Overboard Boater

From Noah to the sinking of the whaleship Essex to The Perfect Storm, maritime disaster stories have kept audiences riveted in accounts recorded on the written page. But in the Youtube and reality TV era, and particularly with the immense popularity of Deadliest Catch, the written word has some stiff competition. It is against these outlets that Kalee Thompson’s new book Deadliest Sea must hold up. And it does. In a fast-paced 289 pages, Deadliest Sea delivers the goods its readers will crave.

Thompson originally wrote about the Coast Guard rescue operation launched for the crew of the fishing boat  Alaska Ranger for an article in Popular Mechanics. From there she had the foundations for this book. Thanks to Thompson’s heavy-duty reporting, Deadliest Sea offers a depth of background and information that would be impossible to reproduce in a video or television format. The book brings together the backgrounds of both the Alaska Ranger crew and their rescuers, and how they all intersect in a singular dire situation.

With all the reportorial detail, the book also has the requisite riveting moments that captivate even despite knowing the eventual outcome. A favorite passage:

Ryan’s mind was racing. He was pretty sure he’d heard the ship’s officers talking to the Warrior. The other FCA boat would be on its way, but would they have relayed the message to the Coast Guard? If they did, the Coasties would be coming all the way from Kodiak, Ryan thought. That was so far, hundreds of miles away. It was still dark. Would it be easier to spot him at night, or during the day? he wondered. Maybe at night. His strobe light was still flashing. He thought about how he’d look from the sky. Would they see the suit, the light? Jesus Christ, how long could he stay like this?

The waves were huge: twenty-footers, Ryan guessed. From the deck of the ship, seas this size wouldn’t be any sort of spectacle. It was a different story when you were submerged in the goddamn things. He couldn’t keep the freezing spray out of his nose and eyes, the only parts of his body that weren’t protected by the suit. What if no one was coming?”

It’s a scenario anyone who has taken even a day trip out of sight of land has contemplated, and all the details, and the ensuing Coast Guard rescue, come to life in this book.

Find Deadliest Sea at Amazon.com or at other locations listed on Thompson’s website.

Insane video of a bass boat crash on YouTube.

Once in a while you will be called on to tow someone home, and karma dictates that you oblige.

I’m in the middle of reading my galley review copy of Deadliest Sea, a new book due out on June 1st. It’s about the sinking of the Alaska Ranger in the Bering Sea in 2008, and the rescue efforts by the Coast Guard.

I plan to do a full review soon. But, getting into it, I want to praise the author Kalee Thompson for her hardcore reporting. A former editor at Popular Science and National Geographic Adventure, she puts all her skills to use in describing all that went down in great detail. Click on this link to get the Harper Collins synopsis.

I got this in an email from The Safe Boater Training Program. It’s a link to an article called “23 of the Worst Boating Accidents Over the Past 20 Years.”

What can we learn from this? Never travel by large capacity ferry abroad and, if you live in Canada, you need a Pleasure Craft Operators Card.

It’s a noble idea on the one hand and, on the other, a waste of CO2 canisters.

BoatUS is trying to get people to wear inflatable PFDs by promoting Inflatable Life Jacket World Record Day.

The idea is to have everyone inflate their PFDs simultaneously at 11am on May 20th.

Inflatable PFDs don't interfere with fishing.

Anglers are usually the ones boating on the margins of bad weather, and most of them don’t wear the most basic of protection. Don’t want it to get in the way, is the common refrain against wearing life jackets. Just get an inflatable, man, and be done with it.

Lenny Rudow has always advocated inflatable PFDs for his offshore trips. He prefers the fanny back style that goes around your waist. After spending two days wearing a horse-collar style inflatable while fishing for spring striped bass on the Chesapeake with Capt. Tom Hughes (pictured) for (shameless self promotion alert) my book project.

I didn’t notice it during hours of fly casting and after the last trip  I hopped onto the dock and started walking to the car forgetting I had it on. I’m investing in an automatic inflatable jacket like this SOSspenders or Mustang and keeping it with my fishing gear. It doesn’t make sense not to wear one.

Photo courtesy of www.chaparralboats.com

One of the worst feelings in boating is the one you get when you realize, after running around all day, that you don’t have enough fuel to get home. It happens.

The general rule of thumb when you leave the slip or launch at the ramp is to abide by the rule of thirds: use one third of your tank to get out, one third to get home, and keep one third in reserve. Why that extra third? Changing sea conditions could mean you’ll need to burn more fuel to cover the same distance going one way versus the other.

Watching the fuel gauge is important, but how many fuel gauges out there are accurate enough to fully trust?

A far more reliable gauge would be an in-dash digital fuel flow monitor. Many new boats today come standard with electronic fuel management systems such as Mercury’s SmartCraft gauges. If not, it’s worth the upgrade. Some brands have both miles per gallon (mpg) and gallons per hour (gph) settings; others have just one or the other.

Toggle through the modes on the gauge. Using SmartCraft as an example, you can get an instant digital readout of a lot of vital material–fuel to waypoint, fuel level, low fuel level warning, fuel used, fuel flow, and fuel range. You can also look at instant and average mpg.

SmartCraft can display instant and average mpg.

If you are so inclined, you can calculate your boat’s estimated range on your own with the same formulas that magazines use for performance data charts. For gasoline inboards and outboards, record the speed and gph burn at 1000 rpm, then proceed through the rpm band at 500 increments until you reach wide-open throttle.

Builders and magazines typically estimate range based on 90 percent of the fuel capacity, with the following quick formulas:

Miles Per Gallon = MPH/GPH.

Range = .9(Fuel Capacity) x MPG

So if you record 3 mpg at 3500 rpm, and you have a 100 gallon tank, your range–if you cruised the whole time at that speed–would be around 270 miles.

There are a lot of other variables involved–tide, current, wind, sea state, added weight from fuel, gear, and people–but if you tried to keep the throttle close to 3500 rpm and follow the rule of thirds, you know you could head out around 90 miles before turning back.

Or, if you have them, you could let  the algorithms in your fuel management gauges do the work. Or you could hope there’s an easily reached fuel dock between you and home. Or you could bring aboard a sturdy tow rope and a membership card to Sea Tow.

BoatUS sent this in an email news alert as a reminder of why you should wear your lifejackets.

WATCH THE VIDEO

From the email:

The good news is all survived. The man referenced in the video who needed CPR to be revived is now sitting up in bed and in stable condition at the hospital.

As we approach the summer boating season, I hope this incident helps us all understand the importance of life jackets. Are yours in good shape, inspected and ready to go? And are you willing to wear it more often?”

The NIOSH Estimated Workplace Noises Chart

Take a look at the chart above. It’s from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). As you can see, sustained exposure to 85 dB-A and above ain’t good for you. Now browse through your nearest boating magazine and read through the boat tests–the good ones record dB-A throughout the rpm range. Where does your boat’s noise levels fall?

Nobody thinks about it, but I wrote a Seamanship column on the subject several years ago. It can affect your judgement and level of fatigue during long stretches at the helm.

You can get the numbers on your boat yourself, with the same tool most editors–and boat company technicians–use on boat tests. A digital model from Radio Shack will tell you what you need to know. It costs $50 (www.radioshack.com).

To get the best numbers, set the meter to the “A” weighting and “slow” response setting, which does a better job of averaging the sound level for a steadier read. Stick the microphone close to the helm and have everybody shut up, then record the numbers at 500 rpm increments. You’ll notice that on any open-helm boat, whether you have a stern drive with an insulated engine compartment or a whisper quiet four-stroke outboard, wind noise overtakes engine noise shortly after climbing on plane. And not long after that, the sound level will be above the red line on the NIOSH chart above.

For long distance runs, try headphones or earplugs made for shooting sports, motorcycling, or industrial machinery.  Try something like these inexpensive QuietEar Reusable Plugs.