BoatBanter.com - Some more dumb questions...

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Pete Verdon d wrote:

Rosalie B. wrote:
PyroJames wrote:

I was thinking more about Caribbean charters which is what I'm more
familiar with. I didn't know that the UK HAD charters, let alone
rules for building boats to go into charter. So I've learned
something. (Which I think is a good thing BTW)

There are very few rules about non-commercial sailing in the UK[1]. No
required qualifications for skippers or crew, no rules about the design,
construction or equipment of the boat[2]. Once money is involved,
though, all kinds of regulations apply. It can be quite expensive to
upgrade a privately-used boat to charter spec, and turning hatches round
is one of the things that gets mentioned.

Our hatches are configured so that they can be done either way - i.e.
there are pads in the hatch openings so that you can have the hinges
either on the forward side or on the aft side. I have occasionally
seen them on the aft side, but not often. (I have a list of over 300
of our type of boat, and I've been physically on a lot of them.)

If you close the hatch before you get underway, I can see no advantage
and PLENTY of disadvantages for the hatch to open facing the stern.
Why do you have that regulation?

Because plenty of idiots charter boats :-). I think the main reason for
it is in case the hatch is shut but someone forgets to close the
latches. If a wave comes onto the foredeck with the hinge at the front,
it will tend to push the hatch closed and only a little water will come
into the boat. With the hinge at the back, the wave will pull the hatch
open and rush into the boat.

Maybe this is the difference between hatches - we do not have the
flush hatches. Our hatches have a lip all the way around maybe 3"
that fits down over the raised lip that is inside around the hatch and
the center of the hatch is depressed maybe 3/4" inside the raised lip.
To get under the edge of the hatch, the water would have to go under
the forward edge and then up 3".

Also a wave coming over the bow (which happens fairly often) would be
coming DOWN onto the hatch, and not backward under the lip. It
wouldn't be enough to raise the hatch up, even if it wasn't dogged
shut IMHO. It would have to still have enough force to get the hatch
up even after going in and up.

Except that this is cross posted so it is not just uk.r.s, so it not
just a UK discussion.

I hope you won't object too much to my following the cross posted
thread, even if I don't know the UK rules.

I don't object at all. You're very welcome.

Pete

[1] Though our government seems to be doing its best to change that :-(
[2] There *are* rules if you're building the boat to be sold.

Other than the ventilation issue (which is the greatest one - I favor
natural ventilation rather than spending money to put in A/C), I can
think of no reason to have the hatches one way rather than another.

grandma Rosalie

Larry W4CSC wrote:
Relic Hunter wrote in
:

I live in the NE. Lake Erie is my home lake. But I enjoy reading the
experiences of others.

I was born and raised on Owasco Lake, 40 mi SW of Syracuse. Been a boat
owner, of one sort or another since I was 8 (lovingly restored old oak
rowboat and 1hp Elto outboard circa 1930-something and given to me for
Christmas in 1954..(c; It was painted the same green as the picnic tables
at the state park because my grandfather knew someone.)

Back on topic....is Lake Erie still "dead" or have the two governments
gotten that under control?

We used to tent camp at Fair Haven State Park on Lake Ontario, every
weekend, from the time the snow melted until it returned.....weeks
later!..(c; Larry KNOWS Mooneyes on a beach.

The only boat I own, right now, is a 9.6' Watertender and Yam 3hp outboard
one of the guys at the marina gave me. (I never turned down a free
boat....not one time!) He hated towing it and bought a Fold-A-Bote. It's
a fun boat, though not rippingly fast so my neighbor's kids can play with
it. The ketch I sail on belongs to a friend from Atlanta. We're going
sailing in the morning after the weekenders head back to the slave pits.

Hello Larry. No Lake Erie seems to be in not too bad shape. I sail on an
oil tanker on the Great Lakes and we see quite a few fishing boats on
Lake Erie. The water is not good enough for using directly as drinking
water as in various parts of Lake Superior for example.
I see you are a ham. Been a ham for about 10 years now. In the process
of restoring a 27' Vega. Home here is Nova Scotia and will be sailing
out of Chester. Colin...

Larry W4CSC wrote:

Back on topic....is Lake Erie still "dead" or have the two governments
gotten that under control?

Phosphates in detergents and agricultural runoff were some of the
primary causes of the stagnation of the lake in the 60's. Banning
phosphates and getting farmers to be a smarter in the use of fertilizers
and disposal of "nutrients" from stock-rearing operations started the
ball rolling on the clean-up. Water clarity and oxygen content improved
steadily throughout the 70's and 80's. In the late 80's the zebra
mussel found its way into the ecosystem. Net result of its explosive
growth was a shocking improvement in water clarity in the space of a
dozen years. Whereas in the 60's good water clarity would be in the 6'
range, clarity in the late 90's and currently can be in the 40-60'
range. The bottom of the western basin -35-55' depth- is frequently
clearly visible from altitude when overflying in calm conditions.
The water is clear, but is the lake healthy? No. Recently there have
been blooms of blue-green algae that are toxic for certain species of
fish. The filtration of micro-organisms by the zebra mussels, combined
with the idiotic program of fish-stocking undertaken by Michigan, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, New York and the province of Ontario in order to support
the sport fishing industry has caused a general collapse of the natural
food chain in the lake.

Relic Hunter wrote in
:

Lake Erie has been clean for many years. It is known as the walleye
capital of the world. Steelhead (Lake run rainbow trout) are another
popular fish along with the perch. At the west end near the islands,
bass are plentiful.

Thanks for the information. Y'all boys come on down to the Santee Lakes.
Bring your big poles, the ones with the winches for reels....(c;

SANTEE FISH FACTS

* Lake Marion 110,600 Acres
* Lake Moultrie 60,400 Acres
* 2 Lakes joined by the 6.5 mile Diversion Canal

RECORDS

* Channel Catfish 58lb (World Record)
* Arkansas Blue Catfish 109lbs (State Record)
* Striped Bass 55lbs (State Record)
* Largemouth Bass 16.2lbs (State Record)
* Black Crappie 5 lbs (State Record)

Use a fishing guide service. He'll know where all the STUMPS are. The
lakes are full of them, which bad for boats, but amazing for fishing....

Wonder what it's like to fight a 109 pound catfish??....(c;

Colin wrote in news:FasZd.20009$oh4.746302@ursa-
nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca:

Hello Larry. No Lake Erie seems to be in not too bad shape. I sail on an
oil tanker on the Great Lakes and we see quite a few fishing boats on
Lake Erie. The water is not good enough for using directly as drinking
water as in various parts of Lake Superior for example.
I see you are a ham. Been a ham for about 10 years now. In the process
of restoring a 27' Vega. Home here is Nova Scotia and will be sailing
out of Chester. Colin...

Thanks and nice to meet you, Colin. Yeah, I've been a ham since 1957. I
was 11. It's been a great hobby, ruined my whole life. Let me know if
you're ever in Charleston. Last week we hosted a ham from Switzerland at
our old timer's breakfast. Always lots of fun to breakfast with hams from
all over the world.

prodigal1 wrote in :

The water is clear, but is the lake healthy? No. Recently there have
been blooms of blue-green algae that are toxic for certain species of
fish.

Here in the South, particularly in Eastern NC, blooms of VERY toxic
Pfiesteria piscicida have driven boaters and fishermen crazy as their
toxins effect human memory in a terrible way. Large commercial hog farms
dumping hog sewage into rivers and streams is the root cause.

http://www.nal.usda.gov/wqic/pfiest.html

They call it "The Cell from Hell"....with good reason.

WaIIy wrote:

Certainly not on the American side.

I know you probably aren't joking, but do you actually boat on Lake
Erie?

The farthest I've ever seen down in Lake Erie is about 12 ft and that's
the record for 50 years of looking.

ISTR that you're from Ohio yes? If so, you're in the southwestern end
of the lake where it is the shallowest. Unless you get out N and/or E
of Pelee Is. you are not going to see what I've seen. I've flown over
it, sailed on it and dived in it for almost as long as you.

But the worst thing for any
journalist is to have someone who prominently figures in a story pop
up after the fact and say "He never even tried to talk to me."

A retired journalist. Bob Brown was the only person in any way "vital
to the story" that wasn't interviewed. We don't really know whether
the author tried to talk to him.

He did not try to talk to the owner of Satori. Was even quoted saying
"he is not the sort of person I'd want to talk to". Was the owner "vital
to the story"? I think so, given the attention that part of the story
received , and also given the public naming of a person in such
derogatory fashion.

Even after it was revealed that Satori stayed afloat for 10 days after
the storm and the author reluctantly acknowledged that in subsequent
paperback editions, he still did not attempt to talk to the owner. Nor
did he do enough research to get the story right about where the boat
drifted ashore.

Not just sloppy. Callously irresponsible. Reckless disregard for a
person's reputation. Any responsible journalist would give the subject
an opportunity to comment.