BEYOND THE HORIZON

BEYOND THE HORIZON
AUGUST 2025
 
 
SMALL BOATS
            Mice are notoriously foul rodents noted for nothing good in nature and are a burden to humanity. I, for one, am all about killing mice, rats, voles, and anything else resembling such creatures. My wife found a vole in the house, captured it, took it to the garden, and released it while I was checking for viable excuses for uxoricide. 
            My distaste for rodents came to fruition when I recently went for a sail after weeks of very high winds and tons of rain. Unfortunately, as I unfurled my jib, I discovered that mice had eaten it. No, they did not devour a small section. They ATE my jib! There wasn’t enough to use for patches on my main.  I hate meeces to pieces!

INLAND WATERWAYS
 
            The historic steamer DELTA QUEEN is for sale because the old wooden boat is succumbing to old age and finances are disappointing. The current investors have indicated that would prefer a buyer intending on restoring her rather than one who wants to dismantle it.

            The 14^th Superintendent of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, VADM Joanna Nunan, and the second in command, RADM David Wulf, have announced their departures. Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, said that the nation, and especially Congress, has been “neglected…and mismanaged. The campus has been allowed to fall into disrepair.” He cited silly Covid rules, lack of hot water, lack of food, use of paper plates and plastic silverware, mold in the dorm, and a dilapidated library. 
            As recent graduate of the USMMA told me that the school’s issues went far beyond the leadership who were due to retire at this time, so their relief was not politically motivated.

VADM Nunan

            Paul Rohde, Vice President of the Midwest area for the Waterways Council (WCI) inc. and participant in the Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program (NESP) and with the Midwest Area Regional Coalition (MARC), noted that the latter was an NGO founded by businesses involved in trade on the Upper Mississippi and working with the Army Corps of Engineers. The sundry organizations pushed mightily for new locks and dams but ran into the buzz saw of the economic downturn of 2007 and Speaker of the House John Boehner’s shutdown of Congress’s power of the purse and eliminated specific (to him) earmarks. Virtually 90% of federal cash was spent on the Olmstead Locks and Dam. At that point MARC and WCI merged.
            Rhode also stated that the Office of Management and Budget has never supported inland waterways, and the current administration set aside no money for the next fiscal year.  He cited the adage that “rising tides lift all boats”, meaning that infrastructure repair and development increases business and corporate income that creates more taxes, jobs, and monetary flow. 
 
            The University of Arkansas economic experts reported that low water in the Mississippi cost the state’s soybean farmers about $293 million. Record low water marks hit in 2022 and again in 2023. Supported by researchers at Purdue University, Arkansas’s plight was exacerbated three times in ten years when no barges could float during harvest season. The decrease per bushel ran from $.12 to $.58.
 
BOAT HISTORY
            One of the finest towboats of the midcentury was SOHIOAN that was named for Standard Oil of Ohio which was one of the pieces left over after Standard oil was broken up by the Trust Busters under President Taft in 1911. She was a beautiful art-deco design built by the St. Louis Boatbuilding Co. by Henry Potts.
            The 1933 400-ton all steel combination art and workhorse was 160’ x 38’ featuring 3 props driven by Fairbank-Morse 7 -cylinder direct reversing diesels. She could attain 2,415 hp. She was badly needed during World War II as transferring oil was a significant logistical problem
            She worked the waterways until 1950 when she was sold. As usual for tow boats, they get sold more frequently as they age. SOHIOAN was sold again in 1969 and again in 1977 and renamed the CECELIA CAROL. She was scrapped in 2005. 

ALLISIONS AND COLLISIONS
 
            COCODRIE, pushing an empty tank barge, got slammed into a Valero refinery dock due to high winds, Fortunately, there were no injuries or pollution; however, the tow was damaged to the tune of $663,000. The NTSB report notes that wind, and note the captain, was responsible for the accident. 
            COCODRIE is a 2015 twin-screw towboat powered by Cummins QSK38 MI Tier 4 2,000hp engine. She is operated by Kirby Inland Marine LP. 
 
            WONDER SEA, A Vietnamese tourist ship capsized in heavy seas and high winds. Of the 59 passengers and crew, 13 were rescued.

 
            ADMARINE, a 108’ barge capsized killing 4 with 6 missing.
            KMP TUNU PRATHMA JAYA, a 208’ Ro-Ro flooded with 66 souls on board. 31 were rescued, 4 died, but 30 are missing. 
            FULDA, a Hong Kong flagged chemical tanker exploded off the Indian Coast. 21 were saved. The Indian Coast Guard took the hulk in tow. 
            Every yachter’s nightmare is losing an engine in shallow waters. GEFIDA, a 36’ sailboat, went aground, flooded, and partially sank. The wreck was eventually removed.
            MAGIC SEA, a Liberian flagged bulk carrier was attacked by Houthi rebels setting the ship ablaze and eventually scuttled.

 
            The Houthi Rebels used rockets to sink the bulk carrier ETERNITY.
            Every month it seems that migrants overfill bad boats in a desperate attempt a better life. Dominican Republic citizens piled 40 people in a rickety boat to seek refuge in Puerto Rico only to sink. Of the 40 people, only 17 were saved. 

COAST GUARD
 
            Pre-WWII the U.S. Navy maintained a multitude of Naval Districts around the U.S. and its protectorates. For example, ND 13 was the greater Northwest and Alaska during the war. 25 years ago, the Navy dropped the numerical designation and used names. Finally, the Coast Guard has also dropped the district numbers and created names.
District 1 = Northeast
District 5 = East
District 7 = Southeast
District 8 = Heartland
District 9 = Great Lakes
District 11 = Southwest
District 13 = Northwest
District 14 = Oceania (Hawaii)
District 17 = Arctic
 
            In the 2-steps forward, 2-steps back of our government, The Department of Homeland Security cancelled two Off-Shore Patrol Cutters (OPC).  The mess started when the Coast Guard commissioned the ARGUS, the first of four OPCs to be built. Unfortunately, Eastern Shipbuilding Group notified the government that it could not complete #3 and #4 under the current contract without an insurmountable financial loss. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem immediately cancelled all payments to ESG who subsequently stopped work on the cutters.
             The contracts were awarded in 2016 but hurricanes stifled work due to damaged facilities. Inflation and additional costs of increasing technology created a fiscally dire situation. So, the need for 4 cutters in 2016 ends up being one cutter in 2025. Nevertheless, DHS has increased missions for the Coast Guard.
 
WHITE FLEET
 
            CARNAVAL Cruise is dropping Galveston as a starting point for their Voyages and moving more business to New Orleans. Perhaps, this move is based on the ease to arriving at New Orleans rather than Galveston.
 
            An irate passenger had his ceiling fan confiscated which he stated was mandatory for health reasons. This excuse is, at least, original; however, such fans are banned from passenger ships because of the potential to drop during sharp turns or turbulent weather. Small, circular fans are common because of the stuffiness of cabins, but no ceiling fans.
 
            A major problem aboard cruise ships is kids. They tend to get on busy elevators and push all the buttons while the crew is trying to time meals efficiently and tourists are attempting to get to outside decks. Many ships now require all children under 17 to be always accompanied by an adult. Viking River Cruises even bans children.
 
            CROWN IRIS was supposed to make a tourist stop in Greece but was unable to dock because of pro-Palestinian protesters who frightened port authorities. CROWN IRIS is owned by an Israeli company.

 
 
            ABB, renowned Swedish company, has signed an agreement with Star Dream Cruiser Lines to provide upgraded navigation equipment, propulsion units, dry docking facilities, as well as redoing the electrical systems of the lines ships. ABB is among the world’s leading companies in electrification, automation, robotics, and marine business. 
 
ENVIRONMENT
 
            The Linn County authorities (Cedar Rapids, IA) discovered over 40 shallow wells created without permits using over 25,000 gallons per day. Interestingly, this is not unusual. Developers and builders of industrial sites dig these temporary wells for various reasons such as sewage drainage or pumping water from the land to make it drier for easy construction. DNR is not happy with these findings. QTS Data Center is the culprit in several cases. Under construction, QTS Data will require tremendous amounts of water. Evidently, the local developers failed to consider this.
 
            The Iowa DNR designated 13  of 40 state beaches as Do Not Swim areas because of the high E.coli count.  One very popular campground had 10 times the acceptable limit of 24,000 organisms per 100 milliliters of water. Except for only three or four lakes, all of Iowa’s lakes are manmade by damming the plethora of rivers that traverse the state. The streams and springs flowing to the river run mostly through farmland which provide water for cattle and they tend to poop in the water that nourishes E. coli. Perhaps the worst-case scenario is manure floods from large confinement cattle farms. The manure from 10,000 cows dumps a lot of sewage into dry run creeks that flow to streams that flow to rivers.
            E. coli is a bacterium is found in intestines of humans and animals and can be especially harmful to smaller children, older people, and people with weakened immune systems. Symptoms range from urinary infections, severe diarrhea, kidney failure, and inability to urinate. 
 
GRAY FLEET
 
Intelligence gathering is complicated, difficult, and arduous whether it is from human intelligence, radio intelligence, signal intelligence, or various other methods. Those of us of a certain age well remember the USS PUEBLO that was captured by the North Koreans and her crew held captive for over a year. We also remember the USS LIBERTY that was viciously attacked by Israel during their war with Egypt. 34 sailors were killed. Both ships were AGTRs or supposedly “research vessels” but were spy ships replete with linguists, radio specialists, signal analysists and a myriad of other highly trained and highly classified personnel. Under the guise of the nonchalant title of Communications Technicians, these men and women were, and are, the best minds and strongest ethical military people in America. In recent years, the Navy did away with the rating name and simply recognized them as Cryptologist Technicians.
CTs come in a variety of flavors. Some are linguists who mastered at least one of a bundle of languages, some are technical people who analyze signals, some repair and keep operating the sundry radios and intercept gear, some are administrative folks who keep the records, and the rating also includes other specific technical types.
Spy ships are usually identified by their massive antennae array, lack of significant weapons, and the tendency to hang around places others would prefer them not to be. One of my favorite ships was the USS ATAKAPA (ATF-149) simply because it did not look like a spy ship. Actually, it looked like an oceanic tugboat because that was what she was. After a career towing boats around, ATAKAPA was refurbished as a spy ship.
Ugly, small, and fishing boat-looking, she managed to steam off Norway, locating two Soviet submarines and tracked them down the Atlantic and into the Mediterranean collecting every signal sent to them and every signal received by them. 
After the LIBERTY incident, the tug was sent to the Eastern Mediterranean. The exact mission and duty of this assignment is unknown but it certainly had to be a listening post on Israel and Egypt among other entities in the region. 
At least one CT was found not working up to his potential and was threatened to be assigned to the ATAKAPA. He got his act together. At least that what it says on the Internet.

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