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News

SAFE Boats loses out — Coast Guard chooses Louisiana competitor for big buy – Bremerton Patriot.

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New SAFE boat in Hingham, MA

by Douglas Gould on September 25, 2011

New boat patrolling Hingham Harbor – Hingham, Massachusetts – The Hingham Journal.

The new SAFE boat that the Hingham Harbormaster’s Office received through a Homeland Security grant arrived a few weeks ago and has been patrolling the waters of Hingham. Both Harbormaster Kenneth Corson III and Deputy Harbormaster Mark Brennan have been pleased with the boat’s performance and the additional capabilities it brings to the department.

During a recent night training exercise, he and BM2 Gill worked with personnel on Marine 1, while other department members and Coast Guard personnel worked on Marine 2. These exercises were done to reinforce skills in boat towing and “man overboard” rescue. Gill explained that training needs to be continuous and needs to be done in all kinds of conditions. “No two rescues are alike.” While these may seem like routine skills to Coast Guard and Harbormaster personnel, she said constant training is essential. Brennan added that “harbormasters do a lot of towing of disabled boats. This training helps so all local departments and the Coast Guard do it the same way.”

Some of the technology used during the training included the new Forward Looking Infrared camera (FLIR); a digital underwater camera; an onboard laptop computer that connects directly to the Hingham Police and other Law Enforcement agencies; and the Davit on the stern of the boat. The FLIR enables the Harbormaster to see heat sources in the water or in boats, which is useful for search and rescue and law enforcement.

I wonder, with all this cross-agency training, does the USCG train the Harbormasters how to execute a Marine Assistance Request Broadcast? If they want to learn to do everything the “same way”, shouldn’t that be part of the training curriculum? Furthermore, shouldn’t these security boats be concentrating on security duties? How can they be patrolling for terrorists if they are engaged in routine non-emergency towing?
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NTSB Urges Cellphone Ban for All Commercial Drivers

Board Urges Cellphone Ban for All Commercial Drivers – NYTimes.com. NTSB Press Release, re: recommended ban on cellphones Sometimes, I feel like I’m in an iCockpit instead of the wheelhouse of a towboat. I have an iPhone, an iPad, a large GPS plotter, the radar screen, two VHF radios…. let’s see – oh yeah, I [...]

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September 14, 2011 Read the full article →

Private tower losing jobs to PD in Rochester NY

This story appeared two days after my last post about this issue. Marine towing policies making waves off Rochester | Democrat and Chronicle click the link and read the entire article But the lanky 22-year-old skipper contends that his relationship with the primary law enforcement agency patrolling the waters off Rochester is unsalvageable because of [...]

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August 14, 2011 Read the full article →

Flying dinghy accident leaves 2 dead.

A few years ago, I posted this video called The Flying Hungarians.   This week, a similar craft crashed in South Carolina, and sadly two people were killed. http://www.wistv.com/story/15118473/plane-crash-kills-2 Dinghy flying at its worst….

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July 29, 2011 Read the full article →

Sheriff’s boat sinks at dock

Sheriff’s boat sinks in shallow-water mystery | Tacoma – The News Tribune. I love the photo that goes with the story: 10, count ‘em, 10 guys standing on the dock looking at the sunken boat. One of them is even pointing into the water! Lots of badges, suits and cell phones… (hat tip to BitterEnd [...]

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July 20, 2011 Read the full article →