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Old 11-03-2012, 12:43 AM   #93
Marin
Scraping Paint
 
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 13,745
Quote:
Originally Posted by Delfin View Post
However, I don't think it serves anyone to pretend that this was anything other than a tragedy that could have been averted if any competent mariner other than this person was Captain of that vessel.
I've had no experience with storms at sea so I cannot express any opinion with regards to the course decided upon, the validity of trying to skirt a storm like this, and so on

But what does surprise me is the decision to take that vessel out into what would most certainly be rough seas even if the main part of the storm was skirted.

The fishing schooners that worked the Grand, Georges, and other banks in the North Atlantic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries got caught out in storms fairly frequently. Some of the boats succumbed to them but most made it through. But these wooden vessels were were being used regularly for fishing and presumably being maintained to survive in the conditions they encountered.

A replica ship like the Bounty, while it may have been well made to start with, is not, I think, going to get the same sort of ongoing scrutiny that most of those fishing schooners or wooden naval vessels got. I don't know the financial situation of the Bounty but it seems most of these sorts of organizations are always strapped for money and as a result things get deferred.

If the captain had had a different vessel--- a Navy frigate, a modern cargo vessel, etc.--- the same decision might have made more sense if there was a really compelling reason to get where he was going.

But to take a wooden replica ship with a known history of generator and pump issues out into what were going to be rough conditions no matter what, that is the aspect of the decision I find the most fault with.
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