Any other sailors here?

[dmccarty]

Crocs are not really a problem unless you leave the boat, a bigger problem is whales and barely submerged shipping containers, we have hit a whale and you do stop rather quickly, they also can cause major keel damage and negate rule number one, 'keep the ocean on the outside'.
What are annoying are prawns tapping on the hull all night when you are trying to sleep, no idea what the attraction is but there is the constant tap tap tap tap when they are about.
Good eating if you can catch them but they are pretty smart and evasive.

I think whale strikes are far more common than people think. There was self reported "study" a few years ago regarding sail boats hitting whales. Twas a very small number of boats hitting whales, about 10 a year, and of those 10, 1 or 2 boats would sink as a result. Now, the problem with the "study" was that the whale strikes were self reported. If you did not know about the "study" how would you report a whale strike? I think there are far more hits per year than is reported or known. If one reads a bit, there are a surprising number of small boats and whales hitting each other at sea. I find it mentioned in passing quite a bit.

One hears about shipping containers, and they certainly are scary, but I don't think I have read of anyone hitting one. Flip side is that if a boat hits a shipping container the crew might not survive to report the collision. :shocked: There are plenty of boats that have gone missing without a trace. I just read of a boat that hit a big ship mooring ball that was floating around the ocean. They were lucky the crew and boat escaped injury since the boat stopped immediately after hitting the ball. I have read of several boats hitting huge logs near Australia. Hitting logs and dead heads is a big concern in the Pacific North West of the US and Canada. I know of a boat that ran up on a log raft at speed at night in that area. No damage to the boat because she was built of aluminum but the crew's pride might have been dinged a bit. :laughing:

I have heard about those prawns. One guy thought he was loosing his mind when he first heard them tapping on his boat. :laughing::laughing::laughing: Kept looking over the side of his boat to see the diver tapping on his hull but nobody was there yet the tap, tap, tap kept on going. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Seems like I remember a woman, I think it was a woman, who disappeared from her boat in northern Australia. They think she went to the swim platform for some reason and a croc snached her of the boat. I have heard and/or read that in the croc areas one should not use a inflatable dingy, that only hard sided dingy's are "safe." Seems that any small boat, soft sided are hard, would be a bit vulnerable given the size of some of those crocs. I grew up in Florida and did more swimming and canoeing around gators than was smart but crocs seems to be a whole different critter. Crocs seem to grow much bigger than our gators.

Later,
Dan

 

[ultrarunner]

I've owned two sailboats on the SF Bay.

The first was a trailerable San Juan 21... fun boat and cheap to keep as the mast was not fixed and it had a retractable keel.

Second was a Pearson Renegade 27... also a nice boat that I was given... the Atomic 4 engine had issues but I was able to get it purring like a kitten... also had room inside... kept it at Alameda.

I sold it two days before I went to Europe... otherwise would probably still have it...

 

[bunyip]

Seems like I remember a woman, I think it was a woman, who disappeared from her boat in northern Australia. They think she went to the swim platform for some reason and a croc snached her of the boat. I have heard and/or read that in the croc areas one should not use a inflatable dingy, that only hard sided dingy's are "safe." Seems that any small boat, soft sided are hard, would be a bit vulnerable given the size of some of those crocs. I grew up in Florida and did more swimming and canoeing around gators than was smart but crocs seems to be a whole different critter. Crocs seem to grow much bigger than our gators.

Later,
Dan

I do recall the female tourist being taken by a croc, as I recall it was in the Northern Territory around December to March when it is hot and humid and generally unbearable, she was told not to leave the boat but as she didn't see any crocs (you never do) she elected to dive in to cool off and was taken within seconds.
Up there it is not uncommon to find big 'mud lizards' up to about 20', a big ferocious creature that will lurk around boats and campsites unnoticed until an opportunity presents itself.
Whilst it was a tragic even it was avoidable and she was told NOT to swim but elected to ignore the warnings of the experienced crew.
Further inland you get Johnson River Crocodiles, a freshwater variety which are fairly timid and not that big, long skinny snout but can inflict a very nasty bite if you want to play silly buggers with them, they generally get to about 4' long.
One was found roaming the streets in Melbourne a few days ago (you don't get them down here, too cold) and three people have laid claim to it which has authorities wondering if there are another two wandering around somewhere.

 

[ultrarunner]

Speaking of Sailors...

Anyone remember the tune "Sailor" that went to the top of the charts worldwide back in the 1960's?

English with Petula Clark

Petula Clark - Sailor - YouTube

Modern German with Melanie Oesh

I remember my Grandmother singing this song often and also heard it frequently at the Alameda Naval Air Station... a lot of my friends had Dad's/Uncles in the Navy back then.

Seemann-Medley - YouTube