Nordhavn runs aground Ocean Reef

Still wondering about the exact cause, here is something from a blog...

https://www.poweryachtblog.com/2023/05/nordhavn-aground-in-ocean-reef-florida.html
A 24 meter Nordhavn super yacht titled m/y Jess Jonn ran aground in Ocean Reef on the Florida Keys to the Southern part of Miami on May eight. The causes of the grounding are not confirmed, though in some forums and people knowledgeable of the area are suggesting then when tide is on the low side of things it is suggested you stay on your port side pushing to the red markers in that channel. Another unconfirmed rumour is that the owner was operating the yacht at the time of the accident. Thankfully the grounding seems to have made little or no damage to M/y Jess Conn as she was reported back underway on the 14th May heading North.
M/y Jess Conn is hull one of the Nordhavn 80 which launched in 2021. A design of Vripack the Nordhavn 80 was presented as a project in 2017 filling the gap between the N76 and N86 models, with a three double cabins six berth guest accommodation and two or four crew berths layout, and is powered by twin Deere 375hp. Nordhavn has so far sold five N80 units.

Here is an excellent blog here on running aground. Beautiful yacht, now in a yard according to YF.

https://loosecannon.substack.com/p/highway-to-hell-autopilot-assisted-e72

Interesting stories. Thanks for the link. Navigating is a VMG (velocity made good) calculation when racing but shouldn’t be the dominant thinking when cruising. When I had delivery captains as crew found it important to stress this point with them. Explained they were unpaid crew and if they didn’t want to face the extra time and therefore potential loss of income involved in minimizing risks they shouldn’t sign on the boat. You read those stories and think they were trying to make tracts. Trying to get the best VMG . Yup the hard edges are dangerous.

Stories. That's what they are, just stories. A bunch of speculative, made up crap. These is so much to learn from incidents like these, but only if you have strong factual info. Unless it's clear that an AP failure of some sort caused the problem, he should STFU. Someone misusing an AP (and we don't know if that was the case either) is a Captain-assisted mishap, not an AP-assisted mishap. Trash journalism at it's finest.

Accidents happen... thus the root word "accident"!

Little boat accident$ u$ually eat up relativity little ca$h $um$. Bigger boat accident$ u$ually eat up relativity big ca$h $um$. Bigger boat owners need bigger wallet$. All boat owners better have plenty in$$$$urance!

The military has studied and decided that accidents are mostly preventable by human factor integration...meaning from design to operator use .....machinery is rarely the root cause.

Things as simple as poorly labled or poorly designed switches, placement , etc are just as bad as operatot error.

The military avoids the word "accident" favoring "mishap" because it is hoped that most are prevetable with proper investigation and remedies applied.

Its why I am often one pointing out all the jumping to conclusions on TF.

Personally think people FU and things break. Agree with TT. We can learn from “stories “. We can learn more if more facts are included. Agree with PS engineers often don’t do the activity so add “features” you rarely if ever use. Or don’t place the “features” you frequently use as the most accessible. Or don’t adequately assess the machine user interface. Or don’t provide comfortable ergonomics leading to user fatigue.
Of interest a friend is an engineer who designs autonomous cars. One of the main drivers of this field he told me is insurance companies. The insurance industry figures accidents will decrease and their profits increase the more you take the human out of the equation. Apparently when the field is mature we may even see our policy costs go down.
Still I enjoy driving. Both on pavement and off just cruising around I don’t know where I’ll go until I get there. Even worst off road.

Hippo, I dont see insurance rates ever going down. The effect will be increased profits and pay.

If AI is going to be the ‘savior’, let’s put it on the boats now.

The Author of the stories in post #152 is active on social media and often battling with people on various topics. Personally, I think the chest thumpers on forums and social media remind me of the guy in the bar who is talking too loud and wont shut up. Less, is often more. BTW, I also use my AP in Auto, not Nav mode to steer in channels.

Some activities are require active involvement and it’s that involvement that contributes to making them fun. See no issue with autonomous ships if that can be done without incurring risk to boats and other ships. But for boats (even those on AP 95+% of the time) taking piloting out of the experience makes you live lumber and decreases the enjoyment in my view. Same for driving a car, flying an airplane or hot air balloon.

AI will likely get to a point it can do a better job than humans. Still it’s satisfying at some level helming in difficult seas or docking in unfavorable conditions. Have no issue with AI overriding human input when that input would lead to catastrophe or when the human doesn’t want to do it. But would miss the activity and would be concerned my skills would atrophy. That would make me vulnerable should the AI fail such as after a lightning strike or electrical failure. Occasionally both the bride and I turn off the gps in our cars. As confirmed by studies the constant use of gps (and I assume electronic charting) dependence caused our skills to atrophy. Think the same would occur with boating.

Some of the most satisfying boating experiences for me was to learn celestial and to be able to get from Marion to Bermuda time and again with no electronic aid. For awhile our Navy dropped celestial from the course curriculum only to put it back. Beyond making you functional after an electromagnetic burst it gives you a visceral understanding of your place on the world.

See my kids and grandkids processing differently than me. To some extent they are passive viewers of the world and not a integral part of their environment. They don’t hunt or fish the way I do. Look at the fish finder not the water or birds. Don’t read a stream or current or drop off. Don’t read sign. Don’t walk the woods throughout the year to understand the deers life and likely behavior.

Think something is lost as we turn over our skills to machines.