Quote:
| Originally Posted by MacMcL |
I remember seeing a presentation on this item on a discovery channel program or history channel. Interesting tech, but probably not practical for small vessels.
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Meanwhile, here is another interesting posting on that passagemaker forum;
To put this back in prospective--if you voyage enough there is a reasonable
possibility of all three--and maybe all four--might occur.
I was on a racing boat off Guadelope Island Mx and we hit a container in 1979. (also hit a large log off British Columbia, and a tuna net float in Straits of Gibralter)--none of these sank the boat--but any might have certain boats. (We also ensnared the prop three times in nets or plastics)
We encountered some pirates (drug smugglers who had been known to kill boaters, and take their boats, confirmed by DEA in Panama) in the Southern San Blas Islands--but we were with another boat--both boats kept a watch all night and left in the early AM. This was probably the most dangerous situation we encountered. A native attempted to board in the Grenedines. Our suspician was that he was the same person who attacked another boater. We were boarded several times at night and pilfered things off the deck--and had a 13 foot inflatable dinghy stolen (despite a 125 lb black lab aboard). We had seen drug smuggling off the West Coast Channel Islands, Central America and the Med. We think that we avoided some problems with natives in Central America because of two labs present (another voyage than the one lab)
We had to take evasive action to avoid being run down at least half a dozen times. Several of these were outside of "shipping lanes". Dangerous areas for us were busy converging shipping areas--like the Straits of Messina, Gibralter or Punta Mala Panama. Best to avoid these areas at night. We have several friends who have had collisions with fishing boats. At least one was intentional. One fishing boat attempted to ram us off Mexico.
Rogue waves--? Not really. We have seen some very heavy seas and summation waves, but nothing I would call a rogue wave.
Situational awareness is extemely important. That is being aware of your suroundings and what is going on. (Not necessaryilly as in PM magazine)--The other important issue is keeping calm and cool--having a plan for each situation. Finally avoiding situations if at all possiable. For example, if we had realized what the potential danger was from the group in the S. San Blas, we would have left when the light was good (one cannot navigate reefs after the sun starts to do down). There have been coves where things didn't seem right--and we sailed on. On the other hand, we have followed villagers in their dugouts to their village in perfect safety. One gets a feeling and has to trust that sensation.
Our alarms were mostly trip wire type.--Nothing real sophisticated.