[Have fun this weekend. But please...be attentive, wear your PFD, and don't operate any boat when you're drunk! —Aaron & Tim]

(photo of USCGC Eagle in Elliott Bay, by Joshua Trujillo/Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

COAST GUARD ISSUES BOATING SAFETY ALERT

SEATTLE- The Coast Guard advises all boaters and paddlers venturing out on the water this Fourth of July to be responsible and prudent mariners, to save the alcohol for when the trip is completed, and to maintain a constant safety vigil.

The Fourth of July holiday is not only the busiest boating period of the year, but it also holds the tragic distinction of being the deadliest nationwide.

Alcohol use is the leading contributing factor in fatal boating accidents; it was listed as the leading factor in 21% of the deaths.

The best insurance for surviving most sudden water emergencies is to wear a life jacket. There are a wide variety of comfortable, Coast Guard-approved life jackets available.

“Understanding your role when operating a vessel goes beyond preparing your ice chest and tackle box. The rules of safe and sober operation are no different than in an automobile. Being prepared in the event of a maritime emergency is of primary importance.” Said Captain Roy Nash, Chief of Staff, Coast Guard Pacific Northwest. “The waterways in the northwest are a beautiful resource that must be enjoyed responsibly.”

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I’m gonna do it again. I’m going to reveal that I’m a hopeless, shameless fan-boy when it comes to the United States Coast Guard. If you throw a square-rigged sailing ship into the mix, I’m absolutely defeated. I have no defense against this sort of thing.

If traditional sailing ships hold even a little bit of attraction for you, perhaps you’ll spend a few minutes looking at a selection of photographs I took today.

First, here’s a picture from the Coast Guard website. If you look very carefully, you can actually see me. But you’ve got to know where to look. More on that later.

(Photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Tara Molle, U.S. Coast Guard)

Here’s Eagle’s Captain, Chris Sinnett.

I’m not sure this is the right term, but I would call this the “quarter deck”, where all the important stuff happens:

But important stuff happens everywhere aboard a large sailing vessel. These cadets are sanding a companion ladder. It’s a steel ship, but it’s got plenty of woodwork to maintain.

This gives me an idea, though. I mean, gosh, with four or five of these cadets at my disposal, I’m pretty sure I could tidy up my own boat, Two Lucky Fish, in short order!

Then I went belowdecks where the officers’ quarters are. I took some shots of the “fancy bits”. Trust me, it ain’t all like this. Mostly, the Eagle’s interior looks like, well, like the interior of a steel warship. But there are some portions that express a bit more grandeur and formality.

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After being ferried out of the Port of Edmonds marina aboard a TANB (Trailerable Aid-to-Navigation Boat), a small group of visitors (part of a much larger group), climbed up the side of US Coast Guard Cutter Eagle.

Once on deck, we were officially greeted by Cadet First Class Craig Johnson.

We got a tour; thanks to our guides, cadets Ted Borny and Carl Luxhoj. Here are some pictures I took.

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She’s on her way to the Tall Ships Tacoma festival, July 3-7 in the Foss Waterway. She’s coming down Admiralty Inlet today, bound for Seattle, and will stop in Edmonds to pick up several “Distinguished Representatives of the World Press”. Oh, and me, too, by the way.

So until I get a chance to post something about my trip, I’ll assign some background reading to the class. Be sure to do the reading…the vessel’s Nazi history is fascinating, and the fact that she was “taken a prize” at the end of World War II harkens back to traditions from the age of sail.

Eagle’s home page at the USCG Academy

Eagle info page at the USCG website

USCGC Eagle article at Wikipedia

OK, so you know how I’m always harping on PFDs and man-overboard recovery? 

Well the Coast Guard just sent out an article that vindicates my position! At least, I’m going to pretend that it vindicates my position. Mostly because I like using the word “vindicate”.

COLD WATER IMMERSION: THE SHOCKING REALITY
by Jeffrey Pollinger

Think you’re a good swimmer? It may not matter if you suddenly and unexpectedly end up in the frigid coastal and inland waters of the Pacific Northwest. Every year, dozens of swimmers and boaters drown in lakes, rivers and coastal waters in the Pacific Northwest. But it may surprise you that many victims don’t die as a result of poor swimming skills or the effects of hypothermia, but from the immediate effects of cold water immersion, or cold water shock.

Unlike hypothermia, the effects of cold water immersion can lead to death in just a few minutes and in some cases, instantly.

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Perhaps you clicked through to the post over at Ask JackRabbit that I linked to a couple days ago. If not, take a closer look.

Raymarine’s new MAP (minimum advertised price) policy has really stirred the pot, and in today’s entry, Peter James describes Jack Rabbit Marine’s response to the changing character of the marine electronics business.

It may confuse some consumers, but given the realities of the modern marketplace, it may be the only way to stay competitive. Check it out:

So we’re going to introduce a two-tier pricing system. You can pay a low price, competitive with the internet-only stores if you know what you are doing and need no support. Or you can choose to pay a higher price that qualifies you for full support including technical advice, installation help and a full warranty and replacement service.

As a consumer, I find this arrangement attractive. The fact is that I want to work out electronics installation issues for myself sometimes, while other times I need some extra help. In the midst my varying levels of confidence, I would prefer to do most of my purchasing at one or two places; I value the relationships that are formed when I conduct ongoing business with a firm.

For example, I make a lot of purchases at Fisheries Supply and The Offshore Store. They’re local for me, and I know the people there. For me, price is second to cultivating those valuable relationships; but it’s still a close second, know what I mean? The fact that both outfits are price-competitive with all but the lowest of bare-bones online discounters makes my choice pretty easy.

But I doubt boaters in many parts of the country have the same great choices I do, and Jack Rabbit’s new two-tier pricing structure, appealing to both bargain-seeking and service-seeking customers, could work out really well.

I’ve been listening to a lot of AC/DC recently. But that’s not important right now. Besides, they’re Australian, and the Rocna anchor was designed in New Zealand. I should probably have selected a Flight of the Conchords musical reference, since they’re from New Zealand.

Anyhoo! I’ve decided to get a Rocna anchor and try it out aboard Two Lucky Fish. The Rocna is one of the new generation of Funny Looking Anchors we’ve discussed here previously.

I’ve got 6-kg model on its way from Suncoast Marine in Vancouver, the North American manufacturer. This should be plenty big enough for my C-Dory 22, especially considering that I don’t usually anchor out when it’s really rough, and I cruise in areas where some sort of shelter is nearly always close at hand. I don’t need a hurricane anchor.

I’ll report on it periodically as I gain experience with it. I’m not going to attempt to conduct genuine “scientific” testing, but I might take it out to the beach with my current Bruce-clone “Claw” anchor and a similar-sized Delta I can borrow from my sister, and play around with them all in the sand.

All I know now is that my Claw anchor seems to stay in place about as well as a pile of loose chain would. Yeah, I know…I’m probably not setting it right. That’s almost certainly true. I don’t claim to be any sort of anchoring expert.

But that’s sort of the point.

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Here at Navagear, we’ve got a time-honored tradition of being confused about MMSI numbers. Let’s continue, shall we?

For those just joining, MMSI stands for Maritime Mobile Service Identity, and it’s a unique number assigned to your vessel for identification purposes within digital communication  protocols such as DSC (Digital Selective Calling, a feature included on virtually all new VHF and SSB radios) and AIS (Automated Identification System, in use by large commercial vessels and some recreational craft).

Oh wait…did I just say that MMSI numbers were assigned to vessels? That’s NOT entirely accurate. There are MMSI numbers assigned to ground stations, and groups of vessels, for instance.

And in the United Kingdom, apparently, there are MMSI numbers assigned to the new DSC-equipped handheld VHF radios. In fact, the UK Radiocommunications Agency has been quite clear about this:

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Be sure to read Captain Richard Rodriguez’s follow-up posting on the incident. Still a lot of unanswered questions, but a good deal of play-by-play on how it all worked out. Kudos to all the A1 Marine Services participants.

If you have any interest at all in understanding the marine electronics market, I strongly suggest you read today’s post by Peter James over on Ask JackRabbit:

New MAP Policy from Raymarine

Many electronics companies, including Raymarine, set MAP prices for their products. This is the Minimum Advertised Price, which is the lowest price that a dealer is allowed to use in advertising the product or listing it on a website. The dealer can sell the product at any price at all - he just can’t advertise it for under MAP.

The MAP price for an E120, for example, is $3899 (list price is $4600). Most dealers who sell online use a variant on the technique shown above from the Consumers Marine website. They show the MAP price, and invite the reader to click to see the actual selling price (at JackRabbit, you see the actual selling price when you add the product to your shopping cart). Clicking at Consumers Marine opens a pop-up window that shows the actual selling price. The MAP limitation applies only to dealers. Anyone with a web store can open an account with a wholesaler, buy an E120 at dealer price, and advertise it for any price at all. So this attempt to set a floor on pricing ends up penalizing dealers - who are undercut on advertised prices by the scruffy-guy-in-his-pajamas web stores.

Raymarine has decided to get tough.

Click here to read the rest of the story…