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It sounds, sadly enough, like the horrifying conclusion to a pattern of complacent disregard for basic safety and seamanship precautions. Not that I know much about the sea. However, there's a famous bit of pilot wisdom that goes:
"The sky, like the sea, is not inherently dangerous; but it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity, or neglect."
We also used to say: "A superior pilot is one who uses superior judgment to avoid situations which require the use of superior skill."
In this case, if those in charge of the Picton Castle had thought a little more like pilots, they could have avoided this tragedy.
And I am going to spend the next few days trying not to imagine how Laura's father, Bob Gainey, must feel every time he remembers Laura's crewmates being able to hear her in the water, for quite some time, and not having the basic safety equipment or training to even make a realistic effort to rescue her. Jesus.
(And regarding the quote paraphrased in my post title--in this case, it was not the kid who took things for granted. Sadly.)
- Mood:
disturbed
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Comments
Good advice for most things, really.
This is the first I've heard of this case. Will have to Google some.
This is such a sad case, and would have been easy to prevent with the use of, you know, flotation devices, or safety harnesses. Or any consideration of the fact that the sea is very large and it just doesn't care.
It's made worse by the fact that the Gaineys had already had tragedies as a a family, and Bob is such a decent guy. But he's also got the ability to make the media listen to him, so he's a hard guy to sideline.
Sadly, it's a pattern that's well known to riders as well. Accidents still happen, but people who neglect basic safety precautions tend to have more of them and suffer worse.
And I had a quick look at the ship's website. Quite frankly, it looks like a death trap to me:
40 sail trainees and 12 professional crew members.
The 'trainees' don't need any sailing experience at all, and they're paying through the nose for the experience. I don't think twelve crew sounds anywhere near enough to sail that ship safely, and my feeling is that you *cannot* rely on trainees when you're facing a crisis, you ought to be able to fill every position with an experieced crew member.
Poor kid, and poor parents.
And when you leave Nova Scotia in early December and try to sail to the Caribbean... well, come on. You have to expect rough weather and lots of it--which makes your concern about the number of professionals doubly important.
I don't know enough about these ships to know what the Picton Castle really needs, but...you make an interesting point.
It's one of those things that I kind of hated a fair bit of the time while I was doing it (though there were really great parts, too), but am really, really glad to have done.
Hmmm. They're doing daytrips during the Kieler Woche (big sailing regatta. If I go and visit my Mum in Northern Germany next summer, I might just make a little side-trip - that way I could get a taster...
(Probably not the best plan for someone who gets seasick, eh?)
At the time, I felt sorry for him!
Terrifying.