Julian Mustoe (82) rescued in the North sea

[Bulawayo]

Hi Mamitu, Have you read
Of Foreign Build: From Corporate Girl to Sea-Gypsy Woman
by Jackie Parry?
I bought this for my wife and also read it - a very entertaining read, sad and then gets better & better. This couple spent years circumnavigating on a double ended 31ft'er. Available on Kindle.

Originally Posted by manitu

+1!

I actually think "Harrier of Down" was 25 feet , not 29...
AndI'm sitting here lookin for something bigger than my 31' before I dare to cross oceans..

.manitu

[Bulawayo]

Brilliant! How did they film him when he was alone??!! ... they lied as the film crew were left there as well - its probably a scam from planet Zorg to lure more of us into a trap; I am not sailing there to rescue him.

Many of the rescue services are also voluntary, managing on donanations.
I wonder how the critics would view the situation if it were them or their loved ones being rescued?

Originally Posted by Rustic Charm

I can't believe some of the comments around age. It amounts to discrimination.

And I absolutely hate these CF discussions around who pays for Search and Rescue.. I've worked all my life and I'm more than happy for my tax dollars to go towards anyone's rescue, anywhere, under any circumstances.

Except for that guy on Mars.. stuff him, he missed his boat, he can damn well wait for the next one.

[Bulawayo]

Now that is one of the pertinent points made. All strength to you DumnMad.

Originally Posted by DumnMad

I'm amazed that some young people think they can inherit roads, infrastructure, democracies won by military sacrific, modern cars & air transport, a host of other technological advancements etc, all at no charge to themselves and yet still claim the older generation are bleeding them of their taxes.

The freedom of 82 year-olds were won by his generation and those before him, and hopefully your generation won't stuff it up for you..

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Boatguy30

It seems as you get to be quite old like this you have ALOT less energy than someone even 10-15 years younger.

For Example: the 76 y/o skipper of Kiwi Spirit reported sleeping 16 hours of 24 aboard his 65' custom built yacht due to exhaustion. It's pretty easy for things to break if a yacht is to be self tending for this many hours. Also likely easy to "fix that later" and a small problem quickly becomes an bigger one.

While possibly having ALOT ;-) more skill?

For example: the young sailor may have less experience (because of less time on the water because of their younger age) while her older colleague may have more experience. Hence the young gun may force things while the old salt will apply only the actually required amount of force. Less force used equals less force required hence less need for endless stamina.

For another example: the older one may actually be better able to tell the 'fix that later' from 'fix that now'. Telling these two apart does require experience and experience does comes with time on the water. The older sailor is statistically more likely to have more time on the water (if by the mere fact that she started to learn sailing prior to Yachting Monthly sailing videos).

And so on and so forth.

My point: no way to tell how often our age is our benefit vs. our hazard. There are good and bad things to being at either end (as well as to being midway, for which I have no proof ;-)

Cheers,
b.

[SaltyMonkey]

This guy is 82? He looks 60. Good for him.

Towing a boat with a ship -- not a good idea. Not surprising.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Boatguy30

Yes, but how active are they really. A few walks, maybe a few holes of golf? Sailing offshore in rough weather is extremely strenuous and the additional effort required to make some minor repairs can be taxing for those much younger. I really think if you look thru the forums you'll see a TON of older single handlers getting rescued in the last many years.

I certainly think they should do whatever they want, but should younger taxpayers need to rescue them AND pay them whilst they're doing it?

One. He was not routinely sailing offshore in rough weather. He was far more likely just sailing from A to B when bad weather came and incapacitated his boat. I am deeply convinced getting caught in bad weather has nothing to do with our age. (Zero certainty though, only my intuition.)

Two. Every time he buys a can of beer and a liter of diesel (as well as most anything else) he is still paying taxes. He may be also paying taxes on his pension. He has been paying taxes probably way longer than any 'younger taxpayer'. No comment, just my bloody intuition again. ;-)

Three. I am willing to bet a crate of ale (and we can share the fiesta when I win) that there was probably an equal number of very young sailors (by the proportion of their age group sailing) rescued over the same period.

BTW, who are your "they"? PLS define. I remember using the less fortunate phrase of 'old farts' in one of my early posts at CF. I did not quite get people's reactions (mostly negative) back then. It is often that we have to hear others say it before we can spot the lapse of our bleeding pen.

Aside from my above posted vastly rhetoric, I understand you count yourself a younger taxpayer. Are you going to stop sailing when you retire then?

PS Last time I heard people getting grumpy about young taxpayers paying for SAR operations of foreign sailors (probably old foreign sailors too) was in NZ during their election campaign season. If I remember well, that party did not win the vote back then.

Cheers,
b.

[conachair]

Very sad reading indeed

The Shipwreck - Harrier Shipwreck Appeal

[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by conachair

Very sad reading indeed

The Shipwreck - Harrier Shipwreck Appeal

Heart goes out to him. Despite the speculation that will occur, it looks like it will never be know why she sank.

[barnakiel]

It sounds as if the freed rudder post may have worked itself out of the rudder tube damaging the tube on its way out. Then water could enter thru the (damaged?) rudder tube assembly.

Very sad for the loss. I hope the sailor will return to the sea one day soon.

b.

[Dauntlessny]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

This guy is 82? He looks 60. Good for him.

Towing a boat with a ship -- not a good idea. Not surprising.

I've read many accounts of boats sinking undertow usually due to the stress of being towed at higher speeds than designed for, especially when it's done by large rescue ships.