Is nowhere remote any longer?

Many moons past, young and carefree, I fancied myself something of a rock climber. Along with my pal Mike I would scramble around the gritty Derbyshire peaks near our home in the north of England. Having achieved what we fondly thought was an advanced level of proficiency, able to handle the "v-diff" sections, we set our sights on the fabled Langdale Pikes of Cumbria. These were climbs of a somewhat higher level, not only of extended difficulty but of actual height, with several teeth-grinding exposures over great drops.

Our first foray, once we had negotiated the bar** of the Old Dungeon Ghyll [4] - the climbers' pub - was a substantial climb to the top of the nearest pike. I recall we took hours over the attempt and I remember standing petrified before a move around an overhanging corner to a hold that I could not see, but was assured was there!

Mike (that's him in the picture, on Langdale) led the final pitch and, groaning with the effort, pulled himself over the edge to come face to face with ... two gentle ladies who, having arrived at the peak via the easy back route, were having afternoon tea and enjoying the lovely view!

We were both shattered to discover that the remote and hazardous Pike was not restricted to fearless adventurers such as us.

I was reminded of this incident recently when reading of the sad loss of the M/V Explorer near the South Shetland Islands at position 62° 23’ 32’’ S, 57° 16’ 09’’ W. In another age (say, when Sir Ernest Shackleton was engaged upon the voyage that the Explorer was tracking), this remote region would offer the sailor no refuge other than what he could devise for himself.

When the Explorer foundered her passengers and crew were promptly picked up by a passing cruise ship, the Norwegian M/V Nordnorge.

A "passing cruise ship" ... just exactly what is the liklihood of such a rescue in the normal course of events? Quite likely, or so it seems, since at least three vessels, M/V National Geographic Endeavour, M/V Nordnorge, and M/V Antarctic Dream, were close to M/V Explorer at approximately 40 miles away. A tad busier than in Sir Ernest’s day.

The M/V Explorer is described variously as having a "double-hull", that is a hull within a hull, or second skin, or perhaps as simply having additional sheathing on her bottom; ice hardening, in effect. Whichever, contact with an unknown submerged object was sufficient to punch a hole in the hull resulting in early loss of power and hence the inability to pump.

Environmental concerns are top of mind; the ship was carrying MGO (Marine Gas Oil) fuel, estimated to be a quantity of approximately 190 cbm. She sank in approximately 500m of open water and thus the impact may well be insignificant. Interestingly, there is a suggestion (from the owners) that the vessel may just be floating upside-down, since there are no confirmed reports from anyone actually seeing the vessel sink! The images we did see showed Explorer rolling over on her side, not flipping end for end in the classic end dive. To date, there have been no reports sighting a semi-submerged hull. The likely destination, if the hull is still floating, would be Elephant Island.

According to the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), 80 Antarctica-bound outfitters are voluntary members of the organization, with 70 vessels listed. G.A.P.Adventures, the owner-operator of the Explorer is a member, as is Lindblad Expeditions, owner of the Nordnorge. [1]

The volume of tourist passenger traffic to the region is significant: in 2006-2007, member vessels of the IAATO carried over 37,000 passengers to the region, along with 22,000 staff and crew. In 2001, the association calculated visitors in the range of 15,000 and estimated the growth to 2005-2006 of 20,000 plus 6,000 on large cruise ships. They did indicate that their figures represented a guess.

What of the large cruise ships? The Golden Princess, a 689-foot cruise ship that can carry 2,425 passengers and run by California-based Princess Cruises, is the largest tourist vessel to have operated in Antarctic waters and did visit Antarctic waters this season, but passengers did not leave the vessel to go on land or on the ice shelf.

IAATO issued a paper at its last meeting recommending treaty members bar large cruise ships, but there has yet to be any action.

Four more cruises in 2008 and 2009 are scheduled for the Star Princess, a ship of similar size to the Golden Princess. Neither of these large ships is ice-strengthened; the company does not regard this as necessary as they operate only in open water in the summer months. This begs the question: what did Explorer hit? The reports suggest the hole was "fist-sized", perhaps not what one would expect as a result of collision with submerged ice. Perhaps it was a man-made object ... a shipping container, for instance? We know from race reports how many of those are circling the world's currents, just awash and lethal to small vessels.

Whatever the cause, a ship is lost in a sensitive area of the globe, but fortunately with no loss of life or injury, other than to a number of pocketbooks. Ought there to be restrictions placed on large cruise vessels in sensitive regions? Where would one start? Anyone who has sailed the Caribbean in the past few years is well aware of the wall-to-wall ships lining the harbours of that lovely region, shuttling in and out of small ports like tramcars at rush hour. The Antarctic, and the Arctic to a lesser extent, is essentially unregulated, a result of the Antarctic Treaty System.

In a recent paper by the the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition [3], the group stated:

"Antarctic tourism has been growing, expanding and diversifying at a rapid pace for well over a decade, yet the Antarctic Treaty System lacks of a comprehensive policy for tourism in Antarctica. ASOC believes that there is an urgent need for Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties to establish sensible operating rules before a catastrophe occurs."

"Steps to be considered include banning ships exceeding a certain size and carrying more than a certain number of people or a certain amount of fuel on board, establishing ice-strengthening standards for vessels which go into Antarctic waters, and reviewing how existing regulations are complied with, particularly with regard to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to assess whether the actual or potential impacts of tourism are sufficiently taken into consideration, including not only the impact of routine operations but also impacts of potential contingencies."

The Explorer incident was hardly an isolated occurrence; there was the grounding of the Nord Kapp at Deception Island, 31 January 2007. This accident resulted in the spillage of marine diesel into the marine environment and resulting environmental damage. There were no victims. As well, there was the grounding of the Luybov Orlova at Deception Island, 15 November 2006. It is believed that the rescue call was made 15 hours after the vessel grounded, at which time no MAYDAY call was raised. There was potential for the situation to have worsened. The Luybov Orlova was towed off the sandbank, taking 3 hours to complete.

(As it happens, the Luybov Orlova was the ship from which the above photo of the Explorer was taken last year by my good friend Mike Preston - yes, my climbing buddy!)

** The “hiker’s bar” is considerably more upscale than it was in our climbing days!

[1] http://www.iaato.org/

[2] http://www.quarkexpeditions.com/

[3] http://www.asoc.org/

[4] http://www.odg.co.uk/home/index.cfm

Down the plug 'ole

Water levels in the Great Lakes, particularly Lakes Michigan and Huron, are dropping severely. This isn't exactly news to boaters, marina operators and cottagers in the region, who have been complaining about the reduction in depths for years.

The Georgian Bay Association hired the internationally renowned hydrological firm Baird & Associates, to look at water levels, and they confirmed that levels are continuing to drop. Extensive reviews by the association's Bill Bialkowski further reinforces the fact that levels in the Bay itself are on a continual downward trend, even though other lakes have experienced the normal up and down cycles.

As well, the Baird Report funded by GBA Foundation confirms GBA's water levels committee findings ; ongoing erosion and shoreline alterations at outflow of Lake Huron into St. Clair River is increasing conveyance capacity and is lowering Lakes Michigan and Huron.

What to do? When the US Army Corp of Engineers dredged the St Clair channel in the 1960s (to enable the passage of larger commercial vessels), they intended to reinforce the river bottom to prevent erosion. This was never done. Suggestions aired recently revolve around depositing a great quantity of large rocks in the channel for this purpose.

Seems to me they have hit upon something .... to my personal (blush) knowledge, Georgian Bay is full of such rocks and they are all the more evident due to the loss of water. Blasting out some of the ones I've "touched" upon over the years and dumping them in the St Clair river might just solve two problems at one fell swoop.

To what extent the level of Georgian Bay would be further reduced by removing all the problem (for sailors) rocks, is beyond my science. Just a thought.

Well, the International Joint Commission has now decided to bring its water level study forward by a year or so. Maybe they will discover the answer.


CBC Report - Who pulled the plug on Lake Huron?

VeledaIV's World Cruise

Back in the early 1990's, I took a number of courses with the Toronto Power and Sail Squadron (and subsequently became a very active volunteer at the squadron, the district and, for a number of years, at the national level. But that's another story).

Among the various volunteer instructors who helped me through navigation, charting, radio operation and other topics, were Judy and Aubrey Millard. At that time, Judy was solidly into her career as a dentist and Aubrey was teaching school. They were very active sailors and had set out to sail all of the Great Lakes, something they did achieve, winning the Bayfield Award from the Great Lakes Cruising Club, for 5000 miles of sailing in all the Great Lakes.

In 1998, Judy and Aubrey both retired (Judy taking early retirement), sold their house, refitted their Ontario 32 "Veleda" and set off on a cruise that continues to this day.

Before they left, I asked them if they would write up their experiences for my new website, Searoom, to which they readily agreed. Nine years and 400 logs later, they are still writing and still cruising.

Aubrey's logs (he writes, Judy proofs) are as fresh and informative as ever and read more like a Jan Morris travelogue than the average boat log.

Aubrey just sent through the following statistics:

We have traveled 37,673 nautical miles since leaving Toronto, including:
- over 25 countries on five continents;
- several river systems including:
- the Mississippi, Thames, Seine, Rhone, Danube and Orinoco;
- several canal systems including: - the Welland, Caledonian, Crinnan, Kiel, Black Sea/Danube, Suez, and the Canal du Midi;
- two crossings of the Atlantic Ocean;
- several seas and gulfs including:
- the Black Sea, North Sea, Baltic Sea, the Biscay, the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Paria, the Caribbean, as well as the Mediterranean, including the Gulf du Lyon, the Adriatic, the Ionian, the Aegean, and the Tyrrhenian Sea;
- and several narrow waterways including:- the English Channel, Strait of Messina, the Menai Strait, the Bosporus, and the Dardanelles, and here in the Caribbean, Hawk Channel, the Windward Passage, the Mona Passage, and the Gulf Stream.

I can attest to the work that goes into their logs as my wife Annie and I cruised with them when they made the transit of the Canal du Midi a couple of years ago. The log book sat in the cockpit the entire time and every detail was entered: each bridge or lock passed; engine on, engine off; each grounding (yes, we managed a few); each delightful mooring and every bottle of wine.

And while Annie and I enjoyed the countryside, Aubrey was busy researching the history of each region (he was a history teacher), bringing copious local knowledge into his logs.

The Millards are now enjoying their time in the Caribbean and while they bask in warm breezes they still seem to experience exciting times. "May you live in interesting times" might be an old curse - for Judy and Aubrey it means the challenge of new horizons and new experiences. Long may they last.

Buying a new boat

Any sailor will admit that the two best days of one's sailing life are when you buy your boat ... and when you sell it!

Each occasion calls for plenty of soul-searching, but the buying stage is often clouded with emotion. (Not that selling isn't, of course).

It is helpful, then, to consider some guidelines for the purchase process, and we are fortunate that a very experienced live-aboard, work-aboard couple, Paul and Sheryl Shard, have published an in-depth review of the deliberations that went into buying their new Southerly 42RST.

On their website www.distantshores.ca you will find a "New Boat Blog" with a lengthy series of posts that cover every possible aspect of their perceived needs. Of course, the Shards do have some specific needs as they make their living while sailing, but most of what they have to say will have meaning for any sailor intending to undertake bluewater cruising.

While you are at their site, be sure to register for their podcasts, which feature interviews with many well-known long-distance sailors and industry experts.

links

http://www.distantshores.ca/boatblog/boatblog.html

http://www.distantshores.ca/podcast/podcast.html

http://www.searoom.com/shard/

Boat Licence anyone? It's so easy ...

The continuing farce, known as the Proof of Boating Proficiency or Pleasure Craft Operator Card (PCOC), was highlighted by columnist Roy MacGregor, writing in Canada's national newspaper, the Globe and Mail, recently. In his article: "Will boater's licence make a difference? Take a guess" (July 16, 2007), he describes his experience writing the exam for the PCOC at a local hardware store.

Without any prior study and admitting to little knowledge of the aids to navigation system, Mr. MacGregor wrote and passed his exam, correctly answering 29 of the 36 multiple-choice questions. The seven missed answers were the "hard ones" according to the salesperson. He now has a "licence" to operate a power vessel that is good for his lifetime. So have thousands of other boaters across the country, operating everything from tiny fishing dinghies to huge, multi-engined yachts.

In theory, the testing procedure might introduce inexperienced boaters to safety concepts contained in the Safe Boating Guide, a Transport Canada publication. In the guide are 149 points of knowledge that may be tested, but with only 36 questions (50 questions in the upgraded Canadian Power & Sail Squadrons' version*), only a small amount of these points can be touched upon.

The PCOC exam is available from a wide range of "for-profit" and non-profit organizations. Each had to submit their exams (they must have more than one version available) to Transport Canada (or previously to the Canadian Coast Guard) for approval. As well, they were supposed to produce a study manual and course of study. Some of the for-profit organizations ignored the manual requirement and instead used the free Safe Boating Guide, and many of them offer a "Pay if you pass" deal. Some also offer on-line exams with dubious invigilation procedures.

This farce could be swept away if the regulators would simply make a basic safety course mandatory. The "licence", as it stands, is ludicrous and does precious little to improve the standards of safety on Canadian waters.

As a volunteer instructor with Toronto Power & Sail Squadron, I have taught hundreds of new boaters, mainly through the 13-week Boating course, but also with the short Boat Pro course. At TPS we regard the Boating course as the absolute minimum for any boater venturing onto "big" water, such as the Great Lakes or inshore coastal waters. Transport Canada, a ministry with safety as its prime mandate, would perform a valuable service by re-thinking the PCOC testing and moving to upgrade the safety knowledge of all Canadian boaters.

* The CPS card, based on 50 questions, is the only card recognized by United States boating authorities. It also includes associate membership in CPS with accompanying benefits.

Links:

http://www.cps-ecp.ca/

www.theglobeandmail.com

www.tc.gc.ca/BoatingSafety/menu.htm

Tony's Searoom Boat Blog

Over the years (since 1998, in fact), I have positioned Searoom as an information resource for the cruising sailor. Thanks to many friends in the sailing world, extensive contributions in the form of articles and logs have been added to the site. In one case, that of VeledaIV - an Ontario 32 being world-cruised by my friends Aubrey and Judy Millard, almost 200 detailed cruise logs have been posted. Read Veleda's logs

A well-known cruising couple, Sheryl and Paul Shard, have long-since moored their extensive website to Searoom's.
Check out the Shard's site

As well, numerous contributors have supplied knowledgeable articles on everything from sailing insomnia to cruising with kids. (Could it be those two topics are connected?)

I'm always on the lookout for useful content, but since this is essentially a labour of love, I must rely on the good nature of fellow sailors to come up with the input just for the fun of seeing their name in, well, not lights exactly, but out here on the Web.