Comment posted Oban Lifeboat on a turn-around shout by Hamish Beaton.
Accidents do happen to us all, and the vast majority of sailors will never have recourse to the RNLI. However, there must come a time when insurance companies will vary their rate depending on the skills and qualifications of the insured. Until that time comes the unlucky, and increasingly, the unskilled, the unqualified and the downright dangerous will call on the dedicated and trained crews of the RNLI to rescue them and make sure that the rescued sleep soundly in their bunks, unashamed by their lack of seamanship and ship-handling abilities.
Recent comments by Hamish Beaton
- Easdale Island emergency evacuation exercise identifies fixed link issue
The Island and policies are simply a slate bing, a slate grey tip, from our bygone industrial heritage. The original community slaved to fill in all the nooks and crannies with grey slate rubble – eventually being robbed of their livelihoods. Even Easdale Sound was narrowed and made shallow with the waste. It would be a trivial matter to drop a load of ballast into the shoal Sound from the old pier to the Island making a causeway and bingo a new peninsular created. Indeed create a new marina at the same time, off setting the original cost of the job and creating some-more permanent full time work. But I guess the locals would hate it, despising the committee members that proposed it. Aye this would really divide them more than the Sound does today and send them scuttling back to the indomitable bickering committees right enough? - Easdale Island emergency evacuation exercise identifies fixed link issue
There is a lovely flat bottomed bow loading self propelled barge that takes the large wheelie bins away. Problem solved: Either only have a fire or evacuation on bin day or make the barge’s home port the Island. Or look to Sark or St Michael’s Mount both with similar problems, I’m sure we could find a few council volunteers for a summer fact finding mission to see how self help works? I just love these insights into what goes on in Argyll in our name – and no doubt these persons were paid handsomely for recommending further committee work – it’s self perpetuation and committee work at its very finest – they are all to be congratulated. - McGrigor hits out at SNP government over RET removal
Keith – I do believe what you propose is called ethnic cleansing. It has been tried before in this region, and if I recall my history, from time to time met with considerable local resistance, civil disobedience, and armed insurrection – could be that your ideas and policy are a tad flawed and not fully developed – some unkind persons may even suggest cranky, or not there in the head, but who am I to judge. Suggest reading good history book for starters may be enlightening and keeping your vision for us all under wraps for the time being. - Oban lifeboat in rescue of canoeist from Loch Leven – in silence from MCA on two major incidents
As a news service and blog should ForArgyll have again contacted the MCA and asked more searching questions of how MCA release news given that some of the searches were over the weekend. To my mind, most Corporate Communications departments would be running on a skeletal staff, and may have considered the mobilization of resources more important.
All of us should also recognize that we are dealing with probably a sad fatality. Therefore, it behoofs us all to take a step back, consider our comments in that light, and look at the resources which the MCA called in. In both incidents it would appear that considerable resources and efforts were involved, and perhaps to cast aspersions at the Coastguards activities and their lack of hot juicy tidbits for ForArgyll’s blogs on the day is wrong? - Has Nauti-lass been swept away from Strachur?
Environmental concerns among citizens around the world have been falling since 2009 and have now reached twenty-year lows, according to a multi-country GlobeScan poll [see today's Google Doodle http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2013/apr/22/earth-day-43rd-birthday-google-doodle ].
The findings are drawn from the GlobeScan Radar annual tracking poll of citizens across 22 countries. A total of 22,812 people were interviewed face-to-face or by telephone during the second half of 2012. Twelve of these countries have been regularly polled on environmental issues since 1992.
Asked how serious they consider each of six environmental problems to be—air pollution, water pollution, species loss, automobile emissions, fresh water shortages, and climate change—fewer people now consider them “very serious” than at any time since tracking began twenty years ago.
Climate change is the only exception, where concern was lower from 1998 to 2003 than it is now. Concern about air and water pollution, as well as biodiversity, is significantly below where it was even in the 1990s. Many of the sharpest falls have taken place in the past two years.
The perceived seriousness of climate change has fallen particularly sharply since the unsuccessful UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen in December 2009. Climate concern dropped first in industrialized countries, but this year’s figures show that concern has now fallen in major developing economies such as Brazil and China as well.
6,774 citizens across these 12 countries were interviewed face-to-face or by telephone on this question between July 3, 2012 and September 3, 2012. Polling was conducted by the international research consultancy GlobeScan and its partners in each country. In 4 of the 12 countries, the sample was limited to major urban areas. The margin of error per country ranges from +/- 4.3 to 4.8 percent, 19 times out of 20.
Despite the steep fall in environmental concern over the past three years, majorities still consider most of these environmental problems to be “very serious,” Water pollution is viewed as the most serious environmental problem among those tested, rated by 58 percent as very serious. Climate change is rated second least serious out of the six, with one in two (49%) viewing it as “very serious.”
GlobeScan Chairman Doug Miller comments: “Scientists report that evidence of environmental damage is stronger than ever—but our data shows that economic crisis and a lack of political leadership mean that the public are starting to tune out.
Those who care about mobilizing public opinion on the environment need to find new messages in order to reinvigorate a stalled debate.”
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Do these wealthy yachties pay for such a magnificant service?
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No – but several do make donations, as we understand it.
They do spend money in the areas they sail in – and sailing tourism is a natural for Argyll to develop in a major way. We have unmatched sailing grounds.
There is also the value to skills maintenance and development in the rescue services in responding to the mishaps that befall sailors. Its only the minority of who could be described as ‘wealthy yachties’.
Ans pros run aground as well. The Mull ferry had an argument with a rock on the sea bed just off her berth not so long ago and the Lismore ferry went on an amazing serendipity that was funny afterwards but could have ended very badly.
It’s life, Lowry and all valuable training for the lifeboat crew to bring to the next emergency. And the RNLI is entirely supported by donations from the public who understand the absolute importance of this sterling service.
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Accidents do happen to us all, and the vast majority of sailors will never have recourse to the RNLI. However, there must come a time when insurance companies will vary their rate depending on the skills and qualifications of the insured. Until that time comes the unlucky, and increasingly, the unskilled, the unqualified and the downright dangerous will call on the dedicated and trained crews of the RNLI to rescue them and make sure that the rescued sleep soundly in their bunks, unashamed by their lack of seamanship and ship-handling abilities.
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