[Public-List] "The Perfect Storm"

[George Dinwiddie]

Gord,

I don't second-guess what someone else did in extreme conditions. I try 
not to second-guess the bad decisions that I've made in a storm, though 
I do try to understand the circumstances that lead to the decision I 
made. Sometimes little things tip a decision that later turns out to be 
foolish, but had things played out differently those little things might 
have been the difference between one good outcome and another slightly 
less good outcome.

When a friend came home without his boat, having scuttled it when he was 
rescued to prevent it from becoming a hazard to navigation, I listened 
to his story and thought of a few things he "could have done." Except he 
couldn't. He did the best he could given the knowledge he had and the 
situation he was in. On another day, he might have been able to do 
things differently, but for whatever reason, on that day he couldn't. 
I've written about this topic in different circumstances. 
(http://blog.gdinwiddie.com/2007/03/03/bearing-in-mind-that-there-are-many-factors-of-which-i-am-unaware/)

It's also easy to be an arm-chair captain. This friend is a much more 
experienced and competent sailor than I am. He was in the situation and 
I wasn't.

  - George

On 6/7/18 12:50 PM, Gordon Laco via Public-List wrote:
> Hello Gang…
> 
> I’m home from the office and re-watching ‘The Perfect Storm’ while
> having lunch… two things about that film that bugged me when I first
> saw it are still bugging me.
> 
> 1. The Flemish Cap.
> 
> A huge plot line in the movie, and according to the book (which I’ve
> read) in the real story, is the issue of being so far from
> Gloucester, out on the Flemish Cap… and the loss of their ice making
> machine meaning they had to try to rush back before they lost their
> bumper haul of fish.  Then when they know the storm is coming… their
> distance out is depicted as an issue of great peril.
> 
> Well, I have to wonder why they never seem to have even considered
> putting in to St John’s Newfoundland.  They’d have been there in a
> day or so at 10 knots… it’s actually on the way home for them,
> particularly because they were already on their way back when the
> issues developed.  They would have found more services there than at
> home in Gloucester… and wouldn’t have had to face the storm at all.
> Why didn’t they go there?  They could have, easily.
> 
> 2. The Yacht Story.
> 
> The yacht disaster component of this film, and the book as well, is
> dramatically misrepresented.  The owner/skipper wasn’t a fool, as
> shown and written… the problem was the two inexperienced crew members
> he had aboard who panicked and sent an unauthorized mayday call to
> the USCG.  And because the USCG was called out, and forced the
> abandonment of the fully seaworthy yacht, the men from the helicopter
> died after it fell into the sea after running out of fuel.  Brave
> men, but basically murdered by the circumstance created by the
> needless mayday that they were responding to.   The yacht was later
> recovered in fine condition.  The owner was furious with the USCG for
> forcing him to abandon it, thereby exposing the rescuers, himself and
> his crew to needless peril.  He’s written his own book, and has a
> website on the story.
> 
> Anyone else had these thoughts?
> 
> Gordon Laco
> www.gordonlaco.com
> #426 Surprise

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   When I remember bygone days                         George Dinwiddie
   I think how evening follows morn;            gdinwiddie at alberg30.org
   So many I loved were not yet dead,           http://www.Alberg30.org
   So many I love were not yet born.                          also see:
                'The Middle' by Ogden Nash     http://idiacomputing.com
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