A Twenty-First-Century Shipwreck | Hacker News Reader

A Twenty-First-Century Shipwreck

newyorker.com

42 pointsVigier11 comments

For a different perspective, have a look at this post. A statement posted by Team Vestas navigator Wouter Verbraak once they got back to civilization:

http://sailinganarchy.com/2014/12/04/walking-tall/

Wouters statement was since removed from his facebook-page

Shipwrecks are all too common even in the 21st century, even without the stress of competition. I saw a very recent one in Namibia a few years ago: https://www.flickr.com/photos/tatyana-k/4691269078/ That's Zeila, a ship which was being towed for breaking apart as scrap before it got free and went aground on the Skeleton Coast (a place as formidable as it sounds).

Or how about this? https://www.flickr.com/photos/tatyana-k/12695050615/ - a crash at full speed between two boats last year in Singapore which I also saw first hand.

Life at sea is dangerous, but irresistible for many people, both sailors and spectators.

New Zealand's worst maritime disaster[1] was caused by a container ship that hit a reef just off the coast - because the captain / navigator were stressed for getting to port on time and therefore took a different route (a more direct one) which made them collide with the reef.

The container ship was carrying oil which spilled into the water causing a lot of distress. Very small "disaster" compared to others in the world like it, but nevertheless, a really stupid human error which led to the shipwrecking.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rena_oil_spill

Wikipedia says Rena was New Zealand's worst maritime environmental disaster. Its overall worst maritime disaster was of course the 2013 America's Cup: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_America%27s_Cup

Still too soon, too raw! :) Hopefully the Brits get a team in next time around so I have 2 teams in the running.

The Wahine, while not the worst maritime disaster NZ has ever had is one of the more recent [0].

This video [1] showing a ferry bouncing along gives you a good idea of how rough it can get on the route between Wellington and Picton. I had friends on there one day when several people were hospitalised with broken bones!

[0] http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/wahine-disaster [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUWascqCBe0

There's two types of electronic nautical maps: raster and vector. Raster maps are basically scanned paper maps, and contain all the data. When you zoom in, you are basically enlarging the map, it will not show more detail. Vector maps are contructed by a database. When you zoom in, more detail emerges that was not visible previously. Like buoys or reefs...

There is no software method to "find obstructions on my route". If you want to be sure, you need to zoom in at maximum level and follow the route you are going to sail, otherwise there is a possibility of missing out on information.

Seriously? Why not? If you've got vector data and can accurately plot your location and heading, it would seem to be pretty trivial to find and display all potential risks.

>There is no software method to "find obstructions on my route".

Hmmm, how much do you suppose someone would pay for something like that? ;-)

There was also the sinking of the bounty during sandy in 2012. Impressive story, long-read. http://www.tampabay.com/specials/2013/reports/bounty/

In the first paragraph, this clumsiness:

> " Sailors must endure ... unbearable temperatures"

Urgh.

and THAT is the spirit of adventure!

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