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From: Christine Kling (no email)
Date: Tue Jun 06 2006 - 09:08:44 EDT
On Jun 5, 2006, at 5:27 PM, wrote:
> Don't you find it curious that the number of posts to various
> sailing lists
> warning of the dangers of "semi-submerged containers" far outstrips
> the
> numbers where people actually *see* something? And the numbers
> where people
> claim to *hit* something are practically non-existant. IMO, the
> danger of
> actually hitting one of these containers is very small, probably
> far less
> than the danger of being struck by lightning.
Wow, I just got a digest and almost every single post was on this
subject.
I am someone who has actually seen one of these. It was November,
1978 and we were sailing our Islander 44 Kathi II from Honolulu to
Channel Islands Marina in California. We were unable to get north of
the Pacific High that year short of heading for Vancouver, and we
ended up motoring over smooth Pacific swells for a couple of days and
then we flopped and banged for a while because we didn't want to use
up all our fuel. We spotted the container, the top just awash, and
it looked like it had weed and growth of barnacles on it. It was
difficult to tell through the binoculars and we didn't want to get
closer than a few hundred feet.
On that trip that took us 23 days I found that I could go out on deck
at any given moment and within five minutes I could spot a piece of
trash - a garbage bag or a styrofoam cup or a soda can or whatever.
Maybe that crap is always there, but we could see it better because
the water was smooth. We also saw several logs and one whole tree
with roots still intact.
Seeing that container was sobering and scary to be sure. Did it stop
me from cruising? Hell, no. Even though I have seen one of these
things, I looked around me at the miles and miles of ocean and I
figured, "What are the chances I would hit one of these?" I still
say slim to nil. Sure, it can happen, but I'm willing to take that
risk. I could also win the lottery and I'm not planning for that
eventuality either.
Fair winds!
Christine Kling
s/v Talespinner
http://www.christinekling.com
author of BITTER END, third book in the series about tugboat captain
Seychelle Sullivan
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