Comment posted Oban Lifeboat out to Lady Rock again by Scots Renewables.
Ah, apologies for that, very careless – and thanks for correcting it.
Looking through the weather records for Oban Airport for midday on the 14th the wind was 11mph SSE.
A nice strength and reasonable direction for a gentle sail across to Oban Bay to pick up a mooring. (4.5nm on a bearing of 108deg T or ESE from Ladys Rock) – the only difficulty would have been if the wind shifted in the entrance ot the bay and they make a tack going through the N. entrance just as the Isle of Mull or the Clansman was coming out.
However, as I said before no judgement can be made without knowing the full circumstances. There could have been a good reason for not raising the sails.
Scots Renewables also commented
- With all due respect Lowry you have not thought this through.
For a start, the idea that only the wealthy own yachts is somewhat naive. My own yacht cost considerably less than the average family car does new, and probably costs less to maintain than an average gym or golf club membership.
There is no imposition on the public purse. The RNLI is one of the wealthiest charities in the UK, and funding is not an issue.
Imposing a charge would bring in the spectre of impoverished sailors risking their lives and those of their crew when a call to the CG was clearly in order. The RNLI is strongly against the imposition of any charges.
The issue is one of training, self-confidence and self-reliance, not one of funding.
- Wind was NE here yesterday, so they might have had to beat into Oban Bay to pick up a mooring, but nothing difficult.
The ilustration suggests the sea state was slight. It would have been slack water or the very start of the flood.
The boat is a gaffer – people who sail these usually know what they are doing, so there may have been more to this callout than meets the eye.
Don’t know why I got three thumbs down for my remark – just popular I guess
(though there is at least one anti-yachtie lurker on here). - Plenty of wind today, so I can’t see the reason for this callout – unless there was more than engine failure involved.
Recent comments by Scots Renewables
- Russell admits vehicle element of former Dunoon ferry was indeed publicly funded
A threnody is a song, hymn or poem of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person.Quite appropriate. The promise that was the original ForArgyll is indeed quite dead.
I think I will stick to the Cowal Courier from now on. That’s a proper news site that seems to have your measure.
Toodle pip!
- Russell admits vehicle element of former Dunoon ferry was indeed publicly funded
Oh do cheer up Newsroom! The hybrid ferries are non-military ships being built on the Clyde. Surely something to cheer about?Re. your concerns about staff training – I think you will find that staff require retraining whenever a new vessel is brought into service . . . each boat is different.
And please do stop all this ‘we hear rumours’ rubbish. No-one believes you. Come up with facts and their sources like a real journalist or stop smearing doom and gloom. Less fuel is less fuel. And the new ferries are also designed to have lower maintenance costs.
Now, here’s some more potential good news on the ship technology front for Scotland . . . CMAL has been commissioned to carry out a feasibility study for Scottish Enterprise to evaluate the technical and commercial possibilities of using hydrogen fuel cells to power zero emission ferries. If this goes ahead it could put Scotland at the forefront of another new technology, with the consequent design, development and manufacturing of hybrid engines being located here. Great news – though I expect ForArgyll will want to talk it down.
- New Mobile Theme for ForArgyll.com
The mobile version isn’t triggered by my iPad, which is a good thing – but it does come up in an iPhone emulator I tried.Strangely enough specific mobile versions of websites (as opposed to apps – which are here to stay) may be a relatively short-lived phenomenon. As bandwidth on phones increases dramatically and most displays become HD 1024 pixels wide or more so standard websites become more and more useable. I don’t come across many that don’t display well on the iPad.
A mobile version was far more essential on older 320 pixel devices like Nokias, but these will die out. The non-mobile version of this site (for example) is quite useable on a new smartphone once it is rotated horizontally.
Apps that do specific things on mobile devices are another matter – they are definitly here to stay. And for blog sites like this the mobile version definitley increases useability (but see below).
Some feedback – I couldn’t view the comments on the mobile version, but I was using an emulator rather than an actual smartphone. Can other people view and post comments OK on the new mobile site using an iPhone or Andriod phone?
- Clyde shipyards at risk – news by year end
Just testing the comments function on the mobile version of the site.(Using an online iPhone emulator)
- Scottish Conservatives underline common ownership of Saltire
It is Scottish Labour that really needs to up its game dramatically if it wants to keep a credible presense in Holyrood in the 2016 election. What Ruthie and the Scottish Conservative Party do is of little relevance.According to Newsnet Scotland a recent poll shows Westminster voting intentions in Scotland as:
SNP 39%
Labour 33%
Conservative 16%
LibDem 6%
Others 7%If this doesn’t ring alarm bells for Labour nothing will.
powered by SEO Super Comments
While in no way a direct comment on this particular incident, I have begun to wonder why so many incidents are to do with sailing yachts calling for help because they have engine failure. Sometimes, from the on scene photographs on here and in the Lifeboat magazine, there appears to be plenty of wind.
Are modern yachts not capable of sailing in strong winds? Are the crews incapable, even though most these days have at least some RYA qualifications? Is the modern skipper’s mindset fixed on using using the engine to get out of trouble, rather than the sails? Do they, therefore, put their yachts into situations that they would not if they didn’t have an engine? A tiny sail in a gale of wind creates much more power than a sailing yacht’s engine with its egg whisk propeller.
These are genuine questions with no hidden meaning. I’m just interested in people’s thoughts. I’ve also done a lot of sailing around here.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Plenty of wind today, so I can’t see the reason for this callout – unless there was more than engine failure involved.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Fair enough answer SR…don’t see why you should get two thumbs down ?
Not refering to this item directly, wind against tide ? or even a fast tide can make the area quite rough and a little daunting to some…I have seen a number of yachts mess up or turn around in the area over the last 15 years or so..
From a personal point of view; I use my motor in harbour and sometimes motor sail in stronger currents, very rarely as a form of power out at sea…in the main because I do not have time constraints when I go sailing.
PS: As an exercise what was the tide doing then ? where was the wind coming from ?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Wind was NE here yesterday, so they might have had to beat into Oban Bay to pick up a mooring, but nothing difficult.
The ilustration suggests the sea state was slight. It would have been slack water or the very start of the flood.
The boat is a gaffer – people who sail these usually know what they are doing, so there may have been more to this callout than meets the eye.
Don’t know why I got three thumbs down for my remark – just popular I guess
(though there is at least one anti-yachtie lurker on here).
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
S.R.perhaps the thumbs down were ‘cos you have twice referred to conditions on the 16th whereas the incident was on 14th???? as a relative newby on here I have found the “thumbs” thing to be quite confusing, even R.W. sometimes gets an “up”??
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Ah, apologies for that, very careless – and thanks for correcting it.
Looking through the weather records for Oban Airport for midday on the 14th the wind was 11mph SSE.
A nice strength and reasonable direction for a gentle sail across to Oban Bay to pick up a mooring. (4.5nm on a bearing of 108deg T or ESE from Ladys Rock) – the only difficulty would have been if the wind shifted in the entrance ot the bay and they make a tack going through the N. entrance just as the Isle of Mull or the Clansman was coming out.
However, as I said before no judgement can be made without knowing the full circumstances. There could have been a good reason for not raising the sails.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I am certainly not anti-yachtie but feel quite strongly that those well-off enough to own or hire yachts should pay for their recovery, similar to drivers. It would help support the Life Boats to save those who use the sea for work rather than play.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
With all due respect Lowry you have not thought this through.
For a start, the idea that only the wealthy own yachts is somewhat naive. My own yacht cost considerably less than the average family car does new, and probably costs less to maintain than an average gym or golf club membership.
There is no imposition on the public purse. The RNLI is one of the wealthiest charities in the UK, and funding is not an issue.
Imposing a charge would bring in the spectre of impoverished sailors risking their lives and those of their crew when a call to the CG was clearly in order. The RNLI is strongly against the imposition of any charges.
The issue is one of training, self-confidence and self-reliance, not one of funding.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Aye,
Totally agree with both SR and Tony…same situation exists in Mountain Rescue…we do not want to be in the hands of the government or private sector.
Given the vast amount of money the sailing/boating sector generates along the West coast and beyond remarks about cost of a boat are irrelevant…
It is a case of fact that this year Tiree has seen more yacht visits than during the last 15 years (as long as I have been on Tiree)during the 6 weeks hols on average there were 3 boats every day/night anchored outside my house…all spent money on the island..same for Coll et al.
As for cost of a yacht…my Contessa was built in 1973..! spread that over the last 39 years its a bargain. Average weekly hire for 4 berths yacht divided by 4 is a dammed site cheaper than a one week hol in the med in some two/three star hotel.
Thank god for the RNLI & Clyde coat guard.
Karl
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Lowry, I think you will find that the vast majority of ‘yachtsmen’ and ‘leisure boaters’ do pay for recovery by supporting the RNLI with quite substantial annual sums. As for the government run services (mainly military rescue helicopters), we all pay for those through taxes. If, as you suggest, leisure boat users are ‘well off’, then they will be paying a larger proportion of the costs of these services than the average. So, leisure seafarers are, in fact, paying for their ‘recovery services’.
‘Scots Renewables’, remarks (Aug 17 1048 ) are spot on, especially the last sentence. ‘Training, self-confidence and self-reliance’.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
In my sailing days, regrettably long since gone, universal vhf usage was rare, and mobiles not yet invented.
I had various collisions with Tiree, Skye, the Cowal Peninsular, the bottom of Oban Harbour. and, on one shameful occasion, the banks of the Crinan Canal.
In every case I was able to wedge off, or a passing yacht passed a line.
But a vhf set would have been much appreciated.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0