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What yachts 130' or under?

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by olderboater, Sep 7, 2013.

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  1. olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    I can't even guess how many boats I towed on the lake over the years. It was a natural thing to see one out of fuel or having problems and just to toss them a rope and tow them in. This was before the tow services were as active but continued even after. I did this from the time I was a child and I just thought it was the natural thing to do and they would do the same for me.

    However one day I pulled up to a boat after another had refused to tow them. I knew the owner who had refused and said something to him after I made the tow. He said he didn't want to risk damaging his engines. I said, "I'll keep that in mind if the time ever comes you need a tow." Well, poetic justice had that time come six months or so later. I pulled up to see if everyone was ok. Then I said calmly, "Well, I'd tow you but I don't want to risk damaging my engines" and waved bye. Note there was no danger as it was a calm sunny afternoon. About an hour later someone pulled him into the marina. I smiled as he walked up. He turned to me and said, "Lesson learned. I will help others in the future." I just replied, "Glad to hear that." None of us are beyond one day needing assistance on land or water. We should think of that when we see others in need. If it's a task we can't do, we can help them find service, and even stay with them until it does arrive to make sure everyone is ok. It seems so simple. I see a boat run aground. I do ask if they're all ok and if they have a tow boat on the way. It's unfortunate that one has to be a bit more leery of disabled cars due to some of the ambushes that have occurred. Still I try to ascertain their situation while not subjecting myself or passengers to an unknown risk. The most recent one I stopped for turned out to be a mother and three small children and no cell phone. My wife waited in our car and was prepared to call 911 had it been an ambush or anything. But as it was, I simply let the woman use my cell phone and we waited for her husband to arrive. Now I do like the numbers to call on the turnpikes now, to notify of disabled vehicles.

    Isn't it simply "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
  2. K1W1

    K1W1 Senior Member

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    Hi,

    I have also pulled a few cars (stuck on incoming tide)and a motorcycle ( out of gas 20 km up beach) off our West Coast beaches for various reasons.

    I have never accepted any reward other than thanks and receiving an assurance that if they ever saw me in the same predicament to stop and help me.

    I hope I never need that help personally but am quite prepared to give it if I see someone that needs it.
  3. olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    It just seems like the normal pass forward kind of good deed. But then there are many who just can't be bothered. I don't grasp how you can just pass by and ignore someone in need.
  4. AlfredZ

    AlfredZ Senior Member

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    This attitude is the heart and soul of humanity, and what structures a true civilized community.

    Two nights before 2001 New year's eve, I was with a friend at a ski resort in Lebanon, heading back to our cottage at 3AM after a new year party 'rehearsal'!, Snow was 3 feet thick in most uncleared places, roads were cleared but iced up, driving 60KmH was the maximum we could do at very few stretches without feeling like soiling our pants, we were in a beemer talking about cars, performance and stability, which to drive in such conditions and which to avoid, we mentioned Opel and how stiff and stable it is, suddenly.... an Opel sedan comes FLYING by us! 1300+ meters above sea level, curves and turns, very limited illumination on the road and nearby villages as usual were out of power, my friend said: "See!, I told you Opel is a beast", JINX! The other car was lucky to have a pine tree sticking out the side of that hill by the corner, he flew right into it then it kicked the car back into a pile of snow burying the whole rear half of the car, needles to say, we stopped to assist those saved souls, 1 drunk driver and two girls, his sister and girlfriend (who apparently was out without her parents consent and fearing the consequences of her obvious bruses!), we offered to drive them home after diving to our knees in snow and red mud to get them out and make sure the car is turned off, levered the trunk open to disconnect the battery to avoid any electrical hazard, the guy was fighting us not to do so, insisting on helping him push or pull the car out of snow!!!!!!!!! The girls were sane enough, sober and wanting to go home, drove them there, got back to him and he was still requesting help pushing his trashed car out!!!! We called the army which is the emergency authority in such conditions, they came and he asked them the same!!!! They booked him with no doubt. Some people just don't appreciate the gift of life and therefore hard to recieve help!

    Safety to all, is my wish.
  5. AMG

    AMG YF Moderator

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  6. HTMO9

    HTMO9 Senior Member

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    Sorry AMG, we got carried away again !!

    IMHO, the Russian-flagged Akademik Shokalskiy should not have been in the thick ice of the antarctic in the first place. Also this finnish built vessel might be ice classed and strengthened to withstand the pressure of the ice, it is totally underpowered to break thicker ice. When everybody is back safe at home and all ships are out oft the ice, somebody should be presented with a bill for all those rescue operations. This is not the first time a Russian ship with passengers on board is under distress in artic ice.
  7. travler

    travler Senior Member

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    I have had the chance to go aboard the polar star as a guest and was very impressed with her I will be standing by to see what happens

    travler
  8. Old Phart

    Old Phart Senior Member

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    I dunno
  9. HTMO9

    HTMO9 Senior Member

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    USCGS Polar Star

    To classify this ship as a cutter, is a nice understatement. This 122 meter piece of iron is a veritable POLAR ICEBREAKER par excellence.

    Class & type: Polar-class icebreaker
    Displacement: 10,863 long tons (11,037 t) (standard)
    13,623 long tons (13,842 t) (full)
    Length: 399 ft (122 m)
    Beam: 83 ft 6 in (25.45 m)
    Draft: 31 ft (9.4 m)
    Installed power: Six Alco 16V-251F diesel engines (6 × 3,000 hp)
    Three Pratt & Whitney FT-4A12 gas turbines (3 × 25,000 hp)
    Propulsion: Combined diesel-electric or gas (CODLOG)
    Three shafts; controllable pitch propellers
    Speed: 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
    3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph) in 6-foot (1.8 m) ice
    Range: 16,000 nautical miles (30,000 km; 18,000 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
    28,275 nautical miles (52,365 km; 32,538 mi) at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
    Complement: 15 officers
    127 enlisted
    33 scientists
    12-person helicopter detachment
    Aircraft carried: 2 HH-65A Dolphin helicopters
  10. karo1776

    karo1776 Senior Member

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    Is not it just the start of summer in the Antarctic...

    Maybe they should wait for the "warming to start" and leave it alone... or towards the end of summer before they start getting worried about people who condescend to God's will...

    I have been involved in a peripheral way with the people that started this global warming theory... and give little hope to them creating much more than a muddle... or what the French would call a "gros bordel putain de merde" now don't go asking me why there is not a de between the bordel and putain but I can't hear it.

    Now off to mass and probably confession if the love of my life finds out... about this post !
  11. olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    Well now it's not just the Akademik Shokalskiy, but the Xue Long. The Aurora Australis has escaped. 52 of the 74 on the Russian ship have been evacuated. However, the fear is that as the ice moves it sweeps ships along with it and could sweep them onto rocks or shore causing it to puncture. I wondered at the beginning why not be patient and wait. The Chinese ship really wasn't much of a ship to assist. It's a single prop 15 ton ship with about 18,000 hp. However, it did have a helicopter which was used to evacuate the 52 to the Australian vessel. The Russian ship only has 3000 hp. The US ship has 75000 hp as well as the other capabilities described above. I find it quite annoying that a completely ill equipped ship for the area has endangered not just the 74 on board but now three other ship loads. Plus the environmental dangers if it was to wash ashore and puncture. The Chinese ship has 101 crew members. Plus the US ship is being taken from it's task of breaking a channel into the U.S. station at McMurdo, and escort a tanker and a container ship stuck at the station.

    It's one thing when one gets caught in an unpredictable situation or one of mechanical failure and needs rescue but that's not what this is.
  12. Opcn

    Opcn Senior Member

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    Yeah, these people don't have the right attitude towards the issue. However, it might just be a few bad examples that we see. For all we know the vast majority of the scientists are more than willing to pull their weight in the collaborative effort to not have anyone die or be injured.

    Also, FYI, science happens at benches, not desks. Scientists are bench jockeys, not desk jockeys.
  13. olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    This one mistake shouldn't be extended to all scientists or even all who were on that expedition. One person or a small group of people likely made the decision and others found themselves dragged along. They were likely more upset over the situation they found themselves in than we were.
  14. HTMO9

    HTMO9 Senior Member

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    You cannot blame the scientists or passengers for those happenings. It is the fault of the ships operator and the skipper of this survey vessel only. They should not have taken this ship for that route and into the ice in the first place.
  15. olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    Also the Russian Federation-Far Eastern Hydrometeorological Research Institute, Vladivostok, the owners of the ship. When there is an expedition that endangers the participants and costs millions of dollars of effort of others for a rescue, endangering others even, then the blame must go all the way up the line. They either ordered or allowed this expedition with inadequate attention to safety issues.
  16. HTMO9

    HTMO9 Senior Member

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    That is exactly what I am saying. The ships operator (the owner) and the skipper.

    On survey ships, when on expedition, there is an expedition leader. He is the leader of all scientists and their staff on board, during the whole expedition. But the skipper is still responsible for the safety of the journey, the ship and all lifes on board, period. The owner (operator) has set up an SOP under which the skipper is operating. But taking an inadequate vessel for profit reasons and force a skipper to pass the common rules of safety is very bad and not the first time with ships flying this flag. And if this unsafe operation was asked for by the expedition leader, the skipper is still responsible, when accepting this request.
  17. Old Phart

    Old Phart Senior Member

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    I dunno
    A little reading is in order.

    U.S. Icebreaker Polar Star: Explaining the Ship in Antarctic Rescue

    P.S.- Remember, it's not the size of the fighter in the fight; but the size of the fight in the fighter.

    POLAR STAR - Icebreaker: current position and details | IMO 7367471, MMSI 367255000, Callsign NBTM | Registered in USA - AIS Marine Traffic