What the heck is going on..???

[Maine Sail]

Just read this in the local press. Are ALL boaters getting dumber and dumber? Three rescues in 36 hours by the USCG! We really need to begin charging some of these idiots the full cost of rescue!!! Who needs rescue in 6 foot seas and 20 knots?? This is just ridiculous!!



"The Coast Guard rescued a sailor off the southern Maine coast as he tried to sail from Portland to Groton, Conn., in stormy seas.

Sixty-eight-year-old Michael Mavor made a radio distress call Thursday afternoon from his sailboat reporting that he was alone and that his vessel had torn sails and disabled engines. Seas were 6 feet, winds more than 20 miles per hour and there were thunderstorms in the area.

The Coast Guard launched a 47-foot rescue boat and a Falcon jet crew from Cape Cod, but when they got to his reported location there was no sign of Mavor's 30-foot vessel. But his location was finally pinpointed based on his cell phone signal when Mavor was asked to dial 911.

The Coast Guard arrived after 5 p.m. and took the sailboat in tow. It was the third time in 36 hours Mavor needed assistance at sea."

Here's the link:
http://news.mainetoday.com/updates/030753.html

 

[Pete]

Competence

I know I'm gonna get flamed, as usual, but boaters, any kind of boater, should be required to demonstrate some measure of competence before being allowed to operate any kind of boat. I know, I know, I also dislike government interference in what I choose to do with my life. I don't like the idea of mandatory licensing, either. But come on, we accept licensing to drive a car, or an airplane, don't we. This doesn't result in all morons being kept off the road or out of the skies (I also fly, so I see morons on land, sea, and in the air....), but it's a place to start. Think of just how much worse it would be if the rules that don't apply to boaters also didn't apply to drivers or pilots. The very idea that if you can belly up to the counter and blunk down some money you are then allowed to sail off in any size boat is just bizarre, in my strange view of the world....

 

[Jim P]

What should he have done?

Help me out here. If he was in somewhat offshore with both torn sails and a dead engine what should he have done? Conditions were uncomfortable but not life threatening, but it does appear that he needed some help to get to safety.

Should he have called Sea-Tow or some similar service? Drifted to wherever the wind would take him? Just wondering what sage advice this group would give a sailor with no means of propulsion.

 

[Stu Jackson]

...it's a place to start

..to get more $$ out of us without improving anybody's safety.

 

[Maine Sail]

How about..

How about:

#1 Not heading back out after the FIRST rescue until his craft was capable.

#2 Not heading back out after the SECOND rescue until his craft was capable.

#3 Having a Sea Tow membership not the US tax payers as your vessel assistance program.

#4 Listening to the weather reports and not heading out if you can't tolerate 20 knots and six foot seas which for most of use is a fun day of sailing.

#5 Carrying more than just the worn out suit of sails he had on board.

#5 Carrying the appropriate tools and spares to get your engine going.

#6 Have some sense of self reliance or the creativity that goes along with sailing such as the ability to jury rig what sails you do have left. Boats will sail on just about anything including bare poles though not as fast as one may like..

#7 having a properly maintained vessel to make the off shore trip he was attempting.

#8 The ABILITY to acurately relay your position OTHER THAN the USCG triangulating your CELL PHONE via the 911 system.

#9 There is no excuse for sails ripping AND the engine failing simultaneously in just 20 knots! One or the other maybe. Remember MOST sail boats have a minimum of TWO sails so he had THREE major failures! A main sail, head sail and his engine. This is 100% inexcusable, for the off shore passage he had planned and in moderate conditions. Especially after being rescued TWICE already!!!!!

Just some quick thoughts that Mr. Mavor should have considered before stepping off the dock for an off shore passage of 200+ miles...

 

[Breaking wind]

I do SAR

this is insane, what were the other 2 rescues for? I didn't see any stories regarding those?

 

[Keith]

Wanted - Some to sail a boat

Looks like he still had 1 good head sail based on the picture in the article. Maybe he should hire someone to sail the boat for him?

 

[Breaking wind]

something sure

isn't right with this story, to say he needed assistance 3 times isn't accurate..his family trying to contact his isn't (lost @ sea) but getting a tow in, and then leaving and calling CG shortly after dosent seem right to me either... in any case extraordinary stories usually involve extraordianry circumstances. (it did say he needed medical attention) so perhaps there was a lot more to the story.

glad they got him back ok.

 

[Ross]

This goes back to an argument that i have often

made. How many people would leave the dock in sub marginal boats if they knew that rescue was not likely? This man is old enough to know that murphy's law is immutable. Perhaps he needs a guardian. OR perhaps he has a large life insurance policy and a beneficiary that isn't too fond of him.

 

[CharlieCobra]

I just don't get it.

I take my Venture 21 with no reefing capability out in 6'+ seas and 20+ knots of breeze without issue, other than a lot of excitement. Somethings not kosher here.

 

[Seasalt]

The press has a bad reputation for getting details

right specially in sailing matters. The circumstances is that the 68 year old sailor asked for assitance and was provided it by the USCG. Take note that they did not send a towboat service. It's not right to call someone dumb or an idiot without knowing the whole story.

 

[patrick]

boat for sale

well, i bet that there is a 30foot sailboat for sail cheap around Cape Cod. I agree that the story does'nt make scense. Why did he make the trip in the first place? Did he lose his slip and had to travel to the new slip? Or some other reason that we are not aware of that he had to move the boat despite obvious shortcommings on the skipper? Just a thought, Patrick