LEGAL MATTERS
The Panama Canal Authority will not allow single-hulled oil tankers of between 600 tonnes and 5000 tonnes dwt to use the canal after December 31, 2012. In the meantime, these tankers will be assigned "extraordinary" tug assistance at all locks and through the Culebra Cut, at the owner's expense, of course. The authority is preparing for the day when tugs take all vessels through its new set of large locks. On the England's River Cam, the irascible owner of a 22m barge didn't like the boat races and repeatedly collided with some boats and abused crews. He told a judge he was protecting the river's famed swans, which belong to the Queen, but his temper cost him £7000. The swans need little protection. One has repeatedly attacked river users and even capsized a canoeist.
ODD BITS …
When Osama bin Laden's body was flown out to the carrier USS Carl Vinson, officials wanted to make sure the body bag held the right body. The bag was unzipped and photographs were taken, but no ruler was available to measure the 193cm corpse. So a 183cm soldier from the US Armed Force's elite SEAL Corps lay beside the corpse to provide a sense of scale.
… AND HEADSHAKERS
The Royal Canadian Navy has spent thousands of dollars on one of its submarines, HMCS Windsor, trying to keep pigeons from roosting while she lies idle at her berth. While racing off the Isle of Wight, the yacht Atlanta of Chester ignored the rules of the road and the oncoming bulbous bow of the 265m tanker Hanne Knutsen. The tanker's port anchor dismasted the Atlanta as she ground along the tanker's side. The yacht was the give-way vessel, but some yachties seem to feel racing gives them precedence over other vessels.
By international agreement, the longer a vessel is, the lower the pitch of her horn. If she is longer than 200m, her horn must issue a sound pitched between 70Hz and 200Hz, whereas between 20m and 75m it is an almost squeaky 250-700Hz. (The A above middle C is normally 440Hz.) The Russians wanted two captive Arctic white beluga whales to get used to humans swimming with them. Scientist and yoga expert Natalie Davis Senke, aged 36, stripped naked and swam in the freezing water for almost 10 minutes, thanks to her rigorous meditation and breath-control exercises. The whales seemed to enjoy Senke's company as she swam with them.
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November/December 2011 Professional Skipper 39
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