Yesterday's foggy grounding of former President G.H.W. Bush's 38-foot powerboat on a Maine beach no doubt brought chuckles to a lot of downeasterners who've coped with fog their whole lives. After all, with inexpensive electronics it's fairly easy to navigate in fog, and I'm sure a boat with three big outboards that cost more than my house must have had a chartplotter or at least a handheld GPS aboard. So what happened?
About a year ago I wrote about a sailboat that went aground in the fog off Fire Island, NY, requiring a Coast Guard rescue. When I mentioned how cheap and easy it is to keep a backup GPS in case of navigation equipment failure, readers rightly chastised me for overlooking the importance of paper charts and dead reckoning navigation skills. So true! Special thanks to capnDave who commented: "After 8 years in the U.S. Coast Guard, my frequent observation [is] that most incidents were a result of stupidity as well as unpreparedness even for disastrous conditions." To which Skip added: "Backup GPS will never address stupidity."
As to what exactly happened on the former President's boat, perhaps we'll learn more as the story unfolds. While it's easy to chuckle when the story ends well and no one is hurt, how would this story have been interpreted if those three big props had blasted into a child playing in the surf?
Comments
the bush family in a fog?
George W. and stupidity? Who would have thunk it?
Excuse me, but the boat is owned by George H.W. Bush, the 41st President (1989-1993), not by his son, George W. Bush, 43rd President (2001-2009).
Two kinds of boaters out there, those that admit to running aground at least once, and those that lie about it.
Having said that, yes, happily it was GW not W-lite. If it had been “W” they would have hit the sand bar at 30 knots, the boat would have burst into flames with heavy casualties and we’d be at war with Maine.
The misfortunes of former President Bush encourage veteran boaters and especially those members of the Coast Guard who constantly harp on the dangers of boating.
The USS Missouri ran aground so it can happen to the best mariners.
Somehow landlubbers feel the road is the same as the sea.They should go down a road where snags,reefs,logs, waves abound most of these being partially submerged.And those potholes can be twenty feet deep.
Maine boatbuilders like their brothers in Scotland kept busy repairing boats run by smart fishermen and captains hauling goods.
I’m from Cape Porpoise. The shoreline around our area is complex and there is lots of mud at low tide. I’ve put my small boat in the mud once or twice in 30 years.
George Bush (the elder) is a super nice guy. Give the old dude a break.