MV Steve Irwin Equipment

[richard8000milesaway]

life rafts are too low: they should be put one deck higher just astern of the bridge so they don't get washed off. foredeck is cluttered with FRC & gear. FRCs supposed to be marked with the ship's name & home port.
shoreside emergency generator (circled # 3) open to elements? why not in an enclosed space?
black hull & super structure? stupid and unsafe. like that blck rain gear all the guys I used to work with always wore (Grundin or something). When the s__t hits the fan and I'm in the water or my ship is foundering I want bright white or bright red etc.
so I guess she's a coaster. run by landlubbers. delusional landlubbers. delusional liberal landlubbers.

[MikeE1849]

What's an FRC? Is it anouther term for the RHIBs?

[richard8000milesaway]

yup. FRC is STCW talk & other is US Coastie talk. but it's all the same-o. FRC: Fast response craft.

[MikeE1849]

The SS crew is claiming that they have a ways, that is PLURAL, to render the LRAD useless. AMondst many ohter new "tools"

What could these methods be? They have spoken of Microwaves and EMP guns as well as shooting the LRAD device.

Also who can I contact with my concerns?

[Capt_Anonymous]

What could these methods be?

Ear protection. Duh.

[MikeE1849]

HHAHA, but I am concerned with more violent actions taken by the group.

I know for a fact that the are going to be trying to ter down the protective netting that surrounds the ships to stop the SS from thrwoing objects at the crew

[Steamer]

"... life rafts are too low: they should be put one deck higher just astern of the bridge so they don't get washed off."

That location seems to have worked well for the Scottish Fisheries Patrol since they put them there in 1975 and I can attest that those folks work in some pretty grim seas on a regular basis.

"... foredeck is cluttered with FRC & gear. FRCs supposed to be marked with the ship's name & home port."

Who says they are rescue craft? Is that boat required by SOLAS to carry a rescue boat? That storage location worked very well for the Fisheries Patrol. Those tenders are in the same place the fisheries folks put them and I don't think you would get very far calling those guys lubbers to their faces. Might be interesting to watch though.

"... shoreside emergency generator (circled # 3) open to elements? why not in an enclosed space?"

It is in an enclosed space, it lives in a weatherproof housing just like thousands of other radiator cooled DGs on ship's decks and alongside buildings and on docks where they are exposed to weather for years.

"... black hull & super structure? stupid and unsafe."

As "stupid and unsafe" as the hundreds of other blue or black painted arctic and antarctic supply and support vessels that have operated over the years.

"... run by landlubbers. delusional landlubbers. delusional liberal landlubbers."

Is it the liberal part that has put a hair up your butt? Not a single issue you have raised has any validity at all. If I were you I would be very careful about calling other people "lubbers" considering how far off the mark your rant is on every point.

The anti Steve Irwin stuff on this site has become more irrational and unprofessional than most of what the Irwin crew does. The anger I read here is only equaled by the Irwin crew's attitude toward the whalers and all too often the suggestions here on how to stop the Irwin are echoes of the Irwin crew's ideas on how to stop the whalers.


What is it that bothers you? Is it the lack of seamanship? If that's the case, volunteer to work on the Irwin and use superior skills to teach them to operate safely. If it is just a hatred for some other mariner, then you are no better than you claim they are. What is this all about anyway?

[Capt_Anonymous]

What is it that bothers you? Is it the lack of seamanship? If that's the case, volunteer to work on the Irwin and use superior skills to teach them to operate safely. If it is just a hatred for some other mariner, then you are no better than you claim they are. What is this all about anyway?

What bothers me is the careless exploitation of malleable young idealistic people by an older, self-absorbed megalomaniacal authority figure.

Heck, now that I think of it, that's what bothered me about living in Bush's America for eight years.

And yeah, the utter lack of seamanship kinda bugs me too.

[rjbpilot]

I vote they send Doug's Fishmaster over their to commmand the vessel, and show them how it's done.

[Steamer]

If it weren't for "the careless exploitation of malleable young idealistic people" the political and entertainment industries would collapse overnight and then what would we have to bitch about?

I guess what bothers me is when one bunch of malleable young idiots become a doppelganger of the bunch of malleable young idiots they are so incensed about. What really bothers me even more is when they aren't even capable of recognizing it.

[rjbpilot]

I guess what bothers me is when one bunch of malleable young idiots become a doppelganger of the bunch of malleable young idiots they are so incensed about. What really bothers me even more is when they aren't even capable of recognizing it.

If it really "bothers you", maybe you should not visit this site so your blood pressure stays down.

[Steamer]

If it really "bothers you", maybe you should not visit this site so your blood pressure stays down.

Nothing wrong with my blood pressure. And I am no more bothered than anyone else who wrote that certain things bother him. I just enjoy holding up a mirror to the hypocrites and it looks like you might have seen someone familiar.

It seems like you couldn't find anything wrong with my points so had to make it personal. If that is the best you can do you have a long way to go before you are qualified to debate much of anything.

[Lakota]

I'd love to at least put a nice big slash in those RIBs right before they head out. Maybe go on board for a 'tour" and put razor blades on the racks that they rest on

Reading your posts and trying to be objective here...with all this talk of professional seamanship you kinda lose your professional and moral high ground when you make comments like this don't you?

[jolly]

Reading your posts and trying to be objective here...with all this talk of professional seamanship you kinda lose your professional and moral high ground when you make comments like this don't you?

I agree to a point with you.
But looking from a wider perspective I would say that: general opinion of proffesional maritime comunity, is against the conduct of mr Watson, as he is threat to safety and he is diregarding the common rules of behaviour.

Then, of course, you have occasional slips from the members of the forum, lacking the right words, or just killing time, but expressing the feelings rather then being objective...

I wouldnt hold it much against them

[dougpine]

Then, of course, you have occasional slips from the members of the forum, lacking the right words, or just killing time, but expressing the feelings rather then being objective...

I wouldnt hold it much against them

Even professionals are prone to vent, or to display a sense of humor from time to time.

[MikeE1849]

me? I'm no professional mariner. I'm just a land lover that hates Watson and his group with a passion for the past 4 years

[Lakota]

I agree with you totally dougpine, however to the casual observer, comments like the ones described don't do anything to further the cause of the professionals. Just playing devil's advocate here....

[richard8000milesaway]

hey steamer:
thanks for the response, but your "If I were you I would be very careful about calling other people "lubbers" considering how far off the mark your rant is on every point" begs comment.
Seamanship is an art, not a mathematical fact ("If x then y"), so my comments are quite valid and not at all off the mark. In fact I stand by them based as they are on many many years of experience.
regarding my comments about liberals etc for the boat`s crew, I admit that was harsh and I retract.
I have noticed in the past that you often respond to peoples posts on this site in the same way you responded to mine: concise point by point, then ending with a verbal broadside. interesting technique & humorous in its consistency.
fair winds to all,

[Steamer]

"hey steamer:
thanks for the response, but your "If I were you I would be very careful about calling other people "lubbers" considering how far off the mark your rant is on every point" begs comment."

You are welcome.

I believe the contents of post #27 stand on its merits. On rereading I don't see much of a "broadside."

And it appears that recent posts show others also believe that the difference between the Irwin bunch and some of the local "pro mariners" is not wide enough for light to pass between them.

[anchorman]

..... is not wide enough for light to pass between them.

At the very least, the division would include credentials and the training/experience behind them......I would say that's big enough to drive a Mac Truck through.