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Old 24-01-2011, 07:57   #1
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Boaters Rescued by Cruise Ship Off Cuba

rescue at sea, jan 22, 2011 - CNN iReport

WHDH-TV - Cruise ship rescues 3 off Cuba's coast


Didn't look like the boat sank, though.
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Old 24-01-2011, 08:07   #2
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I wonder if Carnival will charge them for the cruise... just sayin'
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Old 24-01-2011, 08:23   #3
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I feel really bad for the owners. Apparently the tow rope from their dinghy fouled their prop and rudder.

This just reinforces (for us) not to tow the dinghy over long distances. We only tow ours for shorter trips in good weather. We've had our tow rope wrap around one of our props, but luckily it was very close to our marina, and we got back using our other engine/prop. Another reason we are glad to have two engines.

(We also got ourselves a floating tow rope after that )

The captain said that they were surfing down waves at one and a half times hull speed. Wouldn't some sort of drogue system have helped? It seems that anything that would have slowed them down would have helped.
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Old 24-01-2011, 09:52   #4
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Wait...they were SURFING with a dinghy under tow?

Yeah, a drogue would've helped...AFTER they had stowed the dinghy on deck and lashed it securely.
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Old 24-01-2011, 10:05   #5
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We have sailed 12,000 miles in 3 yrs and towed the dinghy for at least 5 of them.

"never tow a dinghy further than you can swim and only in conditions you can swim in!"

The Yucatan Channel in winter when the northerly lows cause northerly winds to drive into the into the north going current is not a place to be towing a dinghy or even to be in a small trawler.

Sad but another case of a fool looses his boat through bad seamanship!
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Old 24-01-2011, 10:14   #6
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i feel bad for the owners, as they obviously were not in control of their boat during this bs-- the seas were not above th e swimstep. there was no water over the decks. they got into a whirlpool situation and no one at helm-- jeez-- i am sorry for them-- but....
\a boston whaler SIDE TIED WITH TRANSOM TO SEAS-- seas not breaking ovr transom. no seas breaking onto boat-- mebbe a power squadron course?? might have helped some-- mebbe more practice before powering out to a sea--- but the seas were short--- i dnot understand their panic-- except NO ONE AT HELM stoop-idity. but i feel for the owners---they wasted their boat.- the kid panicking was awesome. "mommy mooommmyy!!!" wow.... sorry-is difficult to watch errors being made by human allegedly at helm-- but seemingly unable to control his own boat....just saying what is obviously witnessed by everyone watching the clip...i pray for ability to remain cool and collected should anything absurd happen to me-- but less than 6 ft seas is not time to panic. beam to-- goose the throttle and turn the boat....have some kind of control capability. if the canival liner was squashing the seas, then the helmsman should have gained control of his shiplet. i donot understand this one...
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Old 24-01-2011, 10:26   #7
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We have sailed 12,000 miles in 3 yrs and towed the dinghy for at least 5 of them.

"never tow a dinghy further than you can swim and only in conditions you can swim in!"

The Yucatan Channel in winter when the northerly lows cause northerly winds to drive into the into the north going current is not a place to be towing a dinghy or even to be in a small trawler.

Sad but another case of a fool looses his boat through bad seamanship!
I assume you mean "five miles". If so, I agree. I lost a davit to metal fatigue in LAKE ONTARIO in mere five-foot waves, and nearly fouled my prop with a 10 foot RIB. So I'm not keen on davits in a seaway, either. Half a ton of seawater filling the thing...never mind the windage...could bend or break a pretty substantial davit and I think they are strictly for "parking" at anchor.

A properly rigged tackle and bridle makes lifting aboard a cinch, and you can use a simple cradle on the foredeck or cabin top for lash points. Or you can do as we've done and forget the RIB and go with a nesting dinghy plus a Portabote. Together they take up less room than a RIB, and can be pushed with a Honda 2 HP or oars or (in one case) a full sailing rig. Plus, we get to have two tenders. Both hold about 220 kgs. each.

If I'm wrong, I can buy a 9.9 HP and a RIB in the Caribbean, where I understand they are regularly "acquired" by the locals.
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Old 24-01-2011, 10:29   #8
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I can't imagine towing a dinghy in the ocean. We do it in the sound and sometimes its too much. We have had it flip over and lost a dinghy keel that way once.

Sad story..But at least he had the courage to tell what happened without doctoring it up.
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Old 24-01-2011, 11:24   #9
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It'll be interesting to see where this boat ends up. I wouldn't be surprised to see it turn up in the keys or off Miami in a few days, if a Cuban doesn't find it first and tow it home.

Zeehag, I don't think the kid was panicking, he just wanted his mother to pay attention to him, not the rescue. There's a big difference in spoiled and panicked. Perhaps spoiled is a little harsh, since the mother did the right thing by not giving in to his little tantrum.

It's not clear to me that the whirlpool problem was controllable in a boat with a compromised prop. The whirlpool was obviously caused by the prop wash off the engines and may well have overpowered the thrust available. Since I only saw two people on deck during the approach, I also think it likely that there was someone at the inside helm station. Just because there was no one at the flying bridge helm station does not mean there was no one at the helm.

From the Captains description of things like water tanks and refrigerators breaking loose, one has to wonder if this vessel should have been at sea or should have stayed in the ICW. I’ll have to give the captain the benefit of the doubt on this one. Having a couple of 800 lb water tanks and a refrigerator flying around the cabin is not a tenable condition.
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Old 24-01-2011, 11:31   #10
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Maybe they felt it was time to put out their dinghy?
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Old 24-01-2011, 13:00   #11
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If I'm wrong, I can buy a 9.9 HP and a RIB in the Caribbean, where I understand they are regularly "acquired" by the locals.
I hope you were not serious with this remark.

That cheap boat and motor caused a great deal of inconvenience and money to some fellow cruiser. Do you really want to support that type of activity?

May your conscience be your guide.
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Old 24-01-2011, 15:35   #12
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I hope you were not serious with this remark.

That cheap boat and motor caused a great deal of inconvenience and money to some fellow cruiser. Do you really want to support that type of activity?

May your conscience be your guide.
No, Padre, I wasn't serious with that remark.

I was, however, attempting to point out that RIBs and 9.9 HPs, being ubiquitous and easily stolen in the Caribbean, highlights an unexpected bonus of having a Portabote or an old-school dinghy...those are a lot less likely to be thieved.

Not to mention people should row more to burn off the margs and lambi nuggets.
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Old 24-01-2011, 16:20   #13
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Supid Stink Boat Noobs. Sheeesh.

Cut tender Free
Empty the water tanks ffs
Put knife between teeth in an Errol Flyn like fashion
Don Goggles and Snorkel
Jump into water
Cut rope away from prop Shaft and rudder
Climb back on board
Start motor and open 11th beer
Drive Home
Contact broker
Sell Boat
Take up Packless skydiving instead -its safer for them


Just another case of people abandoning an otherwise seaworthy boat.

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Old 24-01-2011, 16:38   #14
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No, Padre, I wasn't serious with that remark.

I was, however, attempting to point out that RIBs and 9.9 HPs, being ubiquitous and easily stolen in the Caribbean, highlights an unexpected bonus of having a Portabote or an old-school dinghy...those are a lot less likely to be thieved.

Not to mention people should row more to burn off the margs and lambi nuggets.
Whew

There you go with another example that one can't communicate all nuances via the internet.

One anti-theft device we used up north was taking the rotor out of the distributer. We know our boats were "scoped" by some of the natives, and we know they were entered at night, but darn things just would not start.
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Old 24-01-2011, 16:45   #15
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Whew

There you go with another example that one can't communicate all nuances via the internet.

One anti-theft device we used up north was taking the rotor out of the distributer. We know our boats were "scoped" by some of the natives, and we know they were entered at night, but darn things just would not start.
I guess it's a comfort knowing that the local thieves are too lazy to row, as well!
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