Blog
Seamanship Safety
Keeping the 'Sunny-side' Up
In order to remain upright when under sail, a sailboat needs ballast. In modern fin keel boats, the ballast is sometimes hung on the bottom of the fin—a design method that can, and has, resulted in several catastrophic failures. If the ballast/keel is suddenly lost, the boat will probably roll over before the crew can reduce sail.
Most mechanical failures will signal their presence before they turn catastrophic—if you stay alert.
Why do fin keels fail, and what do you look for as a sign of impending keel failure? Roger Marshall addresses that issue in an online article at BoatWorks.
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Violence
Even Elliot Rodger knew guns were a deterrent
So Rodger picked his venue carefully, as noted by Prof. John Lott:
How can we prevent mass murderers? Elliot Rodger, the 22-year-old who killed six innocent people this past Friday in California, is causing everyone to ask that question, yet again.
Rodger spent over a year and a half meticulously planning his attack.
His 141-page “manifesto” makes it clear that he feared someone with a gun could stop him before he was able to kill a lot of people...
If police were around everywhere, we could stop these attacks. But, of course, they aren’t. And with the exception of the police, Santa Barbara County, where Isla Vista is located, is essentially a gun-free zone.
As of February 2014, there were only just 53 individuals with a concealed handgun permit in the county.
Nothing unusual about this case; it fits the pattern of failure of the "gun-free zone" model.
Murderers like Elliot Rodger are cowards who plan for zero resistance. Before the anti-gun zealots grind off all of their tooth enamel, you would thing that at least one of them would step up and admit their error—if they can see it.
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Violence
Another cycle of shifting the blame
More 21st century (liberal) math: Irresponsible dysfunctional family + ignored warning signs = NRA plunder.
SANTA BARBARA, California—Death descended upon the Isla Vista community in southern California Friday night as a murderous young man reportedly played out his narcissistic plan, echoing sentiments from his disturbing manifesto.
Crossing the paths of obsession and death, Elliot Rodger, according to police, stabbed and killed his three roommates, tried and failed to gain entry to the Alpha Phi sorority, shot and killed three more outside the sorority, and continued on to shoot and maim with his car numerous others until being reportedly shot by swift-acting police officers and dying of a gun shot wound to the head.
From reading some of the news coverage, It appears that 'murder-by-knife' is just an insignificant warm-up for the main event, 'murder-by-gun'; after all, it's the guns that are the real culprits.
"Why did Chris die? Chris died because of craven, irresponsible politicians and the NRA..."
This incident represents the best 'fix' that liberals can come up with as they are again stymied by the Constitution—as well they should be.
The good news is that there is an answer to this kind of problem. Even then, it would be best for every law-abiding citizen to keep a gun handy.
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Smith & Wesson
M1940 Light Rifle
It's only natural that, with a company that has so many winners, there would be a few losers. Here is a piece of S&W design history that didn't make the grade.
Law and Order
Where's my tank?
There is a growing number of individuals in this nation that are looking at the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) as though it has become a division of "Toys R Us." The following video report illustrates the reason why.
Many people are concerned, and rightly so, with the current trend of militarizing our civilian police force. I think that almost everyone would agree that the police, when caught in a firefight, need reliable armament and cover. It is the attitude and rhetoric that have people worried the most.
Listen to "Sgt. Dan Downing of the Morgan County [Indiana] Sheriff's Department" state that, "When I first started we really didn't have the violence that we see today," adding, "The weaponry is totally different now that it was in the beginning of my career, plus, you have a lot of people who are coming out of the military that have the ability and knowledge to build IEDs and to defeat law enforcement techniques."
One person who had observed this video commented: "And here I was thinking the FBI statistics have been saying violent crime as well as crime in general was at its lowest point in since 1967... Except the rates really are down and its not thanks to police or the courts who let criminals go on plea deals. Its the drastic increase in gun ownership namely among women. I have to wonder. How did the Cops in 1967 handle the higher violence rates without machine guns and armored vehicles?"
Valid points and questions. But, what has a lot of military veterans upset is the implication that American military veterans are being systematically profiled as potential domestic terrorists. I know that there have been some major cases where military veterans have turned into violent criminals, but the majority of veterans are not only law-abiding, but they would be the first to go after the outlaws.
Military veterans should be considered an asset to homeland security, not a liability.
Homeland security begins in the home, and the 'armed citizen' is the first line of defense!
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Safety
Rule 1
What happens when a crew abandons an (armed) Russian BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle at a downtown intersection in Mariupol, Ukraine? What could possibly go wrong?
It takes a village...
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Navigation
U.S. Coast Guard to Test Automatic Identification System (AIS) Aids to Navigation (ATON)
[The following information regarding the integration of AIS (Automated Identification System) data into the ATON (Aids to Navigation) program comes from the Local Notice to Mariners. It includes some new symbols for Chart 1.]
In the near future, the U.S. Coast Guard and other authorized agencies and organizations (i.e., U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Marine Exchange of Alaska) will begin transmitting AIS ATON messages and marine safety information via AIS for testing and evaluation. The exact content, location, and times of these broadcasts will be announced in future Local Notices to Mariners.
AIS is an internationally adopted radio communication protocol that enables the autonomous and continuous exchange of navigation safety related messages amongst vessels, lifeboats, aircraft, shore stations, and aids to navigation (AIS ATON). AIS ATON stations broadcast their presence, identity (9-digit Marine Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) number), position, and status at least every three minutes or as needed. These broadcasts can originate from an AIS station located on an existing physical aid to navigation (Real AIS ATON) or from another location (i .e., AIS Base Station). An AIS Base Station signal broadcasted to coincide with an existing physical aid to navigation is known as a Synthetic AIS ATON. An electronically charted, but non-existent as a physical aid to navigation, is identified as a Virtual AIS ATON. The latter two can be used to depict an existing aid to navigation that is off station or not watching properly or to convey an aid to navigation that has yet to be charted. All three variants can be received by any existing AIS mobile device, but they would require an external system for their portrayal (i.e., AIS message 21 capable ECDIS, ECS, radar, PC). How they are portrayed currently varies by manufacturer, but the future intention is for the portrayal to be in accordance with forthcoming International Standards (i.e., IEC 62288 (Ed. 2), IHO S-4 (Ed. 4.4.0)). Mariners capable of receiving and displaying these test AIS messages are encouraged to provide feedback and report any anomalies to the USCG NAVCEN Website.
Sailing
On the edge: wind gusts and weather helm
The Extreme Sailing Series is designed for adrenaline junkies who race identical 40-foot performance honeycomb-cored, carbon-fiber catamarans at double-digit speeds that have been clocked as high as 30 knots.
Back in the days when the square-riggers were doing battle, being a good sailor with a responsive crew was a critical part of winning, or even surviving, a battle. You had to maneuver your guns into effective position while keeping the enemy from doing the same. If you got caught by an untimely wind shift, or made a tactical mistake and wound up "in irons", you became a "sitting duck" to your adversary's guns, and it meant that your fate was sealed. You were, at best, going to have a very bad day.
Today, aggressive maneuvering under sail is still a vital part of sailing competition. The only thing lacking is the part where the loser gets blasted into flaming wreckage—almost.
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Technology
Why 'Smart Guns'?
To start, this 'smart gun' technology doesn't reconcile well with the traditional mandate of responsibility associated with the ownership of firearms in a free society. But, there are other concerns.
Joseph Steinberg sums up the controversy quite well with the profound comment, "fire extinguishers don't use batteries."
Being a subscriber of the KISS principle, and understanding that we live in an age of hacking, tracking, jamming and malfunction, I'm inclined to stand my ground with the opinion that only a 'dumb-ass' would require a 'smart' gun—and the root of the problem lies therein.
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Civil Rights
SCOTUS Declines to Hear Gun Case
The United States Supreme Court declined to take up a case from the Third Circuit that would offer some needed clarification to a United States citizen's civil right to bear arms.
Drake v. Jerejian is a New Jersey law mandating that Garden State residents demonstrate a “justifiable need” to carry a handgun in public. While any state resident can apply for a handgun permit, as few as two out of every 10,000 are approved, with local officials given wide latitude to reject applications despite the fact that state law spells out “justifiable need” as “specific threats or previous attacks which demonstrate a special danger to the applicant’s life that cannot be avoided by means other than by issuance of a permit to carry a handgun.”
The court went on to say that because New Jersey’s law predated the Heller decision, “New Jersey’s legislators could not have known that they were burdening Second Amendment conduct.”
“Americans are not required to justify their need to exercise a fundamental right. If the government can force you to provide a reason to exercise your right, then it’s no longer a right.” —Alan Gura
With the above quote from Alan Gura in mind, the United States Supreme Court seems to disagree with Gura, and apparently SCOTUS thinks that infringing on a citizen's civil rights is OK as long as the infringement is based on stare decisis.
We still have a ways to go!
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Navigation
OceanGrafix to Offer Small-Craft
Book Charts and Folio Charts
Two new navigational tools will soon be available: small-craft book charts and folio charts. Specially designed for small, non-commercial users, the small-craft book charts include several front-and-back printed sheets and are bound in a protective layer. The folio charts include multiple charts----those utilized during typical boating paths----in an easy-to-use accordion style format. Watch the OceanGrafix website for more information on these products in the weeks ahead!
Navigation
New from NOAA: Chart Services Bulletin
The Office of Coast Survey recently launched a new communiqué called the Chart Services Bulletin. Issued as needed, the bulletin will be distributed to charting businesses and chart users, sharing information on service interruptions (planned and unplanned), future new editions and technical updates.
Coast Survey also encourages the public to use the inquiry and comment page to share ideas or concerns and to ask questions.
Read the first Chart Services Bulletin here.