Length of tow ?

[Don Rafferty]

I think I would've put another line with a shackle around the towing line to the starboard mooring post, and then adjusted till the pull came amidships.

[j.sabourn]

What Don says is quite correct, in other words it acted like a bridle, and would have given you 2 towing points. John Sabourn

[John Arton]

On a slightly different vein, I once joined a bit of a heap of a OBO in Japan that had been purchased 2nd hand. The accommodation was one of those tower block thingy's slap on the centre line and all aft (105000 ton OBO. Only the 1st deck reached out to the sides of the ship, the rest of the accommodation was this narrow tower, she did not even have bridge wings.
In my cabin was a large locker and looking into it you could see where new deck beams had been istalled for the deck aboce, along with quite a few mangled and twisted deck beams.
After clearing out accummulated rubbish I came across the official report into the colision between the ship and a US aircraft carrier being towed for scrap. This happened off the west coast of the USA and the report goes along these lines.
JUdge: 3rd Officer Mr X, at what distance did you see the lights of the tug and tow
Answer: 10 miles
Judge: What did you assume the lights to be indicating
Answer: A vessel under tow making wat displaying the lights reguired under the COLREGS
Judge: So why at 5 miles did you alter course to pass between the tug and tow
Answer: Because I thought it was a Fishing vessel
Judge: You have stated you recognised it as a tug and tow, so why do you now say it was a fishing vessel
Answer; Because he was shining a big light aft (Tows will often illuminate the tow wire as a warning or to check on the tow) and everyone knows that fishing vessels are always shining lots of lights.
Result
One aircraft flifgt deck through the port side of the accommodation resulting in Chief Eng. Cabin destroyed and mine 50% wrecked. Fortunatley that was the major damage as this was caused by the overhang of the flight deck and the stem of the carrier just penetrating the accommodation from the first deck where there was no cabins, only mess rooms
True story
rgds
JA

[Tony Wilding]

i believe the loss of the SIR JOSEPH RAWLINSON In the Thames Estuary was for the same reason,

[Keith Moody]

many years ago ( when i was still at school, early 1950`s) i had a friend who had a boat that had at one time been a transfer cutter fot the Trinity house, he used it for tying up the ferries at the eastern docks at Dover, one weekend we took it out for some fishing and a run over to Deal where we beached it on one wave and came back out on the same wave,one of us jumped off and this allowed us to get some food and drinks, then on the pick-up we did the same again only this time we got stuck, some fishermen managed to push us off and with the help of the perkins diesel engin we backed off the beach only to find we had broken the lower rudder fittings, hence no rudder, what we did was to take up 2 floor boards and nail them onto a locker door and with the use of rope tied to cleats on the rear part of the boat managed to stear back towards Dover.
just outside Dover harbour we were hailed by a large 2 mastered yaght that had run out of fuel and was trying to enter the harbour under just a fore sail (without much success), it turned out later her sails were all rotted, so as salvage we didn`t tell them that we had no rudder but did say that we would tie up alongside them and use their stearing to get us into the harbour and to their berth, this they agreed too, we got them safely in and berthed, that evening we met up with the owners and a few pounds was exchanged, everyone was happy that no one was hurt and we got to have the rudder fixed professionly by shipwrights.
keith moody
R635978

[Tony Wilding]

a great story, i was fishing for Mackerel off Dover Harbour, got chased off by the Dover Harbour Board Launch, was between the Eastern Entrance and St Margarets Bay, a good half mile from the entrance, all that way from Ramsgate to catch one Mackerel,

[j.sabourn]

The last job I ever had in uk was out of Dover 3 weeks before flying out to Australia to Live. Accepted a job over the phone to join a vessel working outside of Dover in the Channel. The boat I went out on looked to me like an ex Navy Torpedo Boat, have the harbour board such a boat Tony. The ship joined was the Mariner an ex RN Salvage vessel. After taking various bottom samples in that area and in the Thames estuary and southern part of North Sea took the vessel back to Lowestoft and back into mothballs. However the launch which took me out from Dover had been prearranged and was waiting all ready to go as soon as I got there. This had been arranged by the skipper and I thought it would have cost a bomb to hire and company would kick up. If was the harbour boat maybe he got a cheap deal. Anyhow he was also assuring himself that he got off I suppose. Often wonder about that very powerful launch. John Sabourn.

[Tony Wilding]

the launch that chased me off was quite fast, much bigger than my 22 feet, looked like a Naval type, not the sort of boat to argue with, just remembered the end of the saga of mackerel fishing, after we were told to move, we decided to return to Ramsgate, about 12 miles, was punching a Ebb Tide, so when abeam of Deal was almost dark, followed the Buoys marking the Inside of the Goodwin Sands, as 2 Sandbanks, 1 unmarked now closer in , one just past Deal, the Brake Bank, , then the Quern Bank off Ramsgate, pitch black when we were outside the Harbour, so many lights ashore, could not make out the leading lights to get in, so we saw a Ferry approaching from the North Sand Head, stooged around untill She entered, then followed Her, big sighs of relief, went home tired out, many sagas of fishing the Goodwins, worst one was when after steaming accross them for over an hour i realised my Echo Sounder was giving false readings, another story,!GIRL JULIA.jpg

[j.sabourn]

Sounds like the same launch out of Dover. There was a bit of political arguments going on between the professional fishing people and the Dredging company wanting this survey, as believe it was to see the commercial possibilities of recovering some of the special sands off the bottom. Fishing fraternities up in arms saying it would spoil the normal pattern of fish stocks. Maybe was why they got me off in fast launch in case was accosted. Ha Ha. This was in 1991. Was Westminster Dredging who was working for. Cheers John Sabourn

[j.sabourn]

This should be a post on its own as am sure some have used various excuses for getting off a ship, apart from jumping in Australia and New Zealand that is. Ref. to my previous 3 weeks on survey for Westminster Dredging, was told by the managers of ship that, the skipper I was relieving had to get off for his wedding anniversary. I assumed he had been on ship for some time. On climbing over the rail from the launch to get on board, he climbed over and onto launch at the same time. So the hand over was hello, Cheerio. On getting onboard I was straight to the Bridge as she was in the progress of taking a core sample of the bottom. When things had quietened down a bit I asked one of the ABs who had been driving the crawler crane which was being used for dropping core sampler, how long the previous master had been there, 3 days he says. I later found out he was an ex Greenpeace skipper. So whether the job was against his moral principles or not I wouldn't know. However the 3 weeks money paid for our air fares out to Oz. John Sabourn