BEYOND THE HORIZON

NOVEMBER 2024

November 2024

SMALL BOATS

A small boat with 6 passengers capsized in the River Thames but only 5 were rescued and emergency crew were still looking for the missing.

If you think the U.S. has an oceanic immigration problem, England hammers us in a per capita intake. One Saturday, 973 people in 17 small boats were rescued in the English Channel. Four adults and one small boy died during the crossing. Authorities stated that these victims were trampled boarding the boats. During the year, 26,612 people chanced the Channel in 503 boats. Parliament is demanding action be taken against smuggling gangs who promote such expeditions.

The website DISCOVER BOATING has an abundance of articles on small boats including one about dinghies for beginners that the WORLD’S WORST SAILOR might have read before attempting to teach himself the basics of sailing through experiential learning. Personally, I thought my Boatex 12 was perfect for a starter boat; but unfortunately, it is no longer in production.

The article’s sundry instructions suggested that the starter dinghy should have no shrouds or stays, tiller-only steering, no winches, and must be self-righting. I would add it should be light and row-able. The Bauer 10 seems like a good place to begin. Used boats can be had for $3000 with a trailer.

Bauer 10

Fatty Knees

eFoils are the newest water-toy craze found on smoother waters such as lakes and rivers. Expensive ($6000 and up), these consist of a small surfboard deck, a foil shaft of 2 to 3 feet, a forward wing, a rear wing, and an encircled propeller operated from a handheld device that controls speed. One was even spotted on the Cedar River flowing through Cedar Rapids, IA.

Everything is going electronic as if the internal combustion engine was going the way of the plow horse. CNBC aired an expert on the joys of large trucks moving on battery power. His point about school buses as the perfect electric-driven vehicle makes great sense. They only drive for short periods, sit for lengthy times (overnight), and reduce the cost of transportation of students. Interestingly, drivers love it because they are so quiet that they can keep an eye on students and maintain bus discipline. As a former teacher, I love that concept alone.

ECOA E-1 is a new electric motor for boats that is rated at 200 hp. This is built for ECOA by YASA which is owned by Mercedes Benz. Mercury is promoting its 110e and ePropulsion’s X-40 is making the news.

Several issues exist. Trolling motors, such as the Minn-Kota, provide data as to voltage and thrust in pounds. The bigger motors are occasionally rated by horsepower because that is what consumers prefer. Unfortunately, there is no standard.

The second issue is the weight. The electronic motors are heavier than their gas brethren, and the batteries are heavier than gasoline. Furthermore, because of the weight problems, the Center of Gravity is significantly different. BOATING magazine suggested that the best bet for these motors is on pontoons.

GRAY FLEET

The U.S. Navy is preparing for War 2026, a series of exercises, budget planning, shipbuilding, and wargame playing for hostilities with China in 2026. Xi Jinping, the Secretary General of China, announced that they want to be war-ready by 2027. Virtually every article, speech, and communication from the Five-sided World of Wonder is based on this potentiality. One entire issue of the Naval Institute’s PROCEEDINGS was based on “Is war with China inevitable”.

Meanwhile, in the Pacific, China certainly is acting aggressively by buzzing U.S. Navy ships, close encounters with Navy aircraft (the YouTube videos are scary), and generally harassing all Western vessels of any sort.

In a wargame exercise, China surrounded Taiwan with 6 groups of People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) warships amounting to 24 ships including their carrier CNS LIAONI (16), and made 125 aerial sorties around the island to proffer evidence of their ability to quickly blockade Taiwan, who has defense treaties with the United States. This assumes that the President will exercise our commitment which one candidate has said he might not do.

The Philippines are enduring constant harassment by the PLAN ships. A Chinese cutter used water cannons on a fishing boat, the Chinese Coast Guard is consistently harassing Filipino fishing boats, and they have placed 28 warships within the Filipino Exclusive Economic Zone. During the week that all of this was happening, a Chinese cutter intentionally rammed a Filipino ship and surrounded several others. The Chinese have quarreled with the Philippines over ownership of certain islands in the South China Sea since World War II.

Two interesting news items crossed the desk this month. OPERATION ICE CAMP consisted of three weeks in which the US Navy Arctic Submarine Laboratory conducted training, experimentation with tools, and general maintenance.

Another piece of not surprising information was the Navy Submarine Force’s Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in New London, CT is working on 3-D metal printing for machinery parts. They were training by building an auxiliary drain bilge strainer. This seems easier than the old method of molding parts aboard a sub-tender. This is far more effective and efficient.

TRANSPORT FLEET

Military Sealift Command consists of Navy-owned or leased ships with civilian crews supporting the Navy whether with pre-dispositioned ships or sailing our tankers and freighters. According to experts, the U.S. should create a uniform service –not unlike the US Public Health Service and NOAA- for MSC sailors. The proposal declares that the government pays for merchant licenses, pays for mandated physicals, proffers paid training programs, designates specific service time, and allows Veteran status for service in hostile regions.

WHITE FLEET

The beloved SS UNITED STATES has lost its final attempt to stay afloat after conservators failed to gain enough money to pay its debts at Philadelphia, and they settled with Penn Warehouse and Distribution. The Florida city of Okaloosa agreed to remove the ship by 12 December to be sunk as a reef. The city agreed to pay for 30 years of damage to the pier and a $10 million towing fee.

The SS UNITED STATES still holds the record for the fastest transatlantic voyage. It will become the world’s largest artificial reef.

ALLISIONS AND COLLISIONS AND SEA FAILURES

The Russian cargo ship, GRIGORY LOVSTOV, capsized and sank near Sakhalin leaving 3 dead and 4 missing. This 200dwt 135’ ship was overloaded and the cargo shifted.

Singapore’s MED ATLANTIC, crewed by 22 and registered in Malta, had an engine room fire that quickly spread to the funnel. Singapore Civil Defense Force and Coast Guard evacuated the crew and hosed the ship to provide cooling to all areas until the fire burned itself out.

An unknown boat full of immigrants capsized near Djibouti with 45 dead and 115 rescued. Meanwhile, another batch of immigrants in the Niger River. 150 were rescued buy an equal number were missing.

BLUE LAGOON, a bulk carrier, sprung a leak and was abandoned. The crew was successfully rescued by the Taiwan Coast Guard.

The ferry MERDY sank about 100 yards from shore. 58 managed to swim to shore but 120 drowned.

HMNZS MANAWANUI, a survey ship, hit a reef and caught on fire. The crew was safe.

An unknown transport carrying a load of new cars sank in the Persian Gulf.

An unknown Chinese PLAN Type 041 Zhov-class submarine at the dock at Wuchang Shipyard.

The mv W.C. JAMES quickly sank in the Tennessee River as it departed from the Walker Boatyard. The three-member crew swam safely to the shore, according to the Coast Guard which is investigating the incident. The twin-screw towboat was built in 1973, and the owners will have it salvaged.

Did someone forget to put back the plug?

MERCHANT FLEET

Don’t tell anybody, but Democrats and Republicans can work well together on a bill as long as no one talks about it. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) were supported by Marco Rubio (R-FL) and John Garamendi (D-CA) in introducing a bill to build more shipyards. China has the world’s largest Navy, maintains dozens of shipyards, and employs over 600,000 shipyard builders. The U.S. has 153,000 shipbuilders. Worse, China has orders for 1,700 new ships.

Not only is the U.S. lagging in shipbuilding potential, but one of the two largest American shipbuilders, Newport News Shipbuilding, has faltered in the quality of workmanship with faulty and poor welding on submarines and surface ships. One thing a submarine can’t handle is a weak weld. Spring a leak and you sink.

California Governor, Gavin Newsom, despite protests from the military, port authorities, shipbuilders, cruise lines, the Coast Guard, and cargo operators, vetoed a bipartisan bill regarding the draconian diesel particulate filter mandate for commercial ships operating within California waters. The California Air Resource Board requires all vessels to have a controversial filter even though no research is available on diesel particulates from ships, no existing filter can attain the necessary levels needed, and virtually everyone in the seagoing business is opposed to the overwhelming compulsory rules.

The problem stems from the environmental group’s election-year demands. Evidently, Newsom found himself in a political position between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Environmentalists carry a ton of weight in California. Their overall aim is laudable, correct, and right. Unfortunately, the mandates are beyond current capabilities.

Don’t you just love politics.

INLAND WATERWAYS

The inland waters are so low that five tows along the Illinois River went aground in one week. This backed up barge traffic for 15 boats. The lack of current has not moved sediment; therefore, it simply collects and lowers the difference between the river bottom and the surface.

The Army Corps of Engineers has used the Lock and Dams to raise water levels. The Corps expressed concern that the low levels will freeze creating issues next spring.

The Upper Mississippi at St. Louis is about 5 feet below normal operating levels. Authorities stated that no grounding has occurred, and the channel is becoming narrower. Worse, dredging has failed to conquer the problem because of slow current, thus allowing sediment to fill in as fast as it is dredged.

HISTORY

The steamer IDLEWILD was built in 1914 by John Rees and Sons Company for the West Memphis Packet Company. It was sold in 1928 to the Greater New Orleans Amusement Company as an excursion boat but competition was great and it was sold to a group from St. Louis until it was sold again in 1947 and renamed the AVALON. Her coal-burning boilers were replaced with oil-burning boilers in 1953. She continued her life as a tramp excursion steamer until she hit a lock gate injuring 23 passengers who immediately sued the company which declared bankruptcy in 1958.

Sold again, she was hauled to Kentucky, restored beautifully, and had a name change to BELLE OF LOUISVILLE. Interestingly, she still works as an excursion boat 110 years after she was built.

CHRISTMAS IDEAS FOR READERS

— CDs by Eric Stone. BOAT SONGS collection 1, 2, and 3; SONGS FOR SAILING; or SCUBA TUNES.

— Books by Eric Stone. He has written a large series of beachy adventure/mystery books about hero Rick Waters. I just received his most recent edition, PIRATE WATERS.