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Kevin McCready

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Posts posted by Kevin McCready

    Inflatable PFD's

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    First, I'd like to go on the record saying "It's not all right" re posting the image of the women with large breasts. I didn't see the image earlier because this website doesn't sent full html email alerts.

     

    white-ribbon-logo-2012.jpg

     

    That said, when I did my Safety at Sea course, the wave pool exercise was fine. I had an autoinflatable over a HPX Ocean Drysuit SH1604. I floated comfortable and dry. I've worn the dry suit in anger since. Yes get a PFD with a D-ring so that you don't need a separate harness. And make sure your tether is a three point one and you clip on with the short tether (the long one is only for moving around). A mate got slammed around badly recently because his tether was 1200 mm.

    Small Waterproof containers

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    Suggestions please.

     

    My lunch in a sistema container got wet the other day when a lid broke on a plastic bottle and water sloshed around it. NEVER trust the screw top lid on a plastic bottle.

     

    Someone suggested Monbento.

     

    Here's a reveiw of bento boxes

    http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2013/09/23/what-are-you-packing-bento-style-lunch-box-review/

     

    , but hard to figure what might be available in NZ AND be truely "waterproof" to IPX7

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_Code#Liquid_ingress_protection

     

    BTW ziplock bags are not IPX7

    Proposed OSH legislation ammendment

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    Yes population pressure is the elephant in the room but THERE are some misunderstandings of evolution being expressed here.

     

    The point of Darwin's thesis (as oppsed to the social darwinian misrepresentations of it which followed) is that diversity in the gene pool benefits the whole species. The notion that the species tends towards being some sort of uniformly strong group of individuals is crap.

     

    All sorts of traits survive at random. What is "weak" in one context becomes "strong" in another context when conditions change. It is only when selection pressure is placed on certain traits that evolution happens.

     

    Secondly, the notion of eusociality is being totally ignored in some of the comments about evolution here.

     

    Third, if you want to believe in the "law of the jungle", go right ahead. Personally I think our intellects give us the chance to rise above that and you might find yourself outcompeted by a group of happier apes working together for fun and profit.

    Proposed OSH legislation ammendment

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    km

    Science (including genetics and medicine) still have a way to go with understanding personality differences.

     

    DSM and ICD classifications differ and AFAIK DSM has a silly history going back to Freudian garbage.

     

    So putting that aside, when I use the word "sociopath" I mean people who are skilled at manipulating others but have no empathy. I'd guess that lack of empathy may have a genetic basis.

     

    I'm thinking too of the personaliy type described by Gordon Campbell a while ago about people who think in black and white and believe negotiation and politics is a zero-sum game and base their actions in the real world on the game Diplomacy. As Gordon wrote:

     

    "Diplomacy is a classic strategy game based on pre-World War I Europe. Players assume the role of one of the era’s Great Powers and compete to control all of Europe. Like most games of its era, it’s zero-sum, where victory can only be gained by trampling over the corpses of your enemies. The catch is that there is no randomness – the game has very simple mechanics, which are completely deterministic. So you can’t rely on luck of the dice and gamble your way to victory. Instead, in order to win, you need to carefully build alliances, and then betray your former allies. It is therefore a game which rewards deceit and treachery – a training tool for sociopaths."

    Proposed OSH legislation ammendment

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    mothership said

    1. Absolving individuals of all consequences of decision making isn't conducive to successful, happy individuals or society.  

    2. allowing everyone to draw on society and not contribute is insanity

     

    For clarification, I don't subscribe to either of those views and I don't think OSH is about that.

     

    I agree with armchair, partly. Though, I'm not sure that the sociopaths are 3%  - they might be a smaller or larger percentage. Where I disagree is that I think a rule based society (as long as the masses can help make the rules) gives power to the masses, so OSH is not about control of the masses by the sociopaths. In fact, I see it the other way around.

    Proposed OSH legislation ammendment

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    not so sure about that Mothership. Common sense to you and me is not common sense to others who may lack our experience. Secondly some people are sociopaths who don't care if their negligence causes harm and may actually revel in it. More of these people can be found at the top of organisations than the rest of "normal" people who just want to get on with their lives and trust that others will behave reasonably. Many organisations need firm legislative control, as we all know, to keep them in line and force them to behave reasonably - so to me it's nothing to do with stupidity, it's more to protect us against sociopaths. 

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    Proposed OSH legislation ammendment

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    I see where you coming from Wal and I certainly acknowledge the dangers of vicious stupid people be they bureacrats, judges or volunteer organisers. The question then becomes, as always, what's the lesser of two evils - the chance of a vicious stupid bureacucrat or a society that tries to make people responsible for their actions.

     

    Sugar police, nicotine police, McDonalds fat humburger police, water police. Problem is policing the police and if the police are policed well, I'm happy. Corporations making profit from human weakness? I'm not happy. It costs me money in higher taxes for our health system to pick up the mess the corporations leave behind. Speaking of which, deposit legislation on bottles or an outright ban on plastic bottles like some jurisdictions have done would make me happy too.

    • Upvote 1

    Proposed OSH legislation ammendment

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    I think it's great that it includes clubs and volunteer societies. NZ is a place where we respect each other and look after each other.

     

    Seems to me that your only duty would be to behave reasonably.

     

    Ask yourself how would you treat your own friends and loved ones if they came on an activity with you?

     

    Would you give them a safety briefing? Would you make sure they weren't in danger through their own ignorance or your negligence?

     

    Like I say, the most important concept in a civilised society that follows the rule of law is "what would a reasonable person do?"

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    Yangzte disaster - ship design

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    Thanks Rigger, great info. I'm in the China field so am very interested when it combines my interest in boats. Was that Jan2015 when the tug capsized? The Straits Times link has been taken down (no surprises there) and the Wayback Machine doesn't have it either. Have you got an archive of the story?

    Yangzte disaster - ship design

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    The captain, among the few---seven according to the report—who were able to swim to shore, arrested for questioning.He said ship was hit by a tornado, according to reports in the state-run media. Tornadoes are not as common in China as in the United States, but the China Meteorological Administration said Tuesday that a tornado had been reported in the area around the time that the ship capsized. Wind speeds reached 12 on the Beaufort Scale, which translates to 74 miles per hour, or hurricane strength, for 15 to 20 minutes, the administration said in an emailed response to questions. “Even with the windows closed the water seeped in.” .. another cruise ship had sailed from Nanjing at the same time as the Oriental Star and had pulled into a port to avoid the bad weather... ship was built in February 1994 and was capable of carrying 534 people, Xinhua reported. It belongs to the Chongqing Oriental Ferry Company, which is state-owned and deeply in debt. ... no plans for the company, which has about half a dozen ships, to halt tours on its other vessels. ... It blew so hard it destroyed some homes in my village.” “The wind swirled in a twisted shape,” he added.  .. dimensions (acc to the NYT) are 251' long and 36' wide, which is not a very broad base for a boat with five floors.  It also seems to float pretty high in the water.  Of course the boat has been in operation for 20 years, so it is not disastrously badly designed, but it does indeed seem like it has too high a center of gravity, unable to withstand the very strong winds that it encountered this time.

    Yangzte disaster - ship design

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    Both the captain and the chief engineer of the Oriental Star, who also survived, were taken into police custody and said during questioning that the ship capsized when it was hit by a tornado, according to reports in the state-run media.

    Tornadoes are not as common in China as in the United States, but the China Meteorological Administration said Tuesday that a tornado had been reported in the area around the time that the ship capsized. Wind speeds reached 12 on the Beaufort Scale, which translates to 74 miles per hour, or hurricane strength, for 15 to 20 minutes, the administration said in an emailed response to questions.

    political party

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    I won't vote for you.

     

    Single issue parties have buckleys.

     

    So who's your next party to chose from? Green Party? National (ie Citizens and Ratepayers)? Labour? Other?  Also don't we need democracy first in the way we do local elections in Auckland?

    • Upvote 1

    where do all these "lucky" people come from?

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    Time for boat licences to make the sea safer and cheaper for all. This is just ignorance. I'm not going to sling off at ignorance, but when it affects the price of my coastguard membership and puts other people and boats at risk the question needs to be asked: what's cheaper and better, simple boat licences or repeated events like this?

    Cat 1 Electronics

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    I'd have radar and AIS for coming through shipping lanes. Having come through a couple on dark and stormy nights I learned how busy these can be. I was amazed coming through Eastern Australia at the speed of these behemoths.

     

    If you're using GPS smartphones make sure they are can actually use satellites and not just cell towers for positions. Some use the Russian satellites. What are people using?

     

    Take spares of everything including alternators and belts. You might even want triple backup for self steering.

     

    We had texts via satellite phone for weather routing info. Sold the satphone after we got back so it worked out cheap. A few years ago there was a company in Sydney who did good deals on sim cards for them.

    Reefing Main single-handed -- easiest / safest way

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    Whatever you do, clip on when going forward if you're single-handed. A sailor I greatly admire urges this practice on me as a good habit so that I'll be in the groove when I need to clip on in earnest.

     

    Printed on my safety card (for people who come aboard) is:

    "SAFETY IS HABIT

    So always do boat tasks exactly the same way. Even if it takes a bit longer, enjoy the zen of safety. When you're tired and in trouble, your brain will do the thing you've trained it for."

    Coastal Distress Options? DSC, AIS, EPIRB

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    Matt, NZ Territoy covers South Pole to up near Tonga. It's horses for courses. RCC decides, depending on location of epirb, who to contact. They work as a team so while one phones the EPIRB owner's registered contacts, another team member will be liasing with police on a no surprises basis and with Maritime Radio and or coastguard. But RCC will coordinate the response. In the Hauraki Gulf for example RCC would also contact Maritime Radio and helicopter team (they might take a while to become airborne but they have 406 trackers on board).

     

    So I'm inclined to trust, especially given the Channel 16 traffic I hear in the Gulf that the word would be out on the radio before a helicopter launch or boat launch.

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