Gary wrote:
wrote:
wrote:
How would you rate the followings in terms of the number of
incidents involving loss of lives along the major cruising routes
each year ?
Unpredictable storms (during long crossings)
Rogue waves
Shipping containers
Whales
Pirates
Icebergs
Submarines
Others ?
I forgot the sea mines. Are there still sea mines left from
World War II ?
Persian Gulf (Gulf War) but not elsewhere.
I haven't heard of any for quite some years but back in the seventies
there were occasional reports of floating mines around some of the
Pacific Islands. I recall one chap (a Kiwi in '74) who sighted and
photographed one in the Solomons. It kept me on my toes for a while.
My biggest concerns are illness, I once had an appendix attack many days
sail from medical aid, and someone going overboard at night. I charter
and it is always a worry.
I developed a simple but very effective man overboard alarm a few years
back but couldn't get anyone interested in producing it. It also works
as a "lost child" preventer, sounds when the wearer of the device moves
more than thirty feet from the alarm sensor, both very portable. Sounds
the alarm and triggers a MOB waypoint on the GPS. I imagine that there
must be similar units produced nowadays although I have not seen one.
My concern began after losing (and recovering) an eleven year old who
went over the side at night back in '71. It wasn't my boat, I was
crewing for a friend and it was his son who went over. We didn't find
him missing for more than an hour. We had spent an hour or two in thirty
foot swells and you couldn't move without holding on. The kid had been
in his bunk when we last looked but had started feeling seasick and had
try to throw up over the rail. He had a life vest with a water activated
flashing light; don't like to think what would have happened if he
hadn't been wearing it. It took us two hours to find him. For several
years after that I would always trail a knotted line whenever there was
only one watchkeeper on deck.
Matelot