There is much to learn from watching video shot at sea, especially in
bad conditions, those which you are likely to encounter infrequently or
maybe not at all. Some pointers for improving what you get out of the clips.

Note where the wind is coming from.
Ask yourself, why is the vessel oriented to the wind or waves in the way
in which it is presented? If this video was produced for entertainment,
the vessel may be deliberately positioned to maximize the effect. Don't
assume that what you see, constitutes "good seamanship". The Discovery
Channel appears to be doing this sort of thing, like the series
"Dangerous Catch".

Even where what is shown was not shot deliberately to distort the effect
or ignore good seamanship, the fact is that what you are being presented
is not "intended" to teach what good seamanship actually would be like.
In other words, unless the presentation is actively trying to teach you
good practices, it may be nearly worthless in that regard.

However, if you are aware of all these side effects, then you may
actually be able to learn something, even if it is merely what not to
do. Just don't assume that entertainment is "instruction".

Even where the video was not shot expressly for entertainment, neither
the visual aspects nor the narration which may have been included at the
time or dubbed in later may be all that informative, as real
instruction. And, of course what I mean is that you will get some
concrete education out of it.

There is a real deterioration going on in video and to some extent even
in books, but certainly in magazines in terms of the education value of
the materials presented. This dumbing down is really dangerous and can
lead any of us into making mistakes which can lead to serious accidents.

The rash of accidents which we have seen recently is no accident and I
believe can be directly related to not paying attention to the details
of our activities.

I will see if I can set up a forum in video format where the available
clippings can be analyzed and critiqued.

Regards,
Mike

I have created a page on my web site that contains comments and links to
about a dozen video clips. The clips are weather and storm related. The
page will get updates ad hoc, so you can expect to find new material as
I get time and run across relevant material.

http://www.yachtsdelivered.com/video.htm

Using the web page this way is pretty crude for this kind of thing, but
I am working with some other people on a better way to post, add,
comment, etc. As soon as we figure out something better I will post details.

Mike

Capt. Mike Maurice
Beaverton Oregon(Near Portland)

The forum on You Tube is a bit clunky, hard to set up for owner and not
that easy to navigate around in for the end user.
There are playlists, for which I can set up any number of folders with
descriptive names and explanations.
There is a favorites list which may or not be all that useful and there
is another section called Vlog; a place where I can add comments of my
choosing to a video(s). So far this last does not seem to be working.
But, I have left one test item in it just the same. There is a mechanism
for uploading videos that you have made. You can send comments and links
to videos that you think should be included in "My Collection".

I have had time to study the clip "Monster Wave" at some length, so I
will use it as an example of what use all this can be. The video is very
short, grainy and dark. It is very hard to see some of the important
detail. Difficult to see the top of the wave.
This kind of over topping of the bow occurs pretty frequently on the
Columbia River Bar. It happens to big ships and it happens to other
boats in the 50-100 foot range. But, the same wave does not impact all
vessels the same.

When you look at a video remember that a wave 60 feet high that will
bother a 1000 foot ship may not be more than a nuisance to a ship of 100
feet. A ship 1000 feet long is more like a piece of real estate than a
vessel and it will not rise but may, depending on the wave period,
steepness and angle, just plow straight on into the wave. Where the
smaller vessel will just ride up and over. I recall that Van Dorn's book
discusses just this aspect.

In the Monster Wave video the wave did not seem to be breaking, but just
steep and diamond like. The bow just seems to have plowed head long into
the wave. There are cases where a destroyer vessel in a combat
situation, going at flank speed has plowed into a wave and never
surfaced, but gone straight to the bottom. Alistair MacLean used just
such a scenario in HMS Ulysses(1955)

Waves which are NOT breaking, even where they come aboard, are not
nearly as dangerous or destructive. Any wave which has enough height and
is in a plunging, breaking condition is many times more lethal.

There is lots more to all this, it will have to wait.

Mike

Capt. Mike Maurice
Beaverton Oregon(Near Portland)