In the first photo, the reason the helmsman has a hat on, while under the dodger, is to obscure his appearance. Then resemblence to Alfred E Newman is not limited to appearance alone.
Those are not
fenders on deck. Those are hermetically sealed
GPS units ready for over the side deployment. They are not intended for use in the open sea as there are not nearly enough of them to allow for all conditions. No, these units are used within the confines of port. The owner's experience has shown that Coast Guard rescue operations, in port, are much more effective if the distress signal is transmitted by a
GPS equipped
EPIRB. The owner has also upgraded these units to provide a chart plotter on each. This allows the man overboard to assist in his own rescue. Via the exact pinpoint plotting of his position he is able to confidently hail out, "I'm under the dock", thereby aiding his rescuers. His
GPS also makes sure that the CG is able to get to him quickly, without wasting time on others who might also be in the water. Having successfully found the dock through impenetrable fog via the miracle of
GPS, the likelyhood of others being in the water remains high. (G)
The sailing vessel pictured, the s/v "R/C", is the pinnacle of automated sailing. The picture does not allow a full appreciation of the antenna array aloft. From a distance the yacht "R/C" appears like the skyline of Fort Meade, Maryland in certain ways.
Those are not signal flags on the starboard spreader halyard. They are the owners underwear. It is difficult to tell from the photo, but I'm guessing we're looking at "january", "march", "april", and possibly "may". February, being a short month, probably did not warrant washing as yet. And besides, everyone knows signal flags are passe. With satellite telephony you can just call them up on their telephone.
Hard to believe that that photo of s/v R/C, home port of Hope, Arkansas, was taken on a man made lake near Branson.
Linear Mode
