BEYOND THE HORIZON

January 20026

INLAND WATERWAYS

INLAND WATERWAYS

            Sitting in snow after two blizzards, it is hard to comprehend that the Missouri River is very low impeding tows and forcing barges to be half full. By adjusting the Gavin’s Point Dam near Yankton, SD, the Army Corps of Engineers can regulate flow; however, tow companies are pointing out trouble spots, especially in Missouri. 

Stephen Carmel, the President’s nomination for the U.S. Dept. of Transportation Maritime Administration, told his Senate confirmation committee that America needs to rebuild her maritime sector to be “stronger, smarter, faster, and ready.” He also stated, “A stronger maritime sector is not nostalgia. It’s strategy. It means resilient supply chains we control, credible logistics for our joint forces, good jobs across our coasts, rivers, and Great Lakes, and freedom to move what America needs, when and where America needs it, under our own flag.”
            When prodded by Democrats about Mr. Trump’s cancellation of port projects, Carmel responded that he was not there to weigh in on decisions.
            Mr. Carmel is a former Maersk executive and is a graduate of the Merchant Marine Academy.

Stephen Carmel

GRAY FLEET

            Admiral Alvin Holsey, head of the Southern Command (COCOMM), retired after a 37-year career of 37 years at the request of Secretary of Defense (War, if you are A Republican) when the Admiral had some issues with the sinking of Venezuelan boats allegedly carrying drugs. Some within the Navy suggested that Holsey wanted more intelligence assurances than he received from the Secretary regarding the vetting of the boats as drug runners. 

            In his retirement remarks, Holsey did not mention the rift between the DOD and him; however, his talk did stress the importance of Flag Officers of maintaining relationships with South American countries, adherence to the Rules of Law, and a dedication to democracy. No officials from the DOD attended his retirement ceremony.

35 new LST’s are on the American shipbuilder’s construction list as the Trump Administration attempts to bolster this particular industry. The LST 100 posts a 330’ length, 52.2’ beam, and a 11’7” draft. It will provide berthing spaces for 282 personnel, and it will travel at 14 knots (and retains the moniker of Long, Slow, Target).

The LST is notoriously slow and its flat bottom makes for a rolling ride. The bow will open as all LST’s do with clam doors and ramps that allow vehicles direct delivery to shore. The new versions will have aviation capabilities, a carrying ability of 500 tons, and 11,000 square feet of storage. 

COLLISIONS

            ANJA 1, a self-propelled barge, allided with a German bridge crushing her bow and allowing seawater to enter. She was able to a pier where umps egressed the water and cranes unloaded enough of her cargo to keep her nose above water. She will undergo repairs. 

The ferry, KATIE UNDERWOOD, missed her landing at Marsh Landing and striking the dock. Her 41 passengers were unhurt. The captain’s ego is another matter. 

The Captain of the UK Guard Boat, RESOLUTE,  desperately tried to enter either Newport Bay or Fishguard Bay during a storm. Unfortunately, he missed both and slammed into the rocks at Dinas Head sticking out between the bays in Pembrokeshire, Wales. 

VALOR, an American fishing boat sank 3 miles west of Newport, OR, but her crew was rescued. 

SMALL BOATS

SMALL BOATS MAGAZINE featured the building of a GUPPY that is recommended for first-time boat builders by designer Sam Devlin. Using a stitch-and-glue method and the usual common tools found at home, a builder can create a small 9’1” x 4’4” sailboat with a draft of 32’ with the board down, and a weight of 80 pounds out of a couple of marine-grade plywood sheets and 56 quare feet of sail. 

POINT OF VIEW

   

Hampton Sides’ excellent book, THE WIDE, WIDE SEA, on Captain James Cook’s third and final voyage to find a Northwest Passage over Canada offers incredible insights to the meeting of Indigenous People of Polynesia, Hawaii, and  Alaska. Some scholars dismiss Cook because his crew brought strife, jealousy, and disease to virtually everywhere he landed. He was murdered on the big island of Hawaii for debatable reasons. His remains were mutilated; but, some of his bones were recovered and buried at sea.
            According to some modern anthropologists, historians, and other scholars berate Cook’s achievements as merely depositing jealousy, venereal disease, contempt, and cultural demolition on the local people. While this is absolutely true, it was also inevitable eventually. 
            Cook discovered the entirety of the Hawaiian Islands previously missed by earlier explorers. He also correctly noted that the language of Tahiti was very similar to Hawaiian; therefore, these people clearly had ancient connections, and he surmised that these people, lacking navigational tools, had originally come from Asia and migrated by sea guided by expert knowledge of tides, waves, and stars. Linguists, such as the brilliant John McWhorter,  have evidenced this belief. 
            Cook’s voyages, especially the third, are legendary. This book is outstanding.