Anti-Whaling Activists Cool Boat Sinking

[Chief Engineer]

Not Gravitational force per se.

"Putting pilots up" on moving ships from the tug or pilot boat was always a bit scary.

The first time you do it...you come in at the same speed as the ship.....then the last coupla feet...you are sucked in....it is a wierd feeling ....even in a carefully controlled setting....."getting off" is also interesting

[Jmolan]

Full read here:

Anti-whaling boat damaged during protest at sea - Yahoo! News

Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd's founder, vowed to continue to confront the whaling fleet.
"The Japanese whalers have now escalated this conflict very violently," Watson said in a statement from aboard another Sea Shepherd vessel, the Steve Irwin, which he is captaining. The vessel, named for the late Australian conservationist, was about 570 miles (900 kilometers) away from the Ady Gil.
"We now have a real whale war on our hands now and we have no intention of retreating," he added.

Like Hearst said "nothing like a little war to boost readership"


Both sides involved in Wednesday's incident gave conflicting versions of what happened.

Sea Shepherd said the Shonan Maru deliberately rammed the 78-foot (24-meter) Ady Gil as it sat idle in the water near Commonwealth Bay. Representatives of Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research, which oversees the whaling fleet, said the activists caused the incident when the carbon fiber and Kevlar trimaran veered into the Shonan Maru's path. The whaling institute said the Ady Gil came "within collision distance" of another ship on Wednesday, the Nisshin Maru, and repeatedly dangled a rope that could have entangled the ship's rudder and propeller. The Ady Gil's crew lobbed small projectiles designed to release a foul smell, and the whalers responded by firing high-powered hoses to keep the Sea Shepherd vessels away, the institute said in a statement.

Sounds like the clowns in the green circus loony show were engaged in a very seaman like conduct

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

This is the first I have heard of a gravitational pull between two boats. How much would the force be Pete, if a sailboat pulled along side a oil tanker or a cruise ship? ...
Fascinating.

Nearly none.

Gravity, is the weakest of the four fundamental forces (gravity, electromagnetism, the weak nuclear force, and the strong nuclear force), is about 10-36 times the strength of the strong force.

This weakness is easily demonstrable: On a dry day, rub a comb across your shirt to give it static electricity, then hold it over a piece of paper on a desk. If you were successful, the piece of paper lifts off the desk. It takes an entire planet to keep the paper on the desk, but this force is easily overcome with everyday materials employing the electromagnetic force.


However, the range of gravity is unlimited - every object, with mass (like a ship), in the universe exerts a gravitational force on everything else.

The effects of gravity depend on two things: the mass of two bodies and the distance between them. In more precise terms, the attractive force between any two bodies is directly proportional to the product of the masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the bodies.

The dominance of gravity on macroscopic scales is due not to any intrinsic strength but instead to its enormous range and constant attractive nature, especially as compared to the other forces.

[Mule]

Well Hell Gord, you just busted my bubble. I gotta drive to Tarpon Springs to get back to my boat, 1100 miles. I was hoping for a little beam me up Scottie and to have me and my PU arrive in TP via transporter.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by GordMay

This weakness is easily demonstrable: On a dry day, rub a comb across your shirt to give it static electricity, then hold it over a piece of paper on a desk. If you were successful, the piece of paper lifts off the desk. It takes an entire planet to keep the paper on the desk, but this force is easily overcome with everyday materials employing the electromagnetic force.

Man, this is deep thinking. Sort of like 7th grade physics class, revisited. IOU.

barnie

[spooky alice]

If this is the same bunch, "Sea Shepard", that had the TV show for a while, they got what they deserve. What I seen them doing or attempting to do on TV was out and out criminal and a danger to a lot of people. There is a right way to draw attention and protest actions short of attempting to sink the other sides boat in dangerous waters. They are lucky they didn't get a shot from the harpoon or a more direct broadside hit. This is the same outfit Green Peace don't have any use for. Sorry to see a nice boat tore up, but when put in the hands of idiots, Crap Happens.

[David M]

Ships on reciprocal courses passing very near each other, such as in a narrow channel, will be drawn towards each other by suction (water moving causing a venturi effect). This though is not the case with the Bat Boat.

[IslandHopper]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

This is the first I have heard of a gravitational pull between two boats. How much would the force be Pete, if a sailboat pulled along side a oil tanker or a cruise ship? I have never seen a tender being pulled toward a ship, but then again I have not asked the captain of the tender or the ship if they were steering away from each other. I feel like Spock:
Fascinating.

It's not gravitational pull, it's called Vessel interaction, or specificly how vessels interact when in close proximity to each other when one or both are moving through the water, i think the last time i discussed this at maritime collage we spent 2 weeks on the subject!! most small boating manuals have a reasonable explanation on the subject....

[tomperanteau]

Sailndive:
That is what I saw, too. Just before the collision, the Japanese boat veered to port, then the Tri motored forward and into the path of the Japanese boat. Seems that, regardless of how you feel about the politics, the Japanese boat seemed to have the right of way.

[David M]

No, during the entire video both are the give way vessels. There is no dispute here. Its spelled out very clearly in the Rules. The COLREG's are not like the yacht racing rules where boats can get real close to each other and then blame is assigned. It does not work that way with the COLREGS.

Navigation Rules Online

Again, lets stop the discussion about the merits of whaling or the merits of what Sea Shepherd is doing. Please don't force the mods to close down this thread. Discussing the collision itself is fine.

[IslandHopper]

tomperanteau,

Are you watching the same video ??, the whaler clearly alters course towards the bat boat, and then realises he's going to drive over them before coming back to port to try and avoid a collision, it's clear as in both videos....

Originally Posted by cat man do

And if the held their original course, the props wouldnt have minced them and their would have been no collission

BANZAI

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by spooky alice

This is the same outfit Green Peace don't have any use for.

I think you twisted the truth the wrong way there.

It is sea shepherd that has no use of greenpeace.

Paul Watson was a founding member of Greenpeace and left due to lack of action by greenpeace, who do nothing to save the whales, seals, dolphins etc. All they are capable of doing is handing out brochures and getting donations to pay wages and print more brochures (will no one think of the trees?)

Paul Watson and Greenpeace - Sea Shepherd


Greenpeace co-founders Paul Watson and
Robert Hunter blockade the sealing ship,
Arctic Endeavor, Labrador 1976

[IslandHopper]

Originally Posted by David M

No, during the entire video both are the give way vessels. There is no dispute here. Its spelled out very clearly in the Rules. The COLREG's are not like the yacht racing rules where boats can get real close to each other and then blame is assigned. It does not work that way with the COLREGS.

Navigation Rules Online

Again, lets stop the discussion about the merits of whaling or the merits of what Sea Shepherd is doing. Please don't force the mods to close down this thread. Discussing the collision itself is fine.

Correct, at this point BOTH vessels should have been taking action to avoid collision....

Although i would be interested to know for how long the bat boat was on the course he was following....

[harmonytek]

I have been unable to find clear regs on what vessels are legally allowed to do to repel pirates. What are the COLREGS on this?

Somali pirates attach in small fast boats with larger mothership nearby, SCCS attacks with small fast boat with larger mothership nearby.
Somali pirates fire projectiles and try to disable ships, SCCS throw and fire projectiles and try to disable ships.
Somali pirates get boarders on board to disrupt operations, SCCS gets boarders on board to disrupt operations.
Somali pirates (as far as I know) don't ram and sink ships, SCCS claims to have rammed and/or sunk over 10 ships.
Obvious conclusion...SCCS is worse than Somali pirates.

What regs, rule or law of the sea (beyond the saintly good will of the Japanese seamen, or cost) keeps the Japanese from using their guns (whaling ships do carry guns for whaling purposes) or harpoons (whaling ships carry harpoons, maybe even the explosive tipped harpoons the SCCS complains about) to fend off these pirates?

[Seahunter]

Oh boy, let's see; big steel whaler vs insignificant plastic dart; kind of like a humming bird hitting a 747...