Boating Discover and Boat Information

Another Great Sea Survival Story

A 4 hour boat journey from Tarawa to nearby Maiana Island has turned into a 35-day sea survival ordeal. A 52 year old couple from the central Pacific country of Kiribati subsequently drifted some 1,900 kilometres before finally being rescued by a Korean fishing boat after the boats helicopter spotted them. What happened was the engine failed, it was too far out to swim, the cell phone battery was flat as was the handheld CB radio. A search by sea and air failed to locate them and they were listed as missing. They had no food or water and it was some 4 days before it rained and they caught it in a rain coat and stored in a bucket. They lived on raw fish that they caught. Towards the end the boat also started leaking badly and they had to bail constantly. They are very lucky indeed. Some years back I was in Samoa when a pair washed up on a reef after 6 months adrift, amazing story also. Boating-Discover and Boat Information

Another Amazing Rescue

An Australian woman has been rescued by an Indonesian fishing boat off Thailand rescued after four days adrift at sea in a 3 metre rubber dinghy with no water or food. Apparently she set off on the 150 metre trip from a beach on Lipe Island back to her anchored yacht “Sonnet” and ended up 100’s of kilometres away. She was reported missing and the search had been already ended, and foul play was even suspected by the police. How this happened is still unknown and also her condition unknown although suspected as serious as she is still on the fishing vessel somewhere. She called in to Phuket using a mobile phone to say she was alive. Boating-Discover and Boat Information

BOOK NEWS - The Marine Electrical and Electronics Bible

My first book The Marine Electrical and Electronics Bible is now sold out. This book started off in 1993 and has undergone several updates and revisions and now I am working on a new and revised edition for release in early 2007. Thanks to everyone for all the support, feedback and buying the book. Watch out for the new and improved edition, current radio frequencies and technologies that affect you and your boat

Iridium News –Major Yacht Sea Safety Breakthrough

Iridium Satellite has just signed an interesting and groundbreaking agreement with UK marine electronics safety company McMurdo. McMurdo are going to integrate Iridium's new 9601 Short-Burst Data (SBD) Transceiver into their new man-overboard and also automatic vessel reporting systems. McMurdo developed this system with the UK’s Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). Essentially the new device comprises an onboard monitoring unit that utilizes an Iridium transceiver to transmit vessel position updates at regular intervals. And this includes the boats position, course and also boat speed. What happens is that if these regular position updates are missed, the shore based monitoring station will automatically transmit a message via satellite to the boat and try and re-establish contact. If the boat still does not restart with the position updates then an alert will be initiated with search and rescue (SAR) organisations.

Additionally this system is also designed to operate with personal safety devices (PSD’s) and be worn by crew members. This PSD is able to automatically an alert organisation in case of a man-overboard in less than 60 seconds, giving the position. McMurdo also market the ICS range of NAVTEX gear (I have one of these), communication equipment and also McMurdo 406 MHz EPIRBs, PLBs, SARTs, handheld VHF radios and Automatic Identification Systems (AIS). Boating Discover and Boat Information

Flooded Electrics and Computer Failure

The solo circumnavigator Adrian Flanagan has had a major systems failure going around the Horn. The story is that while throwing trash out of the hatch (for which there is no excuse, keep the ocean clean!) when a very large wave washed across the boat letting in a lot of water and then causing major electrical faults and short circuits and subsequent computer failure, and an expensive waterproofed one at that used for communications. Lessons? Well you be the judge of that. This voyage is to become the first to sail around the world non-stop via the Arctic route, around Cape Horn, north across the Pacific, then the Bering Strait, and west across the Arctic. Boating Discover and Boat Information

Boat Yard Death

Be careful when in boat yards. A man has just been charged with manslaughter following a gas explosion that occurred last August also injuring another.

Giant Squid Collision

Volvo Ocean Race boat ABN Amro One has been in collision with a giant 6 foot long squid. It caught around one of the boats rudders! Boating Discover and Boat Information

Bird Flu

Due to bird flu in Turkey all yachts that are planning to voyage across to Greece must now apply to the Turkish customs people for a crew medical check prior to departure. It’s not definite yet however talk is that if your yacht is coming inbound from other H5N1 areas (i.e. Germany, Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Northern Cyprus and Greece) may also need medical clearances before arrival. A bit of an over reaction, it’s the birds not yachtsman, if you are listening! Boating Discover and Boat Information

Another Yacht Rescue

After setting off their EPIRB, a couple who have been cruising for the last 4 years around the world have been rescued from a 36ft catamaran some 640 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands while on passage from there to Trinidad. Cause why isn’t known as yet. What a sad end. Boating Discover and Boat Information

Container Collision Threats

It’s been a bad week or two for containers getting washed off large ships in bad weather. Some 50 plus went overboard from a large P&O Nedlloyd container ship in the Bay of Biscay and also this happened in the North Sea off The Netherlands last week, and several other vessels also had similar events. Lucky it’s not cruising season there yet. Boating Discover and Boat Information

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Boating Discover and Boat Information