Steve Pope

They said that about the Titanic!

I sail down wind with the main keel up and the aft keel down, at least part way down. Both my boards are alloy and are not part of the ballast which is in the stub keel. Stability isn't a problem, but a water spout or tornado like the one at Westhaven that threw the catamaran over the wharf and almost put a super yachts mast in the water a year or 3 ago would certainly lay me flat at least, no big holes to let the water in though!

Steel elbow, schedule 40 or even 80 will out last most every thing, 80 is really overkill, will do as well as anything else, modern cast iron is often not tempered (aged) Monel would be ok but probably priced north of SS

Had the skipper had an automatic inflating life jacket on he most likely wouldn't be in court as he would be dead, trapped underwater by the inflated jacket. Great things if you are above deck, can be deadly if you are below.

K, I follow your line of questions, they are very relevant. and your concern re the helo f---up. The helo crew were doing their very best against the odds, with head office not really even in the picture. None of the f---up was the fault of the helo crew.. the lack of fuel should never have happened and hopefully (fingers crossed) won't happen again, but it took this event to tell head office what they should have already known or at least considered.Their are many instances where head office just isn't there, (though they think they are) but in "their" heads "they know" best!. (cyclone Gab

If you are heading towards a sheltered bay in water calm enough for your charterers to fish off the back and cooking happening in the galley, as apparently you have done many times before without any issues, how can you not end up in shallowing water? Why would you even consider a "Rogue wave" coming out of nowhere. As I've earlier said 100 metres and or 60 seconds difference we most likely wouldn't be discussing it here, as it wouldn't have happened.

I guess no more than driving to work along SH1 and getting cleaned up by another vehicle, does that mean you shouldn't go to work?? Does that make it a safe practice?? Life is full of risks, some we take knowingly based on the odds of not having it go wrong. The other is being in a situation where the unexpected happens (as happened to Encounter) with fatal consequences, would Goodhew have been there if he thought they were in danger, His business, his reputation, putting his charterers at risk, I doubt it. It was up to MNZ whether to put it before the court, to say they had no choice is a cop

I would suggest that stopping in the shelter of Murimotu Island at North Cape was something that Goodhew did every time he returned from the three kings islands, Probably numbered in the tens if not in the hundreds of times. Given the wind direction on the day it would have been as secure as anywhere to clean / tidy up before finishing the charter. A 30 second difference in time or a 100metres of distance could well have had a totally different outcome. Hind sight is just that. In my opinion it was just very bad luck, and now having to deal with MNZ's desire to prosecute no matter what and to

You could use the track for a sailcover with lazy jacks loops on it, I have a loose footed mainsail and used the unused bolt rope tube in that fashion. Although I guess an H28 wouldn't need lazy jacks.

Trying to beat nature! good luck with that!

Isn't that similar to white Island, they had (have?) a 1 to 5 level of risk, at the time it was set at 2 I would feel certain that any of the folk taking people out there did not for a moment consider there was a serious risk and of course the "tourists" would have considered themselves safe because if it wasn't then the people taking them wouldn't have. Life is full of unintended consequences, OH bugger It never occured to me that a live Volcano could possibly blow. In reality it was just a little belch, unfortunately the human body (in fact most bodies) can't cope with excessive heat and exc

A roller coaster, Man made and man maintained, or not, as per the current one falling to bits in the US is a totally different accident waiting to happen compared to = A Volcano ( please feel free to put in here who or what controls it) on a Steaming, Smoking Island Sulphurously fuming most of the time. If Worksafe was actually doing the job it is apparently supposed / expected to do, NO ONE would have been allowed to land there, end of story. OH, and Ruapehu (Volcano) People ski there every year and climb it in the clearer months. As we all know it has blown many times, killed and injured p

Yes, definitely cynical, you cannot stop people doing stupid (to us) things, what could possibly go wrong visiting a live volcano site. People queue up to climb Mount Everest, some will die, (just not me) they think. OH, the Titanic etc. etc. People are risk takers, (look at me! look at me!) always have been always will be. Someone offers you a really good deal, probably too good to be true, but you go for it anyway We (those people) have to take personable responsibility for ourselves and the choices we / they make.

Laws and rules don't stop people breaking them, but they do allow bureaucratic jobsworths at the bottom of the cliff to lord it, after the event. Think White Island, Where it is apparently simpler and maybe cheaper to plead guilty to whatever the charge is than to fight to clear their name. The Encounter in Northland, the only thing he, (the skipper) appears to have been found guilty of is an out of date medical certificate.