Are containers a real threat?

They can be. If you keep an eye on the marine news sites (like
marinelink.com and others) or even NOTAM's you'll see frequent reports
about ships loosing containers. I've heard more rumours of folks
hitting containers than actual reports though. We hit something about
mid-ocean on a trip from San Diego to Hilo back in 2000, damaging our
rudder. Not sure what it was, as we never saw it. Could have been a
container.

I doubt if your RADAR would help much with a floating container. Unless
it was empty and just hit the water, it'll probably be floating just
barely above (or below) the surface. Not a very good RADAR target.

--

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Renewontime
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On Mon, 7 Mar 2005 00:27:09 UTC, renewontime dot com
wrote:

: Are containers a real threat?
:
: They can be. If you keep an eye on the marine news sites (like
: marinelink.com and others) or even NOTAM's you'll see frequent reports
: about ships loosing containers.

Indeed. But I am not sure that they idea that they bob around for
ages, lurking just beneath the surface, is anything other than a scare
story.

: I've heard more rumours of folks
: hitting containers than actual reports though. We hit something about
: mid-ocean on a trip from San Diego to Hilo back in 2000, damaging our
: rudder. Not sure what it was, as we never saw it. Could have been a
: container.

Or, with all due respect, any number of other things. Of course it
doesn't really matter, after the event, what one hits ...

Ian

renewontime dot com wrote:
Are containers a real threat?

We hit something about
mid-ocean on a trip from San Diego to Hilo back in 2000, damaging our

rudder. Not sure what it was, as we never saw it. Could have been a

container.

I've never seen (nor hit) a container at sea, but I have hit a whale
near the Channel Islands (off Southern California coast). The whale
was big enough to completely stop the boat's momentum while under
sail. My guess is that we hit it with the keel, but we were very
lucky it wasn't the rudder.

dudley
..

dudley wrote:

renewontime dot com wrote:

Are containers a real threat?

We hit something about
mid-ocean on a trip from San Diego to Hilo back in 2000, damaging our


rudder. Not sure what it was, as we never saw it. Could have been a


container.


I've never seen (nor hit) a container at sea, but I have hit a whale
near the Channel Islands (off Southern California coast). The whale
was big enough to completely stop the boat's momentum while under
sail. My guess is that we hit it with the keel, but we were very
lucky it wasn't the rudder.

dudley
.

It would have been luck only if the designer had put the rudder at
the front.

Are you sure you hit the whale, or was it the other way around?

Terry K

Have a friend who is single handing at this moment to New Zealand from
Port Angeles Washington (he left in May). Anyhow, he has hit both whales
(bent the rudder) and sunken container (nice dent in bow) in his many years
in his homebuilt 32' steel hull.
Gordon
BTW this is Edwards 4th or 5th round trip. Oh, did I mention he is 79 yrs
old?
Gordon


"Terry Spragg" wrote in message
...
dudley wrote:

renewontime dot com wrote:

Are containers a real threat?

We hit something about
mid-ocean on a trip from San Diego to Hilo back in 2000, damaging our


rudder. Not sure what it was, as we never saw it. Could have been a


container.


I've never seen (nor hit) a container at sea, but I have hit a whale
near the Channel Islands (off Southern California coast). The whale
was big enough to completely stop the boat's momentum while under
sail. My guess is that we hit it with the keel, but we were very
lucky it wasn't the rudder.

dudley
.

It would have been luck only if the designer had put the rudder at
the front.

Are you sure you hit the whale, or was it the other way around?

Terry K

In message , Gordon
writes
Have a friend who is single handing at this moment to New Zealand from
Port Angeles Washington (he left in May). Anyhow, he has hit both whales
(bent the rudder) and sunken container (nice dent in bow) in his many years
in his homebuilt 32' steel hull.
Gordon
BTW this is Edwards 4th or 5th round trip. Oh, did I mention he is 79 yrs
old?

Respect.
--
Keith replace nospam with ilf0rd