{"id":59300,"date":"2022-11-21T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-21T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/?p=59300"},"modified":"2023-05-08T11:00:36","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T15:00:36","slug":"tell-tales-need-for-speed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/yachts\/tell-tales-need-for-speed\/","title":{"rendered":"When It Wasn’t Always About Horsepower"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Steve <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n \u201cA dockmaster at a marina where I once interned would walk around shouting, \u201cIncoming!\u201d when a ham-handed skipper approached.\u201d<\/span>\n Steve Haefele<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n\n

How could a single container ship constipate consumerism?\u201d a professional skipper pal of mine waiting on spare parts groused. He was referring to the ship that got lodged in the Suez Canal for six days last year. I explained that the ship had been going twice the posted speed limit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSounds like boaters these days; their solution to everything is horsepower,\u201d he grumbled. \u201cThey\u2019d have been better off if they\u2019d just turned off the engine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I agree. The results of bad judgment or inexperience are almost always amplified with speed. The amount of dockside mayhem that a formerly landlocked, retired couple armed with a trawler and a single diesel can cause is impressive, but it pales in comparison to a newly minted, testosterone-fueled enthusiast who considers pleasure boating a motorsport. Before the recent boating boom and the focus on big and fast, it was easier to spot trouble and defend yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A dockmaster at a marina where I once interned would walk around shouting, \u201cIncoming!\u201d whenever a ham-handed skipper approached. Such vessels usually had a collection of exhausted fenders dangling from scuffed and scarred rub rails, and a skipper barking commands at a mate armed with a frayed dock line and a bent boat hook. The common approach was to charge the slip like a bull and then pump the throttle to regain control. The vessel would snort black smoke and lurch fore and aft until nervous neighbors lassoed it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the waterway, the inexperienced were usually wafting across the channel diagonally from marker to marker. These skippers often ignored attempts to communicate one\u2019s intentions by radio or signal. The overtaking or \u201cburdened\u201d vessel should request to do so: \u201cSkipper, I\u2019d like to pass you on your port side. If you reduce speed, I can minimize my wake.\u201d Typically, the only response would be the finger signal as I passed by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read More from Jay Coyle:<\/strong>\u00a0Tell Tales<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experienced skippers who ventured to sea understood that inlets could be dangerous and deserved understanding and respect. Safe passage requires knowledge of the tides and unique features, such as shifting bars and currents. Sometimes it\u2019s necessary to just say no and wait out the weather. I\u2019ve made the right call more often than not, as my crew never lets me forget the nots. These days, inlets in South Florida are often crowded with thrill-seekers tempting Darwin\u2019s theory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Survival of the fittest? Perhaps. My captain pal likes to say, \u201cIf you\u2019re gonna be stupid, you better be tough.\u201d But even pros can make a bad call. In the case of the container ship, increasing speed to improve steerage seems a reasonable response. However, it is likely doing so also caused low pressure to form between the hullsides and the narrow channel, essentially sucking the vessel to the bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My pal and I have been driving boats for more than 50 years, but we\u2019re still willing to learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until you do, he has advice: \u201cIf you don\u2019t know what you\u2019re doing, do it slowly.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When in doubt, just run the boat slowly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":59301,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"BS_author_type":"BS_author_is_guest","BS_guest_author_name":"Jay Coyle","BS_guest_author_url":"","hydra_display_date":"","hydra_display_updated":false,"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"163","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Compared to past patient generations, today's boaters seem to be all about performance and speed, which lead to more incidents.","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","arc_story_id":"","arc_website_url":"","custom_permalink":"","arc_subtype":"","arc_exclude_from_feeds":false,"sponsored":false,"sponsored_label":"Sponsored Content","sponsored_display_label":false,"sponsored_image":false,"post_right_rail":true,"post_right_rail_ad_1":true,"post_right_rail_ad_2":true,"post_right_rail_ad_3":false,"post_right_rail_ad_4":false,"post_right_rail_recirc":true,"fixed_anchor_ad":true,"post_top_ad":true,"post_off_ramp":true,"post_taboola":false,"labels":true,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":"","sponsored_url":"","social_share":true,"ad_targeting":"","ad_settings_ads_on_this_page":true,"ad_settings_automatic_ad_injection_into_the_content":true},"categories":[163],"tags":[2034,569,164],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59300"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}