Merged Threads: HMS Bounty

[minaret]

Originally Posted by xymotic

I don't think it's even POSSIBLE to build such a ship if you had unlimited resources. The fact is the British had run out of oak timbers at the time of the American Revolution.

Definitely the case. At least without tapping into National Park land for old growth timber it just can't be done. When I was doing volunteer work on Wawona all the timber was acquired from old bridges which were replaced with steel. The only source that could be found for timber in the necessary size and quality, most of it was 100 years old.

[rgmori]

The Bounty was recently up for sale with no takers last I heard. Now it might have been sacrificed. However, no one in their right mind sails any tall ship into any hurricane. that leaves too much to chance to meet Davy Jones locker! Now, if it had been recently purchased and was being sailed to a new port by an unexperienced captain and crew the same applies. NO ONE IN THEIR RIGHT MIND SAILS A TALL SHIP INTO A HURRICANE! OR TRIES TO SAIL AROUND A HURRICANE ESPECIALLY ANYWHERE NEAR THE GULF STREAM THAT HAS HARSH WEATHER ALL THE TIME! If the captain is ever found then he should face a Coast Guard inquiry.

[Barnhard_Marine]

The timber for a ship is green white oak it's hand selected by a master shipwright. Most of it comes from VA & NC. When it is harvested it is rough cut then shipped to the shipyard.

[SurferShane]

Originally Posted by Barnhard_Marine

The timber for a ship is green white oak it's hand selected by a master shipwright. Most of it comes from VA & NC. When it is harvested it is rough cut then shipped to the shipyard.

Noting to they did a bit of a refit of late including some beautiful new spars.

Such a pityful loss of life and boat

[GaryMayo]

Originally Posted by Rakuflames

Personally I don't think the thread should be shut down. These are serious issues and worth discussing. I think we should all strive to assume that people mean no disrespect. There are lessons to be learned from this.

Thumbs up

[GaryMayo]

Just did a Google search and I find no crew interviews as of now. The red cross put them in one hotel and said the crew did not wish to be interviewed at that time. Understandable.

The captain's wife said her husband would not leave his boat till everyone else was safely off.

I am very interested to hear what the crew has to say.

I keep coming back to the simple question, why?

Why sail into an area known to be dangerous in October, with a hurricane coming at you?

Why were her sails not being used?

Why did the ships owner say two feet of water in the ship was no big deal, when the boat started to take on water?

Why were men in life rafts while a woman was not safely in a life raft?

Why did the harbor master allow this old movie set to sail out into a hurricane?

There are no answers to our questions, only more questions

I ordered all three bounty DVDs from amazon so I could see what life on the tall ships was like.

The images of NYC and Alantic City are devastating. Sandy was a massive storm, and will not ever be forgotten.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by GaryMayo

I ordered all three bounty DVDs from amazon so I could see what life on the tall ships was like.

If you want to get a real, first hand report of what life was like on a tall ship read Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana. As far as I know the only book on the subject written by an actual crew member and not a ship's officer.

What you will get on the DVDs will be Hollywood. If you want to see a DVD account of sailing tall ships I think Master and Commander with Russell Crowe will be closer to reality.

[carstenb]

Gary
Why were men in life rafts while a woman was not safely in a life raft?

I think you can end up getting a lot of flack for saying that..............

But I'm old enough to agree with "women and children first". But before I get smacked down, I also agree totally with equality between the sexes and I also agree it is the womans choice to say, "I'll be last - I have a better chance to survive."

I'd like to think, that if faced with that situation, I would say, "women and children first". Difficult to know.

On my boat I am the skipper. I would be last.

As apparently, Bounty's captain was.

[LakeSuperior]

Originally Posted by GaryMayo

I ordered all three bounty DVDs from amazon so I could see what life on the tall ships was like.

You can't be serious!

[carstenb]

By the way, Two years before the mast is worth reading

[atoll]

try this,dunno about the music

1930's clipper, possibly "Peking", not Cutty Sark, in sail. - YouTube

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by carstenb

Gary
Why were men in life rafts while a woman was not safely in a life raft?

I think you can end up getting a lot of flack for saying that..............

But I'm old enough to agree with "women and children first". But before I get smacked down, I also agree totally with equality between the sexes and I also agree it is the womans choice to say, "I'll be last - I have a better chance to survive."

Rule for me would be children and injured first. Weak, infirm and incapable next, whether male or female. Equal rights on my boat.

But always, captain last; unless there are any politicians, lobbyists, ambulance chasers or wall street bankers on board who are all welcome to go down with the ship.

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by GaryMayo

I ordered all three bounty DVDs from amazon so I could see what life on the tall ships was like.

The images of NYC and Alantic City are devastating. Sandy was a massive storm, and will not ever be forgotten.

From what I've heard this is the one you want ....

http://www.amazon.com/Around-Cape-Ho.../dp/B000W8MMO2

[bloodhunter]

Originally Posted by Doodles

I enjoy Teresa's blog and her points are well taken with regard to what transpired once they were at sea but I think the question most of us have is why did they ever leave port with the forecasted conditions.

That is a question we probably will never have the real answer to.
I mean look at the situation:
Once the decision to leave was made, they had the choice of heading east to get beyond Sandy or heading south and staying between the Stream and the coast.
But given the size of the storm getting beyond Sandy would have meant sailing halfway across the Atlantic and almost no chance of getting to Florida in time for the show. And there was no guarantee that Sandy wouldn't head out into the Atlantic and meet them -- unlikely from most of the models but still possible.
Heading south meant that they would be heading right into Sandy with the hope they could stay out of the Stream and in what's supposed to be the navigable quadrants of the storm. This would get them to the Florida in time for the show -- if they survived.
Neither choice seems very appealing.
As for the ship being safer at sea than in port -- well for a warship with power to burn, highly experienced officers and crew and back-ups on back-ups that's probably the case. But for most other ships, especially
an undermanned square-rigger -- I don't think so.
The original Bounty was originally manned by 44 officers and crew. CaptainBligh was a consummate seaman and the officers and petty officers at least were highly experienced sailing square-rigged ships.
Will all due repect to the captain and crew, I wonder if any of them knew enough about handling an 18th-century square-rigger to know what they were getting themselves into.
So the unanswered question remains

[sabray]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Rule for me would be children and injured first. Weak, infirm and incapable next, whether male or female. Equal rights on my boat.

But always, captain last; unless there are any politicians, lobbyists, ambulance chasers or wall street bankers on board who are all welcome to go down with the ship.

During the rescue one of the coast guards men says that raft flipped too. We have 2 PIW. Getting into the rafts also could have been difficult in those conditions. Either way at some point both rafts were upside down. Remember 2 that at one point the coast guard had 16 thermal images. Suggests that everyone at one point was in the rafts.