BEYOND THE HORIZON

October 2025

BEYOND THE HORIZON

October 2025

COAST GUARD

            The Coast Guard stemmed two leaking oil pipes in San Juan Harbor, Puerto Rico, through the usage of divers, auto-crawling cameras to map the structure, inflatable plugs to stop the flow, capturing spillage, and capping and sealing further issues. This response using highly technical equipment verifies the abilities to mitigate environmental disaster at sea. 

            Receiving a Mayday call from a commercial fisherman whose boat was disabled off the coast of Oregon, the Coast Guard kept contact with the man until he was no longer responding to radio calls, whereupon, the base commander issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast immediately launching a 47’ motor lifeboat and a MH-65E Dolphin helicopter. The chopper arrived first and found the boat capsized thus requiring a rescue diver to descend into the sea to hoist the fisherman to safety. The man was treated for hypothermia. 

            The Coast Guard cutter DILIGENCE (WMEC-616) off-loaded 8,700 pounds of cocaine worth $64.5 million at their station in St. Petersburg, FL. This was part of an interdiction between the Joint Interagency Task Force (JITF) that captured over 10,000 pounds of illegal drugs in the Caribbean. 

            Worthy of note, all the above stories happened on the same day. Evidently, if you want action daily, join the Coast Guard. 

NAVY NEWS

            The Russian submarine, NOVOROSSIYSK, is currently (9/29/25) in the Mediterranean Sea suffering huge fuel leaks that is filling the hull. Fumes and fuel in an electrified boat are not good combinations, and while Western countries have offered assistance Vladimir Putin has refused any aid. Many sources are concerned about potential for explosion or ecological damage. 

            China has challenged the world over control of waters near the Scarborough Shoals between China and the Philippines. While they were merely a bunch of rocks and mini-islands, the Shoals stand in the middle of one of the world’s busiest cargo lanes. Over 30% of all world goods float in that lane.

            China has long maintained sovereignty over the region and constantly harasses any foreign ships in the area. Unfortunately, the Shoals lie within the Economic Zone of the Philippines and is an outstanding fishing area vital to the Philippine economy. The U.S. and the UN see the region as International Waters.

            China recently made aggressive maneuvers against the American destroyer USS HIGGINS (DDG-76), and Arleigh Burke class vessel carrying surface to air, surface to surface, and anti-ship missiles. Chinese demanded the warship leave the area, issued continued warnings of potential attack, and sailed very near the U.S. ship in unacceptable behaviors. This has been too closest to real conflict in about 6 years. The DOD is fearful that these aggressive incidents could result in an accidental engagement resulting in war.

ENVIRONMENT

            Evolution Theory proffers the concept that all living organisms originated in the sea, and that the sea is the premier protectorate of all plant and animal species on this Big Blue Planet. The food chain runs the gamut from plankton, the tiny oceanic animals, to the Blue Whale, the largest fish afloat. The seas cool the earth absorbing over 90% of excess heat, and the great waters soak up about 23% of carbon dioxide in exchange for 50% of the oxygen in our atmosphere. 

            Frighteningly, our oceans suffer dangerously existential issues at the hands of humans. The acidity is at a ph. of 8.1 has only been surpassed once, briefly, during the Industrial Revolution when coal was the predominate fuel for factories and the ph. level reached 8.2. Each tenth of a ph. is devastating to the environment, human health, and the overall life of the planet. The acidification of the seas reduces plankton, the bottom end of the food change, and causes the bleaching of reefs that provides habitat and nourishment for hundreds of fish and plant forms. The loss of reefs alone could be cataclysmic. 

            The sum source of these concerns rest entirely on humankind. Homo Sapiens have overfished many areas within the oceans. Canary Row in Monterey, CA, is a modern testament of taking more fish than they can repopulate. As a Defense Language Institute student in 1970, Canary Row was nothing but burned-out buildings and abandoned railroad tracks. The tourist development of the area had yet to begin. The largest industry of the city has simply died in toto quickly.

            Whales almost were eliminated because of our desire for lamp oil, perfume stabilizers, and superior lubrication for fine watches. Japan, Norway, and Iceland have resisted all attempts to ban whaling. Asians use whale meat as a protein in their diet, the Norwegians sell the meat for petfood and oil for lubrication. Iceland is considering a total ban.

            A plethora of sources harm the oceans. The overpopulated areas of Africa and South America see tens of thousands of acres of forest destroyed for creating farm land. Our 8 billion people are increasing food needs exponentially.  The use of fire to destroy the trees add additional carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Fossil fuel and industrial waste account for enormous amounts of CO₂ that the earth simply cannot handle.

            Even daily use products such as sunscreen is a pollutant banned in Hawaii, Key West, and Palau. A brilliant research study by Hodge, Hopkins, Saha, and Jha  stated:

                      Sunscreens are topical personal care products that provide protection against the sun’s ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation. Ultraviolet (UV) filters are compounds added to sunscreens to block, absorb, or reflect the sun’s UV rays, but are of major emerging concern due to their widespread use and global distribution. They pose a significant risk to marine organisms owing to their chemical properties, including high lipophilicity which increases their bioavailability. 

                  A recent study in Miami noted the severe increase of “Forever Chemicals” (PFA) along the coasts and in the rivers of Florida. The study noted a damaging environment for whales, dolphins, and manatees.

            The Mediterranean Sea currently is the warmest in recorded history.

            Experts claim that there is 13 million tons of plastic in the Pacific but that could double within 25 years.

Reggie McCleod’s BIG RIVER MAGAZINE remains a prodigious supply of information on the Upper Mississippi. His sources are impeccable. I have echoed his rants against Pattison companies, especially its attempts to sell Iowa water to California and now it requested withdrawal of 3.7 billion gallons of water to process silica sand. The closest town to Pattison Sand, Garnavillo, uses about 40 million gallons annually. The entire country uses less than 1 billion gallons. 

The Federal Emergency Control Agency has declared the Mississippi River as the most endangered river in America. Not only is this water polluted, it is prone to flooding. The overall management of the river has been less than acceptable. 

The current news inundated us this month with sorrowful stories such as Des Moines asking 600,000 users not to water their lawns this summer because the pollution in the raw water takes too much time to purify and the Water Works Dept. cannot produce enough clean water.

Our beloved Governor, Kim Reynolds, decided that the test results on various Iowa rivers were so bad that she eliminated the problem with one pen stroke. She defunded water testing. 

ALLISIONS AND COLLISIONS

            The continuous immigrant boat sinkings are so prolific they are hardly mentioned in the media. In August alone, a boat sank off Italy killing 26 and 12 missing. Off the Dominican Republic, a boat sank killing 4 with 20 missing. Near Yemen an immigrant boat sank killing 60. Thousands of immigrants, every year, make the suicidal attempt to float to a better life. Enormous poverty, lack of health facilities, war, starvation, and virtually no hope force people to seek life elsewhere. 

The first ten days of September were filled with destroyed boats or ships. Among the many reports of boat failures are:

• AWADI, a 161’ Spanish fishing boat was gutted by fire.
• DOLCE VENTO, an 86’ luxury motor yacht immediately sank upon launching.

• A Venezuelan drug boat was sunk by U.S. forces
• JADE, a 292’ Dutch ship ran aground in the Ghent-Turneuzen Canal.
• An unnamed boat sank off British Columbia but no one was hurt.
• An unnamed boat in the Ivory Coast was sunk by a raging hippopotamus killing 11.
• An unnamed boat exploded at the fueling dock on Lake St. Clair, MI injuring 2, killing a dog, and damaging the dock
• Tug Boat PSIP 160.5 holed her hull when smacking a coral head. It was pushed to shallow water by another Indonesian tug and partially sunk.

CRUISE NEWS

            The cruise industry is growing briskly with over 37 million passengers expected for this year creating a frenzy of shipbuilding around the world including Asia and Finland and thus underscoring President Trumps demand for more, bigger, and better shipyards in the U.S.

            Royal Caribbean is adding a quad of identical ships to their fleet, each passing the 1000’ mark and able to handle 5,610 passengers. The ICON of the SEAS, STAR of the SEAS, and LEGEND of the SEASare available with the fourth unnamed ship soon to hit the water. These ships are a veritable theme park  on a hull aiming at family one-stop everything you can possibly want vacation.

BOAT STUFF

            Old school aficionados love wooden boats, and perhaps the most artistically developed of racing boats is the incredible sled-boat RAGTIME, a 61’ 24,000 lb. displacement grand prix circuit champion. 

            In the 1960’s she was called the “Black Box” by her competitors who thought she was a freak. The Sydney-Hobart Committee banned her. But in following years, RAGTIME ate her competition in huge gulps. During the Los Angeles to Tahiti race, she suffered an engine failure, broken main batten, a leaking keel but still managed to complete the race over others by a mere 7 days, setting a record of 14 days, 16 hours, 24 minutes, and 23 seconds. WOODEN BOAT MAGAZINE has a lengthy article on her history that is worth the price of a subscription.

Note REGTIME’s deep keel and spade rudder.

            SAIL Magazine recently featured the SCOUT 670 LXS, a modest 67’ long, 16.2’ beam 30,000 lb. displacement boat with 5 (yes, count them) 5 Mercury V-12 outboards to run over 60 mph. with bad handrails below deck and the wheel a lonely 11’ from the windshield. This little means of entertainment of your neighbors can be yours for a measly little $6,800,00.00. Pocket change. My birthday is in November. Hint, hint.

SCOUT 670LXS

            When my son was in Junior High, he became addicted to skateboarding possessing only the best Tony Hawk board with wheels made of pure gold (according to the cost) with bearings that would make NASA blush (probably developed with a government grant at MIT or Cal Poly).  He was darn good on half-pipes, hand rails, etc. until the local cop confiscated it when he rode it downtown. The next day the cop’s kid had a really good Tony Hawk skateboard. Ah, small Iowa towns.

Anyway,  the big thing for adult ex-skateboarders is Wake Surfing. It has hit Iowa like a spring storm. Not only do boaters have to watch out for jet skis and water skiers,  now they must watch out for wake boarders trailing behind some boat kicking up a maelstrom of a wake. As mom would say, “It keeps ‘em off the streets and outta the bars.” 

          

  The DELTA QUEEN, the beautiful paddle wheeler that plied the Mississippi for many years and drew thousands to people to simply watch the boat steam up or down the river with the calliope tooting old tunes, noting the huge paddle wheel, and reminding their children of a forgotten era, is up for sale, yet again. It took an Act of Congress to keep her from the scrapyard in 2018 and a Presidential Order (Mr. Trump) to allow it to sail on Inland Waters. Unfortunately, the cost of maintaining this historical vessel has bested many investors. She needs boilers, air conditioners, plumbing, heating, and new generators to the tune of about $35 million. OUCH. 

            My old friend Eric Stone has completed his 20^th Rick Waters book. Along with his 15 Trop/Rock albums, Eric has captured the attention of mystery readers everywhere. BTW: Eric is a great connoisseur of food. Duh, writes and sings great music (see him at the sundry Boat Shows), cranks out fun books, has an incredible knowledge of foreign and domestic food, AND has a super girlfriend. Not that I am jealous or anything.

ERIC CHANCE STONE