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Mark Borgerson

In article , lid
says...
"Mark Borgerson" wrote in message
.net...
In article , rlong003
@maine.rr.com says...
I've been asked by private email to comment on the Bill Grey
disappearance.

Back when I was flying general aviation airplanes, I had a lot more
opportunity to the mysterious deaths of people engaged in my favorite
activity. When a plane went down without clear cause, the newsgroups I
frequented then would erupt with speculation followed by flames about the
futility and disrespect of speculation.

I never found the speculation that objectionable myself as long as people
were not claiming to have the answer because of their superior knowledge,
intellect, and analytical skills. Safety in any hazardous environment is
always enhanced by pondering what could go wrong and how you would
prevent
or respond to it.

Although I now get paid for applying my knowledge, intellect, and
analytical
skills to things like the sinking of the Titanic, I couldn't begin to
form
an opinion about what actually happened here. However, it's instructive
for
anyone who takes a small craft to sea to think about how this this boat
could have disappeared so suddenly that no distress call could be made.

If there's only one person aboard, and that person goes overboard,
the boat can take as long as it wants to disappear, and there won't
be a distress call.

Mark Borgerson

True, but he did had a history of being tethered and wearing a PFD.

Depending on the boat and his strength, getting back aboard might
have been impossible. That depends a lot on the length of the
tether and whether the boat was in motion.

In my younger days (more than 30 years ago), I singlehanded around
SF Bay in an Islander 24 for a few months after I got out of the Navy.
I even ventured as far north as Bodega Bay. After a few foggy
mornings out there, I decided I wouldbe better off going back to
graduate school! It was bad enough in the summer. I probably
would never have ventured outside the Golden Gate in the winter.

Since sea time in Large Gray Boats doesn't quite count the same
as time in your own sailboat, I was a much less experienced
sailor than Bill Gray, though.

Mark Borgerson