Is anyone crossing the Atlantic heading west? Can anyone rescue ADA

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by boatman61

FFS..!!
Check your facts mate.. it was 1847...

oh boaty so you dont remember that awesome sail we had in 1790?? shame on you my friend!!!! that was a lot of fun....

[uncle stinkybob]

Originally Posted by Bulawayo

Driverless cars are already at their final testing phase as is the use of helicopter drones for small parcel deliveries by Amazon. At this rate it wont be that long before a disposable solar powered drone delivers the spare part to us in mid-ocean.
However, its rather off topic. We were asked to assist with retrieving a small lightweight sailing platform that was having issues in the North Atlantic and now it has decended into a spat over whether or not it is agreeable to launch such craft.
We dont show ourselves in a very favourable light to the students do we?

I think it's the student's action's not finding favourable light from a lot of boating folks, but spin it anyway that feels good to you.

[Dody]

Originally Posted by Bulawayo

... Of bigger concern should be all the other maritime issues, from sustaining all forms of marine life to cleaning of debris, be it semi-submerged containers or huge swathes of garbage.
Once these matters are satisfactorily consigned to history we can then turn our attention to the subject of a University sending ...

You are brilliant and absolutely right! The energy these students wasted on something that - if I may be allowed to say so - is actually another threat to us sailing-people and the future of our peaceful life on the oceans - should be spent and directed to something useful instead!

Why not inspire them to develop systems to detect all this debris on the oceans out there and find ways to collect and dispose of what mankind unfortunately managed to do to destroy our planet?

Fair winds
Dody

[thruska]

Originally Posted by Bulawayo

Ada is little more than a 5 meter windsurfer and built using the West System. The likelihood of Ada ever being seen again is reducing daily. She is also not on the main sail boat route, despite one assertion that it is.
This one tiny dimple on the oceans of the sea and was not launched with the concept of disposal at sea. Structurally, how much risk does Ada really pose? I believe she is also super light - info gleaned from the 'varsity website before anyone challenges that.

Of bigger concern should be all the other maritime issues, from sustaining all forms of marine life to cleaning of debris, be it semi-submerged containers or huge swathes of garbage.
Once these matters are satisfactorily consigned to history we can then turn our attention to the subject of a University sending an unmanned 5 meter windsurfer on a passage across the North Atlantic.
There are approx 733 shipping containers lost sea annually per How Many Shipping Containers Are Really Lost At Sea? – gCaptain
Is this not more of a serious threat?

Personally, I dont have any difficulty in assessing which is more critical and judging from the postings, nor does everyone else - its just a few. Lets get things into perspective.

The point you make is 'which is more critical' ? And get things into perspective?

Bad analogy: density on the roads is orders of magnitude larger than on the oceans

So , in perspective, it's ok the dump little pieces of **** in the ocean.

And in analogy, because of density, it's ok to put bigger pieces of unmanned **** out there too?

Very scientific indeed.

How much are those aluminium hats, oh and where's the koolaide ?

[uncle stinkybob]

I think everyone on both side's of this can agree there is an unacceptable amount of man made trash dumped upon our sea's now. After that , you decide to be part on the solution or part of the problem. This failed experiment has taught one thing to me, some feel entitled to remain part of the problem.

[DumnMad]

All this paranoia about a lightweight carbon fibre 5m boat *^%* Boats that can't survive an impact with this should not be in the North Atlantic.

People who think it dangerous need counselling. There are some 50,000 whales in the North Atlantic, think about that and give yourself nightmares.
The most common collision risk seems to be whales but there are also plenty of logs coming out of a rivers, and a good number of containers coming off ships and the odd iceberg. Add to that a few million 10m high waves for good measure and dream on about your great risk-free adventure.

[SVNeko]

Hahaha I guess they're not the only ones. Prepare for the drone fleets!
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/05/te...data.html?_r=0

[Bulawayo]

Very valid points.

Originally Posted by DumnMad

All this paranoia about a lightweight carbon fibre 5m boat *^%* Boats that can't survive an impact with this should not be in the North Atlantic.

People who think it dangerous need counselling. There are some 50,000 whales in the North Atlantic, think about that and give yourself nightmares.
The most common collision risk seems to be whales but there are also plenty of logs coming out of a rivers, and a good number of containers coming off ships and the odd iceberg. Add to that a few million 10m high waves for good measure and dream on about your great risk-free adventure.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by uncle stinkybob

I think everyone on both side's of this can agree there is an unacceptable amount of man made trash dumped upon our sea's now. After that , you decide to be part on the solution or part of the problem. This failed experiment has taught one thing to me, some feel entitled to remain part of the problem.

At least they are attempting to retrieve it.

[Bulawayo]

I very much doubt anyone on this forum promotes ocean pollution but we need to be pragmatic. There was no intention to pollute or create a problem. I support your views in many ways but I am also aware of the magnitude of other issues that are affecting the oceans. Seine nets, washing of tanks, discharge of pollutants, dumping of garbage and toxic waste, over fishing.....the list goes on. I simply cannot get so frustrated over this surfboard whilst these other issues continue to multiply.
Best wishes.

Originally Posted by uncle stinkybob

I think it's the student's action's not finding favourable light from a lot of boating folks, but spin it anyway that feels good to you.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by Bulawayo

I very much doubt anyone on this forum promotes ocean pollution but we need to be pragmatic. There was no intention to pollute or create a problem. I support your views in many ways but I am also aware of the magnitude of other issues that are affecting the oceans. Seine nets, washing of tanks, discharge of pollutants, dumping of garbage and toxic waste, over fishing.....the list goes on. I simply cannot get so frustrated over this surfboard whilst these other issues continue to multiply.
Best wishes.

Getting upset about this is Ludacris.

[uncle stinkybob]

Originally Posted by Bulawayo

I very much doubt anyone on this forum promotes ocean pollution but we need to be pragmatic. There was no intention to pollute or create a problem. I support your views in many ways but I am also aware of the magnitude of other issues that are affecting the oceans. Seine nets, washing of tanks, discharge of pollutants, dumping of garbage and toxic waste, over fishing.....the list goes on. I simply cannot get so frustrated over this surfboard whilst these other issues continue to multiply.
Best wishes.

and it would seem when it's said we have so much bad a little more, like this tiny bit right here (insert wee pos botboat in this case) we end up with a bigger problem then when we started...everytime. The example's you give are the proof of it, not an excuse to contribute one nasty bit more, not an once. One more time, Your either part of the problem or your part of the solution. Anyone who thinks they stand on middle ground is a fool.

[uncle stinkybob]

Originally Posted by Cadence

Getting upset about this is Ludacris.

Did you get upset?

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by uncle stinkybob

Did you get upset?

I guess I did! About the short sightedness of those that did about a drop in a bucket of water or should I say ****.

[GoingWalkabout]

There is good reason to be upset about a saling drone launched willy nilly without consideration to navigational dangers to others. Society has long held that your freedom ends when it affects the freedom of others. In this case your right to launch unmanned floating vessels ends when it infringes on the right of others to navigate safely.

But all is forgiven, even justified, because it was done in the name of science. So much bad is done in the name of science. I was watching a documentary where a group of marine biologists thought it was OK to chisel, hack into and pull off living coral off a coral outcrop off of South Eastern PNG. I would have perhaps been ok with one but so many floral living coral organisms in the one place. I don't think so. But it was excusable and OK because they were scientists.

Like these drone students. Let's excuse them because they were doing 'science"

What I wrote earlier in this thread was even a greater concern for the whole floating drone industry and the dangers it may/will represent to cruisers. Not that I think it's ok but I would much rather hit a Coke bottle in the Atlantic then be rimmed by a 50 knot an hour drone boat.

Upon writing my concern about where this could all lead, the very next day stories started to appear in Western media about the fleets of drone boats being launched of all shapes and even big ship sizes.

To defend one wrong by pointing to other wrongs is a typical illogical argument used by sophists.