You can’t go wrong with the buddy system

MIKE WHITEHEAD

Ahoy.

How would you like waking up as your boat suddenly jerks to an

unintentional stop while being accompanied by the sounds of steel

scraping against rocks?

Those might be signs that something is wrong.

How about yourself going on a scuba diving trip only to surface

and find that the dive boat had returned to port without you?

That might be a sign that something is wrong, too.

Well, these two events are real and both happened recently to

professional skippers in our local ocean. Another important factor is

that both of these events were completely avoidable, and the fault is

being pointed at both captains.

The vessel that went aground is a bait boat named the Pamela Rose,

and she hails out of Newport. Unfortunately, the crew members fell

asleep in the wee hours of the morning, leaving their boat to drift

onto Cameo Shores Beach. Preventable? Sadly, yes.

This is not the only fishing vessel that has hit the beach when

watch crews fall asleep while running at night -- if only San

Clemente Island could talk. I can tell you that every captain has

nightmares of falling asleep at the helm, or when you return to the

bridge only to find the crew member who is on watch asleep.

I tell all my crew and new boat owners to not trust the other

boats while running at night. Do you know if the crew on that

approach vessel has fallen asleep? Many times we chat to other

vessels on the radio to see if they are awake.

I recognize that falling asleep is a major concern, and I try to

schedule short watch schedules at night if staffing permits. Also, I

will double up the watch crew at night if we have enough crew, and if

the conditions deem necessary, like a lot of traffic, rough seas or

thick fog. Most importantly, I tell the crew to wake someone up if

they are falling asleep.

It was lucky for Dan Carlock that the Boy Scouts were not sleeping

aboard the scouts’ topsail ketch named the Argus when they rescued

him from becoming shark bait. I mentioned in a previous column about

Carlock, who was diving off the Sun Diver, and that the boat returned

to port without him. I find it very ironic that the scouts who found

him also use a simplistic time-tested buddy system that would have

prevented Carlock from being left behind.

I do not know who was in charge of counting the returning divers,

but the captain has surrendered his Master’s license to the Coast

Guard. Carlock said he struggled to equalize his ears that placed him

lagging behind the other divers and he was trying to catch up with

the group. Catch up? Where was his dive buddy? Maybe a bigger lesson

will be learned from the Boy Scouts with two words -- buddy system.

TIP OF THE WEEK

The Marine Committee of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce is

hosting its monthly Marine Networking and Speaker Forum, and we

welcome everyone, not just chamber members, to support Newport

Harbor. These gatherings have featured speakers that discuss topics

concerning Newport Harbor and marine-related issues.

This Wednesday’s speaker is Tom Rossmiller, harbor resource

manager, who will present his short power-point version of the State

of the Harbor Report. What is the current status of, to name of few,

eel grass, dredging, Harbor Commission, LCP and dinghy docks?

Join us from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht

Club (1601 Bayside Drive, Corona del Mar) to hear Tom and mingle with

the marine community. You can call the chamber at (949) 729-4400 for

more information, and pick up a copy of the chamber’s monthly Lookout

Magazine to read my Nautical News column.

Remember to update your weekend radio schedule, as my “Boathouse

Radio Show” has moved to every Saturday from noon to 1 p.m. on

KCBQ-AM (1170). You can join in during the nation’s No. 1 boating

talk radio show by calling the listener line at (888) 344-1170, and

you can listen worldwide over the Internet at https://www.

boathouseradio.com.

Safe voyages.

* MIKE WHITEHEAD is the Pilot’s boating and harbor columnist. Send

him your harbor and marine-related thoughts and story suggestions by

e-mail to [email protected] or visit https://www.boathousetv.com.