those push bars, called nerf bars, on the front of cop cars. If you run out of gas 100 yards from the filling station they cannot push you in due to liability issues, begging the question as to why we equipped the cars with them at our expense?

The original news story is just the type of thing to make you think that journalism school is a waste of money. Just enough sensational "facts" to get everyone jacked up but no details. More heat than illumination, if you will. I align myself with the comments of Bill Trayfors.

SteveCox · #35 07-27-2008

Here in WA state there is a new requirement for a one-time boater education course and you must carry the card with you out on the water. Oregon and BC already require one and the province and the two states have reciprocal agreements. They are phasing it in beginning with youngsters and going up in age each year until we all have one. Although a course probably wouldn't have prevented this occurence I am thinking of the thread from the other day about the PB hitting the SB and the owner getting killed. It might not have prevented that tragedy either but at least we know that everyone out there should have a basic understanding of the rules of the road and their responsibility to other boats. I'm not big on government regulation but this one makes sense to me. I don't want anyone driving a car until they have proved their competence to do so. Why should boats be any different?

tagster · #36 07-27-2008

Take that sail down in the cabin, and stitch it back up. It's not that ******* hard. And if you're sailing any distance and you don't have a sail making kit on board, or atleast a full back up set of sails, then you are making a mistake. Sails tear.

Anyway, I'm somewhat against the need to take classes and the lot. I taught myself how to sail, and I think everyone should be able to do that. I just hjope this guy is humiliated enough he won't head back out, unprepared, and end up calling the coast guard for a tow again.

sailaway21 · #37 07-27-2008

Please let's not get off onto that licensing argument again. Does anyone seriously think that driver's licenses make for competent drivers? Any boating license is going to be the equivalent of a driver's license; check for pulse and vision. Haven't got vision-here's a pamphlet on driving for the blind. If there were actual standards everyone wouldn't get a driver's license now would they?

"Stupid is, as stupid does."

sander06 · #38 07-27-2008

I was in six foot seas on the Potomac River a couple of years back. Very short wave lengths can cause very uncomfortable seas, and not very good sailing weather. I agree that six-foot seas should be no big deal in the open ocean, however.

sailingdog · #39 07-27-2008

don't forget it also becomes a source of government revenue and a bureaucracy that will only get bigger with time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sailaway21

Please let's not get off onto that licensing argument again. Does anyone seriously think that driver's licenses make for competent drivers? Any boating license is going to be the equivalent of a driver's license; check for pulse and vision. Haven't got vision-here's a pamphlet on driving for the blind. If there were actual standards everyone wouldn't get a driver's license now would they?

"Stupid is, as stupid does."

sailaway21 · #40 07-27-2008

Before the USCG became what it is today most rescuing was done by lifeboat services. Now we're harkening back to days of breeches buoys and the venerable Monomoy surf/lifeboat. Another words, if you came a cropper upon the beach, rocks, or a nearby reef we'd do all we could to rescue you. but if you succumbed to the forces of the sea out of sight of land well you were pretty much on your own. A hazardous business that going to sea. Perhaps the rise of the recreational boating industry can be seen to parallel the rise in capabilities of the USCG. The sea, she ain't changed.