03-31-2006, 02:40 PM
Someone (sexy) told me I should write down some of my stories (Sea Tales); here's one:
Well off the coast of Newfoundland to the east is the Grand Banks which you probably know is famous for its fishing. At the furthest east tip of the Grand Banks is what is known as the Flemish Cap. You can be hundreds of sea miles away from land and the Cap is shallow enough for you to anchor your ship. The fish like it for the same reason the shallowness and the water fed up from the Gulf Stream make it a smorgasbord of sea life. At the furthest east end of the Flemish Cap just before the shelf of the continent drops off to the abyss is the Virgin Rocks.
The charts have the Virgin Rocks as being 49 feet below chart level but they are a great danger when the waves get big and your ship is deep. A couple days east of that towards Iceland is where I found myself in the summer of 1996, about the same time you were fleeing Moscow I guess?
There are further away places one could be but you wouldnât know it. It was close in fact to where the Titanic was lost. Every morning like clockwork the silence was broken by a loud boom. It was the Concorde jet on itâs way from NY to London, somewhat following the same path, amazingly enough as the Titanic along what is called a Great Circle course which is the shortest path between two point on a sphere. Ships are noisy but after a day or so the background noises get assimilated and you become very aware of different sounds and the boom was always noticed and anticipated for.
I was in the Navy at the time but we were on a Coast Guard ship and I had a gaggle of fresh recruits to train. We had been a few days out but hadnât had any real weather yet.
One night we did...........
.......... as you tend to do in that part of the world.
It was during the 8-12 watch in the evening and on the bridge was the Captain, myself and one of the recruits. The Captain was nothing like you would imagine mid thirties, clean shaven, fit, British sports car and a trophy wife. He was actually my inspiration for leaving the Navy and pursuing a career in the world of merchant (civilian) shipping. Coast Guard and merchant mariners make more much more money and I had probably reached the ceiling in the Navy or close to it. As it turns out it was an excellent choice but that is another story.
So the Captain, myself and this young trainee are on the bridge the wind and seas were up waves are hitting the bridge just like in the films. Nothing for the seasoned ones but a bit disconcerting for someone new to it and finally the young fellow asked: âCap, how far away from land are we?â. The Captain not missing a beat said:â oh about two milesâ.
The young trainee was perplexed because he had done all his academic training ashore and could take a position on a chart and make sense of the radar to a certain extent; he promptly did both, not once but twice.
Finally still worried but confident in his navigating ability he spoke up again: âCap, Iâve looked at both the radar and the chart and weâre at least a couple hundred miles from any landâ
To which the Captain replied: âWhen I said two milesâ¦â¦â¦â¦â¦......................................................
..I meant straight downâ.
Yarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Well off the coast of Newfoundland to the east is the Grand Banks which you probably know is famous for its fishing. At the furthest east tip of the Grand Banks is what is known as the Flemish Cap. You can be hundreds of sea miles away from land and the Cap is shallow enough for you to anchor your ship. The fish like it for the same reason the shallowness and the water fed up from the Gulf Stream make it a smorgasbord of sea life. At the furthest east end of the Flemish Cap just before the shelf of the continent drops off to the abyss is the Virgin Rocks.
The charts have the Virgin Rocks as being 49 feet below chart level but they are a great danger when the waves get big and your ship is deep. A couple days east of that towards Iceland is where I found myself in the summer of 1996, about the same time you were fleeing Moscow I guess?
There are further away places one could be but you wouldnât know it. It was close in fact to where the Titanic was lost. Every morning like clockwork the silence was broken by a loud boom. It was the Concorde jet on itâs way from NY to London, somewhat following the same path, amazingly enough as the Titanic along what is called a Great Circle course which is the shortest path between two point on a sphere. Ships are noisy but after a day or so the background noises get assimilated and you become very aware of different sounds and the boom was always noticed and anticipated for.
I was in the Navy at the time but we were on a Coast Guard ship and I had a gaggle of fresh recruits to train. We had been a few days out but hadnât had any real weather yet.
One night we did...........
.......... as you tend to do in that part of the world.
It was during the 8-12 watch in the evening and on the bridge was the Captain, myself and one of the recruits. The Captain was nothing like you would imagine mid thirties, clean shaven, fit, British sports car and a trophy wife. He was actually my inspiration for leaving the Navy and pursuing a career in the world of merchant (civilian) shipping. Coast Guard and merchant mariners make more much more money and I had probably reached the ceiling in the Navy or close to it. As it turns out it was an excellent choice but that is another story.
So the Captain, myself and this young trainee are on the bridge the wind and seas were up waves are hitting the bridge just like in the films. Nothing for the seasoned ones but a bit disconcerting for someone new to it and finally the young fellow asked: âCap, how far away from land are we?â. The Captain not missing a beat said:â oh about two milesâ.
The young trainee was perplexed because he had done all his academic training ashore and could take a position on a chart and make sense of the radar to a certain extent; he promptly did both, not once but twice.
Finally still worried but confident in his navigating ability he spoke up again: âCap, Iâve looked at both the radar and the chart and weâre at least a couple hundred miles from any landâ
To which the Captain replied: âWhen I said two milesâ¦â¦â¦â¦â¦......................................................
..I meant straight downâ.
Yarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
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