"Calif Bill" wrote in message
nk.net...

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On 15 May 2006 08:22:11 -0700, "
wrote:

The vast majority of
pleasure boaters self certifying sea time to sit for the OUPV or
100-ton license do so with a wink, and a nod, and would also suffer
from a guilty conscience if they were so endowed.

I've heard you say that before, any supporting statistics or evidence?
Certainly anyone who has been boating for half a lifetime or more
should have no problem documenting sufficient hours, same for anyone
who uses their boat several times a week for 5 to 10 years.


Pray tell, how would all these boaters "document" their hours?


And how does hours on the water translate to good experience? Lots of
people spend hours a day on driving their cars, and they are still
incompetent.


Exactly. And, keeping a log is (if you think about it a bit), sort of like
someone who's trying to learn a skill from another person who's doing it
incorrectly. Practicing the wrong thing gets you nowhere.
Documenting....what? We've all seen boaters who behave like pigs. If they
keep logs, are they of any value?

Wayne.B wrote:
On 15 May 2006 23:37:35 -0700, "
wrote:

You can accumulate an hour a day for a million days, and you won't have
qualifying sea time.

That's true but it will also make you at least 2,740 years old.

The fact is that many, many people who are serious boaters can
accumulate legitimate amounts of sea time without lying about it.

I agree that many can.

I know from observation that others simply lie, or count every time
they move the boat from its slip to the adjacent fuel dock and back as
a "day" of experience. One of the red flags that I overheard in the
seminar was the assurance that the instructors at the school (with a
vested interest in qualifying as many people as possible) would be
happy to "help" fill out the sea service form for interested
applicants.

Qualification requires 360 days of experience, (90 of those days must
be within the last 3 years) with a "day" being defined as no less than
a single 4-hour watch underway. Being underway for 8 hours doesn't
qualify for "two days" in a single 24-hour period. Swinging around the
anchor doesn't count, moored at the resort guest dock for three days
doesn't count for "three days", etc. My comment on engine hours is
based on the fact that in the extremely unlikely event that a boater
always ran for *exactly* four hours after starting the engine, the
minimum number of engine hours required to meet the requirement of 360
4-hour days would be 1,440. No way does any boater without previous
experience and anything less than 1440 hours on his first ever boat
qualify, at all, under even the most liberal interpretation of sea
service. Since a lot of boating runs will be less than 4-hours in
length and therefore not qualify at all and some will be longer than 4
hours but only count for a single "day", it would probably take most
people somewhere close to double that 1440 engine hour number to
actually, legitimately, meet the sea service requirement. For a lot of
casual boaters, that's almost 30 years of weekend and summer vacation
cruising.

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
,

John H

Essay: Your boat is 30 feet high, measuring from the waterline. The water is
10 feet deep. Clearance under the bridge is 42 feet. Which information is
missing here?


OK, I'll bite. If my the "bridge clearance" (height) of my vessel is 30
feet and the vertical clearance of a fixed span bridge is 42 feet,
there is only one possible answer- the draft of the vessel. If it
exceeds 10 feet, it's not going to make it. :-)

The other possibility would ordinarily be the state of the tide, but
that can't be a variable in this case based on the wording of the
question. Vertical clearances are measured to mean high water, not MLW,
so if you're dealing with a charted clearance of 42 feet there should
always be at least 42 feet available. Your question becomes tricky when
you have a 45 foot bridge clearance dimension for the vessel and a
42-foot charted clearance for the bridge. Definitely time to break out
the tide table and calculator before trying to pass under that same
bridge.

On 16 May 2006 10:27:26 -0700, "
wrote:

OK, I'll bite. If my the "bridge clearance" (height) of my vessel is 30
feet and the vertical clearance of a fixed span bridge is 42 feet,
there is only one possible answer- the draft of the vessel. If it
exceeds 10 feet, it's not going to make it. :-)

The other missing dimension is horizontal clearance, not usually an
issue for recreational boats, but definitely a consideration for tug
and barge combinations.

On 16 May 2006 10:27:26 -0700, "
wrote:


JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
,

John H

Essay: Your boat is 30 feet high, measuring from the waterline. The water is
10 feet deep. Clearance under the bridge is 42 feet. Which information is
missing here?


OK, I'll bite. If my the "bridge clearance" (height) of my vessel is 30
feet and the vertical clearance of a fixed span bridge is 42 feet,
there is only one possible answer- the draft of the vessel. If it
exceeds 10 feet, it's not going to make it. :-)

The other possibility would ordinarily be the state of the tide, but
that can't be a variable in this case based on the wording of the
question. Vertical clearances are measured to mean high water, not MLW,
so if you're dealing with a charted clearance of 42 feet there should
always be at least 42 feet available. Your question becomes tricky when
you have a 45 foot bridge clearance dimension for the vessel and a
42-foot charted clearance for the bridge. Definitely time to break out
the tide table and calculator before trying to pass under that same
bridge.

You'd probably pass the test, Chuck. But, would the average 'Joe Blow' off
the street have your knowledge?

If one of the detractors were 'the width of the bridge', I'll bet it would
get a lot of hits!
--
'Til next time,

John H

******************************************
***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
******************************************

Wayne.B wrote:
On 16 May 2006 10:27:26 -0700, "
wrote:

OK, I'll bite. If my the "bridge clearance" (height) of my vessel is 30
feet and the vertical clearance of a fixed span bridge is 42 feet,
there is only one possible answer- the draft of the vessel. If it
exceeds 10 feet, it's not going to make it. :-)

The other missing dimension is horizontal clearance, not usually an
issue for recreational boats, but definitely a consideration for tug
and barge combinations.

Ah yes, right you are.

I can't think of many regional examples where a vessel that could make
the vertical clearance of a fixed span would have any difficulty with
the horizontal clearance, but now that you mention it I can think of a
handful and in certain parts of the country (with a lot more river
navigation) it is undoubtedly a much larger issue. As you say though,
not usually a problem for vessels with a beams typically less than
20-feet.