Titanic sinking a century ago

[jonyyuma]

When I logged into AOL a few minutes ago, I saw a story about a 37 year old Illinois man who died after a pair of swans attacked the kayak he was piloting. He was wearing heavy boots and clothing, but no life vest and drowned while trying to reach shore.

Sad tale to have to tell his loved ones??

 

[JDgreen227]

Sad tale to have to tell his loved ones??

Yeah...as the story went, it was his job to take care of the swans, which his employer used to keep geese away from properties on a pond...as the story goes: "he leaves behind a wife and two children so young they have not been told yet their daddy isn't coming home..."

 

[idaho2]

In Feb my wife and I were treated by our WO2 Marine daughter to see the Titanic Exhibit with artifacts in San Diego. If you have a chance, it is a must see. The interesting part is when you start, you are given a replica boarding pass with a name on it. When you exit you will see a list of names and when you match your ticket to the name on the wall, you than know wether you lived or died on that day. If your a history buff it is very sobering to see what has been retrieved from the site and it is a very well done exhibit.

Idaho2.

 

[dmccarty]

Several hunters a year get in trouble around here and die while duck hunting..hypothermia can still kill after you get out of the water , with exposure?

Yes.

When I had more time and I was using my sea kayak every week, I had water proof bags that had wool clothes inside. The bags stayed in one of the compartments along with some other survival gear. If I went into the water and made it to shore I could put on warm clothes and start a fire.

Later,
Dan

 

[dmccarty]

Yeah...as the story went, it was his job to take care of the swans, which his employer used to keep geese away from properties on a pond...as the story goes: "he leaves behind a wife and two children so young they have not been told yet their daddy isn't coming home..."

That story was heart breaking...

The news stated that his kayak "sunk" and the end was pointing up. Sounds like he did not have floatation bags in the kayak other wise it would not have sunk. Our kayaks have sealed compartments that are water tight but I would still take water proof bags tied so that they where hold air so that they functioned as floatation bags.

Not sure if the floatation bags would have helped him but it would have given him a chance.

Later,
Dan

 

[rkeith]

I watched that on the National Geographic Channel last night, it was very interesting to see how that group led by Cameron analyzed the sinking and tried to deduce exactly why the ship was so badly damaged when it hit the seafloor. They did question about the lack of capsizing late in the second hour and suggested that perhaps the crew trimmed the ship in some way to prevent a list. The program repeats tonight: "Titanic, the final word with James Cameron".

Very good show! I was amazed by the animation of the sinking 2 1/2 miles deep is a LONG way down! There was another show that actually covered a team mapping the entire crash site and analyzing the debris field. They identified the large 3 story mass that James Cameron didn't. I also enjoyed the show that talked about the Guarantee Group and the history of each of it's members. I learned a lot! How about the ideas at the end of James Cameron's show "If I were Captain I'd...". Some of those ideas were out there.

 

[dmccarty]

I was watching the last part of the 4 part Titanic special last night, and it saddened me to see the passengers who were dunked in the sea as the ship sank, with their struggle to survive. It was only a movie, but one had the true sense of how they must have suffered in the cold and dark 100 years ago. For someone like me, who is a poor swimmer in the best of conditions, just the thought of being immersed in icy water...ugh.

I saw a photo this week that was taken near the wreck. The photo was of a jacket and a boot on the bottom of the ocean. The guess was a body came to rest at that point. You could see a flash of white above the boot which might have been bone but there were what looked to be white dishes around the spot so who knows.

The article with the photo said that Ballard and other explorers of the wreck have seen lots of pairs of boots and shoes. Which begged the question, where these shoes kicked off by the people while they were in the water or before they jumped in? If the shoes really were carried to the sea floor by bodies where are the clothes? In any case, it had to be pretty humbling seeing the shoes on the sea floor.

I read something interesting recently regarding the number of lifeboats on the ship. What has been said for years is that the number of boats was limited by the owners to save money and/or to keep the ship looking just so. The UK regulations were based on much smaller ships with few passengers and the regulations had not been updated to reflect the larger ship designs.

The interesting tid bit I read was that the reason extra boats were not used was that the design point was not to rescue everyone on the ship at one time but to shuttle the passengers and crew to other ships. Ships similar in size to the Titanic had sunk but it took a very long time for the ships to sink. Given that the Titanic was going to be in very busy shipping lanes, it was unsinkable anyway, the expectation was that there would be plenty of time to shuttle the people to other ships if required.

If the ship close to the Titanic had responded to the Titanic's rockets, the design likely would have worked.

Later,
Dan

 

[Sigarms]

Yes.

When I had more time and I was using my sea kayak every week, I had water proof bags that had wool clothes inside. The bags stayed in one of the compartments along with some other survival gear. If I went into the water and made it to shore I could put on warm clothes and start a fire.

Later,
Dan

6 day kayak "expedition" in Idaho. This was in June, but with the snow melt off the mountains, that water is cold LOL



Up until a couple of years ago, always got to WV to paddle January 1st, kind of a tradition with my buddies and I. Had to get in the trucks with the heaters blasting to remove vest and dry tops because everything was frozen on you.

Hate to admit it, I'm starting not to miss COLD water.

You're right though, can kill very quickly if not prepared for it.

 

[Soundguy]

anyone think that if after the collission that if she would have made full ahead that she might have had a better chance to meet the carpathia? keep the bow up?

 

[Heywood Jannockitov]

Since I was a kid I wondered why didn't everyone just evacuate the ship onto the iceberg? Maybe it was too hilly!