You have to weather the storm

Ah, to be a man. To master the sea. To feel the spray on your face. To weather the storm. It sounds so romantic until, you know, you're caught in it.

Boat long enough and you'll eventually run aground, they say. Cruise the Chesapeake long enough and you'll get caught in a squall.

Today's Washington Post tells the story of Steve Murfin who was caught in a violent storm last August. Murfin was tooling around the Eastern Bay just off St. Michael's (If you don't know where that is, you're just not a Bay boater) in his 17-foot Boston Whaler.

Murfin had been tracking the approach of a storm. He decided to head to home port about 90 minutes before the weather was predicted to hit. Then, two bad things happened. First he couldn't start his engine. Second, the squall hit at just that moment. Like Gilligan, Murfin's tiny ship was tossed.

A Good Samaritan on board the vessel Her Baby arrived and gave Murfin a tow through the worst of the storm. The Post's description of that adventure is as stirring as any you'll find in classic sea yarns.

Her Baby towed Murfin safely to his dock on the Wye River. She departed without Murfin so much as knowing her captain's name. Just another example of good boaters being good boaters.

Captains are expected to help other boaters in distress, if it is within their capability to do so and when such help does not constitute a danger to themselves. This is especially true in the case of accident.

The Boat Handling S102 manual (2002) of the Power Squadron's Seamanship Course has these legal tips for captains offering Good Samaritan tows:

1.  The skipper (of the towing boat) must have the proper equipment and be mentally prepared.
2. Insurance coverage may change if you tow someone. Don't wait until you are faced with a towing situation to look into this. Check your insurance policy now--and every time it is renewed.
3. Before towing, make sure actions are appropriate, reasonable and properly documented because they are subject to review in the event of mishap, damage, or injury. Keep a detailed log of every action taken.
4. Under no circumstances should the owner of the boat doing the towing accept anything of value from the owner or crew of the boat to be towed. Such acceptance is regarded as being engaged in the business of commercial towing.
5. The towing boat skipper should make clear that it is his /her intention to help a fellow boater. The owner of the towed boat must make clear that the assistance provided does not constitute a salvage operation. Crews should remain on their respective boats. If the crew from the towing boat boards the boat to be towed, there is possibly the implication that the skipper of the boat to be towed has surrendered command. The towing skipper should use lines from the boat to be towed.

If the above gives a captain pause, the federal government provides legal cover for Good Samaritan under the Federal Boat Safety Act of 1971 (FBSA/71). It's summarized in the 64th Edition of Chapman Piloting and Seamanship as follows: 

Any person who gratuitously and in good faith renders assistance at the scene of an accident or other boating casualty without the objection of any person being assisted cannot be held liable for any civil damages as a result of rendering assistance, or for any act or omission in providing or arranging salvage, towage, medical treatment, or other assistance when he acts as an ordinary, reasonably prudent person would have under the same or similar circumstances. 

When you have to weather the storm, it's good to have help.

Postscript: When the words "federal" and "boating" appear in the same sentence, it applies to navigable waters. To me, that means water under the control of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and patrolled by the U.S. Coast Guard. States have Good Samaritan laws, but each have their own local twist. Federal or State, Good Samaritans are not expected to, and should not, attempt something beyond their ability. Standing by until the authorities arrive is also a Good Samaritan act.

Photo Credit: www.whaler.com

Oh, to be on a boat!

What do you do when you want to be on your boat, but cant? Why, you look at videos of other people's cruises on boats.

Thanks to Philiwily, you can find one on YouTube. Phili took a series of time-lapsed photos of his cruise on a Nordhaven 64 from Baltimore to Falmouth (Cape Cod) Harbor by way of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal.

Judging from my (very) modest familiarity of the chart of the Patapsco River and the dead calm of the water, Philiwily departed Baltimore just past O-dark-thirty and passed under the Key Bridge in early daylight.

Wish I was there. And I can be, every time I look at this video.

Hat tip to www.mby.com for pointing me to this video.

The Potomac Is A Nest Of Snake...Heads

A story in today's Virginia Pilot says that the invasive snakehead fish, like politicians, are here to stay in the Potomac Area.

Whether fish or politician, is that a bad thing? The Frankenfish won't eat you. The ecological doom predicted for our home waters aren't panning out.

Says The Pilot:

"Yes, they are aggressive and fearsome predators that gobble their prey whole. But so far, they have not ravaged the Potomac's prized largemouth bass population. Nor any other fish, bird or amphibian on which they feed.

"They appear to be coexisting."

The Virginia Pilot covers the Hampton Roads area. Its story described the expansion of the specie from D.C. waters south to the tidal Potomac. Snakes in the Bay is only a matter of time. Queue up Jaws for the snakeheads vs. bull sharks movie that's sure to follow.

But snakehead fry have been observed in the Anacostia River and are expected to migrate above Great Falls to the headwaters of the Potomac.

Which leads to three questions.

1. Do they eat mosquitoes?
2. Will they eat my boat?
3. Could it be a sport fish?

Science is silent on the first question and there are no reports of the second. That last question has some encouraging answers.

The Northern Snakehead can grow to three feet long and weigh to 15 pounds. A thick coat of slime protects their bodies from the elements, a characteristic they share with eels along with the shape of their bodies. They put up a fight and, like eels, are said to be good to eat, if Americans can get past their squeamishness to try.

The fish favors shallow water, especially flats with aquatic grass that gives them shelter. Some sportsmen have hunted them with bow and arrows. Word is, they make a good catch.

Cooking recipes tend to be Asian, reflecting the fish's origin, although a writer for The Las Vegas Weekly said that snakehead tastes like chicken when grilled. The fish is popular in Singapore cooked with green apples and ginger.

Both Maryland and Virginia have kill on sight orders for snakehead. Maryland asks anglers to report any fish caught outside the tidal Potomac to 410-260-8287. Virginia asks all anglers to report all snakehead catches, where ever caught, to its hotline at 804-367-2925.

Tastes like chicken, eh?

Photo Credit:

(cc) P3109470 from Mohd Fahmi's photostream on flickr.com

There's Something About Sailors

There's something about working on the water that appeals to recreational voters. And when you can work on the water while in service to your country, that's icing on the cake.

Yeah I know, watermen work real hard for real small pay. There are certain risks involved in Naval service to your country. Ah, but those Navy vessels are so much...more expensive than I can afford.

It's still good to see the Postal Service, the "other USPS," offer a 44-cent stamp series honoring Distinguished Sailors. The stamps were issued in February 2010 and are available online.

Here's the Postal Service's description:

"With the issuance of the Distinguished Sailors stamp, the U.S. Postal Service® honors a tradition of excellence in the U.S. Navy that began with the authorization for two warships by the Continental Congress on October 13, 1775. These stamps commemorate four sailors who served with bravery and distinction during the 20th Century: William S. Sims, Arleigh A. Burke, John McCloy, and Doris Miller. The stamp pane identifies the four sailors, the approximate date of each photograph, and a ship named in honor of each sailor."

Four sailors are honored.

William S. Sims, Admiral, USN, Commanded U.S. Naval Forces in Europe during World War I and later was president of the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. He instigated the effort to improve naval gunnery after the Spanish American war and was effective at mobilizing forces during the Great War, especially in anti-submarine warfare. He was not, however, happy with support received from the Navy Department and was critical in the post-war period. Congress found that his charges had merit, but did not go along with his suggestion wrest authority from civilian leadership in wartime.

Side Note: Sims directed his attacks at Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, but the

department was run by the assistant secretary and future U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was Roosevelt's comment to Roger Upton in 1912 to take his boating safety movement "national" that led Upton to found United States Power Squadrons. Upton made a number of visits between 1914 and 1919 to the Navy Department in Washington D.C. to visit Daniels and Roosevelt in pursuit of that movement. USPS proclaimed Roosevelt an honorary Power Squadron member from the late 1930s until his death in 1945.

Arleigh Burke, Admiral, USN, Fighting admiral during World War II. Best known as "31 knot" Burke for aggressively driving his destroyer squadron to the near-breaking point of their boilers. He served as chief of staff to Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher. As such he played a leadership role in the naval battles of the Philippine Sea, Leyte Gulf and Okinawa. Burke served three terms as Chief of Naval Operations in the Eisenhower Administration. He lends his name to a class of guided missile destroyers.

John McCloy, Medals Of Honor Winner, USN, Talk about your fighting sailors, McCloy is one of only 19 individuals to win two Congressional Medals Of Honor. During the 1900 Boxer Rebellion, McCloy distinguished himself during the effort to rescue members of the foreign community in Peking (Beijing), China. In 1914, Chief Boatswain McCloy was in charge of three picket boats unloading men and supplies during the American operation in Veracruz, Mexico. When his boats came under fire, McCloy pushed away from the pier, exposing himself, to direct fire at the enemy. Though wounded in the thigh, McCloy remained on the water in the boat for 48 hours. In 1919 while serving as a lieutenant on the USS Curlew, McCloy further distinguished himself for sweeping mines from the North Sea after World War I. McCloy was awarded the Navy Cross for that service. Whew!

Doris "Dorie" Miller, Cook Third Class, USN, Enlisted in the Navy in 1939. Transferred to the USS West Virginia (BB-48) in January 1940, where he became the ship's heavyweight boxing champion. Miller had temporary duty aboard USS Nevada (BB-36) to attend Secondary Battery Gunnery School. Miller is remembered today for firing an antiaircraft battery at the enemy on the morning of December 7, 1941, Miller was actually cited and awarded the Navy Cross for his actions carrying wounded members of West Virginia's crew to safety. Admiral Chester A. Nimitz, Chief of the Pacific Fleet and a fellow Texan, personally made the presentation. Miller was assigned to the cruiser USS Indianapolis a week after Pearl Harbor and subsequently to the USS Liscome Bay, a new escort carrier. Liscome Bay was torpedoed near the Gilbert Islands by Japanese submarine I-75 on November 23, 1943. Miller went down with her along with 645 shipmates. His body was never recovered.

See also the full background information provided by the U.S. Postal Service here.

Photo Credits:

Distinguished Sailors, U.S. Postal Service

USS W.S. Sims, DE-1059, www.usssims1059.org

USS Arleigh Burke, DDG-51, www.navalbasecruises.com

USS McCloy, DE-1039, www.navsource.org

USS West Virginia (sunk) and USS Tennessee, Pearl Harbor, Never Forget, drjamesgalyon.wordpress.com

Science Finds What Boaters Already Know: Drinking Is Good

You can never be too rich or too thin, but you can drink too little for your own good. Boaters know that instinctively. Why else would you boat except for the dock party? And what's a dock party without spirits and beer?

Now comes scientific evidence in an article in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. A study shows that moderate drinkers live longer than non-drinkers.

The study confirmed the finding that alcohol consumption is heart-healthy and even helps destroy pancreatic cancer cells. The new news is that non-drinkers have higher mortality rates.

Researchers said that the non-drinkers tend to be from lower socioeconomic classes where life stresses are higher. They say lower income inhibits alcohol consumption because of the costs involved. Hmmm, that sounds like the rationale for why more people aren't boaters. Come to think of it, low income and high stress is a formula for high mortality with or without alcohol. I think those researchers were drinking when they came up with that conclusion, so don't drink the Kool-Ade on this one.

Boaters are generous with the spirits. However, I've never seen my Power Squadron friends drink while boating. We save all that for the dock parties. Age could be a factor. Most of my Power Squadron cohorts graduated high school in 19-none-ya-business.

Captains know, or should know, that alcohol has an accelerated effect on the senses when you are on the water. There's something about the glare of the sun reflected off the water, engine vibration, motion of the ocean (bay, river, lake) and the dehydrating effect of it all.

Plus drinking while boating makes you look stupid when you try to dock--and when those people with the flashing blue lights want to talk to you. They have no sense of humor about BUI. So just don't.

I'll drink to that.

More: See Boating Under The Influence .org

Photo credit: www.free-extras.com

8-Foot Shark Caught In the Potomac River

I've been reading that fishing is good in the Potomac, but this is too much.

Guy named Willie Dean netted what he said is an eight-foot Bull Shark--in the Potomac River in St. Mary's County.

It's Dean who's calling it a Bull Shark. We'll wait for the authorities on that. But it was a real big fish. Really, really big.

The Chesapeake Bay is brackish water and we know sharks visit. But we expect to hear of them down in the Hampton Roads area, not in the Mid-Chesapeake, not in the fresh water Potomac about three miles from Point Lookout. Lemon Sharks in the Bay, maybe. But Bulls?

Bull Sharks have a particularly nasty reputation. They do attack humans. Here's how National Geographic describes them:

"Bull sharks are aggressive, common, and usually live near high-population areas like tropical shorelines. They are not bothered by brackish and freshwater, and even venture far inland via rivers and tributaries.

"Because of these characteristics, many experts consider bull sharks to be the most dangerous sharks in the world. "

And you thought jellyfish were the biggest hazard in the water. Another reason to be careful while boating.

Southern Maryland News published a story and picture of a pod of dolphins frolicking in the Potomac near Tall Timbers. Sharks and dolphins and what comes next? Bears? Oh my.