At 05:26 PM 10/29/01, you wrote: >I don't know where this is coming from Mike. Did someone here suggest >we should go out and practice in breaking bar conditions? That's what >they train and pay the CG surf men to do right? I'm not going! No, no one suggested. I was simply pointing out that there is an implied problem of operating where breakers can occur, and not having any capability of coping with such. That operators who operate, like the whale watcher, should not get into a situations where they can get hit by a breaker, unless and even then probably not, if they have a experienced plan for extracting from the resulting problem. For anyone who desperately does not want to tangle with a breaker, the best system is avoid ever getting into places where they occur. On the other hand, this coast in particular is full of places for just that to happen. And if you work around the open coast, someday it will come to pass that a breaker will find you. There are no exceptions. It will happen. The elephant is in the room. Most folks just don't want to talk about it. And the Coast Guard is not the solution. Quillieute River, Suislaw and Umpqua River stations have been nearly stripped of equipment and personel. The actual situation may be much worse than this. Rescue operations have been given a back seat to security. So much for lifesaving on the outer coast. These changes will cost lives this winter. Capt. Mike Maurice Near Portland Oregon.

I don't know where this is coming from Mike. Did someone here suggest we should go out and practice in breaking bar conditions? That's what they train and pay the CG surf men to do right? I'm not going! Our technique, if you can call it that, was to gradually venture out farther and farther in increasingly difficult conditions and see how we coped. How did we like it. But as a learning process, that was secondary. We did this to extend our time when we were willing to go out there and splash about. It was inevitable that once in a while, conditions will occur which pushed out of our comfort zone. Some time way out of our comfort zone <G>. Isn't that how everyone learns about their personal and boat capabilities? Joe Engel -----Original Message----- From: Michael Maurice [mailto:mikem@yachtsdelivered.com] Sent: Monday, October 29, 2001 12:22 PM To: trawler-world-list@samurai.com Subject: TWL: What do you do with a drunken wave? Before any reader gets to taking this personally, note that this is not directed at anyone. You will recall that I mentioned about a week ago about a friend who was bringing a boat up the west coast against my recommendations. I asked for a vote on whether he should live or die. The results of the vote are a tossup, where I could cast the deciding vote. So, much for taking the matter out of my hands. <SNIP>