Panbo

The Marine Electronics Hub

Category: When things go wrong…

GOST, the serious boat security guys 3

Safety & SAR / When things go wrong...

GOST, the serious boat security guys

GOST_marine_security_tech_in_action.JPG

It doesn’t matter that the Paradox Marine I’ve enjoyed visiting at past shows has changed its name to GOST (for Global Ocean Security Technology); I bet they’ll still be showing off some interesting new tech in Miami this week. And probably more important is how knowledgeable and sophisticated GOST has become about the nuances of marine security over the years. Experience is a great teacher, and GOST’s has been accelerated because its home turf of South Florida has endured a plague of boat bandits who are pretty knowledgeable themselves. Can you spot the telltale professionalism being exhibited on the Contender above as it blasts toward Cuba, probably for a load of drugs, or with a load of cash, or both?…

Costa Concordia: “Vada a bordo, cazzo!” 31

When things go wrong...

Costa Concordia: “Vada a bordo, cazzo!”

Thermal_view_of_Costa_Concordia_courtesy_BBC.jpg

The wrecking of the Costa Concordia is of course a dreadful and criminally unnecessary disaster. It’s hard to find anything positive about what happened, unless perhaps you’re another captain whose life became defined by a single major screw up, like, say, Joe Hazelwood. The Monitor did a good job delineating Capt. Francesco Schettino’s Top 4 ‘deceptions’ today and that was before Schettino made the claim that he abandoned ship because he tripped and fell into a lifeboat! I suspect that it will be a long time before anyone beats Schettino in the disgraced ship captain department…

Racing capsizes, did satellite beacons help? 9

When things go wrong...

Racing capsizes, did satellite beacons help?

Rambler_100_capsized_courtesy_Phaedo.jpg

Man, can you imagine how many scary moments preceded this photo? The remarkable thing is that all 21 crew members of Rambler 100 survived her capsize in rough and foggy conditions just after rounding Fastnet Rock on Monday evening. The yacht — which I gawked at as Speedboat in Newport last fall — purportedly turned turtle just 30 seconds after her keel snapped off, leaving several crew caught inside and upside down. EPIRBs and PLBs had something to do with the 100% successful rescue, though it’s hard tell which and how…

Wreck of the Lady Mary, so many lessons 37

Safety & SAR / AIS / When things go wrong...

Wreck of the Lady Mary, so many lessons

Lady_Mary_wreck_courtesy_NJ.com.JPG

When I came across the New Jersey Star Ledger’s finely reported series on the sinking of the scallop dragger Lady Mary, I didn’t stop reading until I’d finished all five chapters, watched the video, and done some further investigating.  It may not sound like a story in the holiday spirit, but aren’t we about to gather during the darkest days of the year to celebrate light and love?  You’re not apt to forget the loving extended family at the center of this dark tragedy.  And you’ll certainly be reminded about how so many SAR gadgets and systems might and might not work…

Oblivious anchor dragging, & Camden chart update 15

Charts / When things go wrong...

Oblivious anchor dragging, & Camden chart update

Trawler_rescue_in_Camden_Harbor.JPG

I’m generally quite reluctant to fault fellow boaters when things go wrong, because I’ve made about every mistake possible myself at some point, and probably will again.  But what I hear about this scene, captured in part on YouTube, is a bit disturbing.  That big beautiful trawler didn’t actually drag onto the rocks around Northeast Point, but that’s probably only because crews from from Wayfarer Marine, Yachting Solutions, and the Harbor Master’s office worked hard to hold her off, in pouring rain and lots of wind.  A local hero even managed to squeeze his way through a pilothouse window, figure out the complex starting procedure, hoist the anchor, and put the boat safely on a dock.  But the owner, who showed up after the storm had passed, was apparently somewhat casual about what happened, though most boaters would know that a salvage claim was a possible road not taken by the rescuers, and…

Tracking every which way, & Gizmo blows a gasket 4

Handheld / When things go wrong...

Tracking every which way, & Gizmo blows a gasket

Paloma_first_boat_ride_Android_tracking_cPanbo.JPG

Yeah, yeah, yeah; the new iPhone 4 was announced and it looks pretty cool.  And if its GPS and background apps processing are good enough, maybe it can track as well as my Droid Incredible ;-).  That track above especially exemplifies the value of easy tracking as it documents my five-month-old granddaughter’s first boat ride, a row around Camden Harbor in search of my bird buddies.  Though I simply fired up Google My Tracks and stuck the phone back in my pocket, the accuracy is excellent, even in my truck as I drove home, as you can see here in a Google My Map (which I was able to create from the phone with a couple of clicks).  That’s why My Tracks is a favorite at the moment, though I have so many tracking options my head spins, and sometimes the memories captured are a lot less pleasant…

For Mark McClellan, a boatguy’s boatguy 11

When things go wrong...

For Mark McClellan, a boatguy’s boatguy

Mark_McClellan_2003.JPG

I’m going to get personal here, but I just can’t stop thinking about Mark McClellan, seen above with his son Thomas on their schooner Simplicity five summers ago in Camden.  This morning I learned that he was the damn fool who went solo ice boating on Lake Chicawaukie during yesterday’s snow and wind storm, setting off what seemed like a successful rescue operation after he broke through the young ice.  But Mark didn’t make it.  And “damned fool” sounds much more judgmental than I’m really feeling…

Gizmo update, careful with the wipers! 3

When things go wrong...

Gizmo update, careful with the wipers!

Gizmo_broken_window_lr_cPanbo.jpg

So Gizmo’s nifty, and now semi-permanently installed, PC charting system could have perished abruptly in a nasty mix of saltwater and glass chards.  But it didn’t.  In fact we were tied up on our float before the slow shatter of tempered glass became evident. And it was really me, not the boat, at fault.  On Memorial Day, soon after we set out for home from Pulpit Harbor on North Haven (note the link: it’s great news that MyTopo has revived the old Maptech mapserver), the running port windshield wiper went overboard with a bang.  It was blowing 20 knots Northwest right on our nose with short, sharp seas, and we were taking serious bow spray even at 7 knots, but none of that broke the window…