120 Seconds

[LarryandSusanMacDonald]

This is worth a read!

The Marine Installer's Rant: One hundred and twenty seconds

[HDChopper]

Exellent true story , glad thay both lived to tell the tale & the USCG got to clean house , the more I hear about them jump suites the more thay make good since...

[WanderingStar]

Interesting, for sure. But it also says something about seamanship. I learned in the pre-GPS era that if you doubt your position, stop. When approaching a mark he was unable to see, he should have at least slowed down. That captain let his chartplotter lead him over a charted daymark at 22 knots.

[LarryandSusanMacDonald]

Yep, the world's most accurate chart is the one where 1" = 1". The rest of them are just representations and not always accurate representations.

[hellosailor]

What most surprises me is that neither of the delivery crew were carrying a knife. But then again, that's a powerboat where knives are not always as useful as they are on a sailboat.

Straps are straps, not cables, partly so that you can CUT THEM FREE in an emergency like this.

I believe the USCG is stil lusing volunteer civilian watchstanders as radio operators, because they literally do not have the budget to man all positions at all stations and still have boat crews available. The civilian volunteers were given training and USCGAux membership, so they're not just randomly pulled from the streets, but there's probably still an issue that some of them just don't understand procedure.

[speciald]

I ran up on a bent daymarker in Floriada many years ago. I was in a small sailboat with an outboard motorand it was lifted halfway out of the water. The only damage was a big scratch and a jambed cenerboard. I keep two diving knives in my cockpit primarily to cut sheets if someone gets an arm or hand caught in a winch but my raft is mounted on the stern rail and is self launching.

[Sabreman]

I'm making a ditch bag. Kudos for the warning.

[RonRelyea]

next season ... ditch bag and a one-hand operable knife ...

out of curiosity -- since "The radio operator insists that no bird can be sent for Jay, until all of the blanks on the form are filled out." ... what harm would have been done to give the radio operator bogus information -- considering the life-threatening situation????

[sailingdog]

I'd second the recommendations of River Forest Marina and Axson. I had a chance to meet Axson when we hauled out s/v Felix for repairs there in December of 2009. He was instrumental in facilitating the machine work needed for repairing the boat just a couple days before Christmas.

I would also point out that you shouldn't generally use daymarks or buoys as navigation waypoints in a GPS... but set the waypoint off to the side with the deeper water, or away from the hazard... to avoid just such a situation as they had here. Daymarks are generally on pilings or dolphins and do a really good job of damaging a boat.

I am really surprised that they didn't have a knife or pocket multitool on them. I carry both a rigging knife and a Leatherman pocket tool when aboard a boat most of the time. Having some sort of knife is kind of a necessity IMHO.

[Cruisingdad]

I called the USCG and they sent out helis and planes over an overturned liferaft. SO I feel that this might have just been a big screw up from an otherwise outstanding organization.

Of note - would any of you send out a Pan-Pan fora missing daymarker? WOuldn't that be a securte and very likely brodacast on 22a? THoughts?