From: jfh@cs.brown.edu (John F. Hughes)
Subject: Re: snow goose
Organization: Brown University Department of Computer Science
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1992 12:02:28 GMT

In article <118@cherise.UUCP> bobp@sandr.com (Robert Parkinson) writes:
>
>Here's an argument for parachute flares. 
>
>[story of powerboat out of fuel, pregnant woman aboard, no radio,
> shoots flare in chesapeake; flare is barely visible]

One remark on this situation: I sometimes <ghastly admission here>
*need* my engine on Sarah. I try to sail most of the time, but ...
I've never come anywhere near to running out of fuel. Oh, I may
let the tank get down to 6 gallons (out of 18) sometimes, but never 
when I have more than 6 hours steaming to do (I use about 0.5 gal/hr).
If I'm setting off to a place that's 5 hours from shore, you can bet 
the tank will be full.

Now I would be the person *most* likely to ignore the fuel, right? After 
all, I have sails, etc., and prefer to use them whenever possible.
I'd think a powerboater would *know* the state of his/her fuel 
tanks. The typical powerboater probably *does* know. But there are 
obvioulsy some exceptions.

The CG now has rules that let it use local salvage companies for 
problems like this. You call up, and they say "WedgeWood Marine, this
is CG Group Widget, are you listening?" and WedgeWood Marine says "Yup,"
and comes out to you with a fuel can. They charge you something like 
$37/hour for their time, plus a couple of buck per gallon of fuel. 
Of course, if you *don't* call in, the CG can't do this. Some people send
off flares, to which the CG has to respond with some incredibly expensive 
staff and equipment. I'd frankly like to see the individuals who do this
get charged for it. Is there some reasonable scheme for doing so? I know
that you can be charged for pulling a fire alarm...

>
>  [...] I'm thinking now that if I ever get so fouled up as to 
>have to start shooting flares, I want them to hang up their
>a _long_ time.
>
>So, what's the best flare?

Parachute flares seem pretty good, but be warned that some of them tend to
float very high, and can be obscured by low cloud cover (e.g. impending fog
banks). There's something to be said for the orange smoke handhelds---they
leave a long trail that points towards you. In sunlight or late afternoon,
they are probably a pretty good bet. 
   If there will be helicopters looking for you, dye markers that stain the
water with a fluorescent orange stain seem like a great idea. My dad had one
of these for years, and finally thought it might be getting beyond its
useful life. So he trailed it overboard from Marion to Woods Hole in the
course of a routine trip. It left a stripe that was unbelievably visible. He
went up to the spreaders as they got to Woods Hole and could see this stripe
going all the way back across the Bay (about 10 miles). 

>Friday afternoon, we heard a mayday, powerboat out of fuel requesting
>a tow, location: Key Bridge.

    Sounds like a clear case of "call a marina, not the CG."

>Saturday night, mayday, again, Boston Whaler, out of fuel, 150 yards
>from shore.

   Same story. Swimming to shore, which sounds like a reasonable
alternative, might be a bad idea if there was heavy traffic in the area.
No one wants to get his head chewed up by a prop.

   Drifting to shore, if the winds were calm, sounds good too, as does
paddling. Whalers paddle slowly, but you can move them 0.5 knots in a calm
without too much effort. At that speed, you make a distance of 100 yards in
about 10 minutes. (OK, 400 seconds---I'm giving the benefit of the doubt).


>Saturday night, flare, Middle River, sailboat aground on Bowley's Bar.

If the tide's rising, then you should just wait. Tide falling? Worth calling
in to say you're there. If there are seas worth considering, then call in. 

>[when is it legit to use a flare?]

I'm not sure. I'd think that imminent danger would be a reasonable 
guideline. If you're on a sailboat, out of fuel, in not-too-deep water, and
there's no wind, I'd say "Anchor instead of using your flare." Others
would say otherwise. For some folks, failing to get back home in time for the
Cosby Show is "imminent danger."

>Also, on the maydays, people really should learn not to call a mayday
>just because they're out of fuel. That's really common here on
>the bay.

Also, children should be taught that the radio is a serious device. Twice now
I've heard the following sort of exchange on Channel 16:

------------
Voice 1, perhaps teen aged: Mayday, Mayday!

CG: This is Coast Guard Station XXX to the vessel calling "Mayday." Can you 
give us your position?

[Silence]

CG: [repeats former call]

Voice 2: <sheepish> Coast Guard, this is the vessel calling Mayday. We're
sorry, that was a mistake and [voice indicating stern reprimands to the crew
are forthcoming] it will *not* happen again. Thanks very much.

CG: CG Station XXX standing by on 16.
------------

-John
From: thatchh@hplsla.hp.com (Thatch Harvey)
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 23:38:26 GMT
Subject: Re: Inboard VS. Outboard
Organization: HP Lake Stevens, WA