About bloody time.

[Andy the Coastie]

Thought this was one of the reasons for SOLAS V.

Originally Posted by D NET

Action possible over bad seamanship
The RNLI has warned leisure boat users to clean up their act - or face a possible raft of statutory controls aimed at guaranteeing seamanship standards.

The issue affects every type of user, from divers in RIBs to the crews of motorboats, speedboats, yachts and sailing dinghies.

Andrew Freemantle, RNLI Chief Executive, said that many incidents were taking place which were avoidable given proper training. If sea users did not improve standards voluntarily, the Government could consider various forms of compulsory training and qualification.

Charging for call-outs in emergencies borne of incompetence is another possibility. This is already done in some other European countries, including France.

Freemantle told The Times: "The sea is one of the last unregulated areas of our lives...It would be a great shame if we lost that...What worries us is that if people don't take care and prepare themselves for going to sea, then the pressure for regulation will rise."

Mark Criddle, a West Country RNLI coxswain, said errors ranged from simply forgetting to check fuel level to fundamental lack of knowledge about tides and weather.

"A lot of it could be avoided with a simple bit of training," he told The Times. Referring specifically to divers, he said: "There are some quite inexperienced guys doing 'extreme diving', down to 50m or 70m, without really being aware of the tides or anything."

[Keith L]

I could not disagree more! Jobsworths, busybodies and government regulation solve NOTHING, they never have and they never will. I spy the hand of the RYA in all of this, oh how they would love to flog their courses and issue worthless bits of paper under government license.

Keith L

[Andy the Coastie]

Originally Posted by Keith L

I could not disagree more! Jobsworths, busybodies and government regulation solve NOTHING, they never have and they never will. I spy the hand of the RYA in all of this, oh how they would love to flog their courses and issue worthless bits of paper under government license.

Keith L

My point being Keith is that, silly mistakes should be paid for ,,,, ie running out of fuel, poor or no safety equipment...

The poor chaps on lifeboats give thier spare time to go and act as a AA service to tow back boats that can't be bother to carry extra fuel....... SO, WHY shouldn't the boat owner be made to cough up....

The AA make you pay , when you run out of petrol on the motorway.

I for one see boat owners that don't even give a THANK YOU to our lifeboat crew , let alone of slipping in a few bucks for a tow in .......

This is one ONLY thing that i think the French have got sown up

[wreckferret]

I agree with you Andy, I used to do rescue boat cover for a local yacht club many years ago.
I rescued a person in a shetland cruiser with a BROKEN LEG !!! On his own! I towed him for approx 2 miles and the bollocks didn`t even say thanks.

We were called out every day we were there for speed boats busting props because they didnt check out the depths before starting out.

When you see the state of some of the boats heading out its makes me really mad.

[turbanator]

There seemt o be two issues in the quote that Andy posted.

One is the training for going to sea.
I reckon most of us agree that there is nothing worse than the Dagenham Navy using smbs as turn indicators etc etc, and also divers that put to sea ill prepared.
I'm a BS-AC DO and my understanding is that the BS-AC 'recommend' that there should be a Diver Cox on board a Rib at all times, therefore we encourage our boat handlers to pay for their own courses, as BS-AC members, naturally the majority take BS-AC courses.

The second issue is in the final paragraph,
Are these guys really getting into trouble?
Is the suggestion that this type of diving not be performed from RIBs?
I've never tried, sticking to about 40m from a RIB.
r
P

[Andy the Coastie]

Originally Posted by wreckferret

I agree with you Andy, I used to do rescue boat cover for a local yacht club many years ago.
I rescued a person in a shetland cruiser with a BROKEN LEG !!! On his own! I towed him for approx 2 miles and the bollocks didn`t even say thanks.

We were called out every day we were there for speed boats busting props because they didnt check out the depths before starting out.

When you see the state of some of the boats heading out its makes me really mad.

I know what ya mean

I could list loads of T***s i see here at Dover , and you only have to read the Dover Coast Guards incidents from thier website , just too see how they are getting cheesed off with it.

I know that i'm a professional skipper, and pay £ 0000's to keep the boat and myself in spec for coding ,,,, Once i got a nets round my rudders after they floated up my anchor line , within 2 days i had a form on my doorstep from MAIB.

But when a club RhIB is doing the same dive as me , charging the same prices as me , and the boat is not kitted out with safety equipment and the boat handler can just drive the boat with no tickets and has to look after 6 - 8 divers....... and for arguements sake, gets water in his fuel & gets towed back........... AND not even a slap on his hand ,,,,,,,,,

REALLY GETS MY BACK UP............



Yes, they should pay at least the fuel bill for the lifeboat from startup to shut down. especially Dover's to big beasty fuel gusserling catarpillars

[Keith L]

...and who is going to sit as judge and jury to decide whether a callout is worth while or not? Why - the professional skippers of course! Should they get water in their fuel due to a leaking filler cap then that's just "one of those things", it's only gross incompetance when is happens to lesser beings.

I am not arguing that many callout could be avoided, but the answer is NOT yet more bloody legislation and a whole army of do-gooders with badges a clipboards telling people what's good for them. If the RNLI want payment for their fuel then chase it through the civil courts.

What you are suggesting is a very, very, VERY slipperly slope. We are already over governed, over regulated and over taxed as it is without the vested interests of the PBA etc. trying once again to put a stop to the whole concept of club dive boats.

Keith L

[wreckferret]

Hi Keith,

Maybe the coast guard or the RNLI could decide after a rescue if it was avoidable and if so the boat owner should pay a fee of some sort.

Perhaps it would make more people think before heading out on the water.

This would apply to ALL water users.

A lot of people think why worry , we will always get picked up.

[Adrian Kelland]

As if being regulated and professional would make going to sea much safer than it is now.

All the recent big disasters and loss of life will have been the responsibility of regulated professionals. Companies would cut a lot more corners to increase profit. Anyone for a faster channel crossing, thus more runs, by leaving port with doors open anyone?

However I would like to see some way of stopping the numpties who REPEATEDLY go to sea ill prepare, with repeated rescues. A filter failure etc. can happen on the best maintained boats.

Adrian

[Keiron]

Maybe that's the answer then, a database of repeat offenders? That way everyone gets the benefit of the doubt at least once?