Tsunami's: prepartion, planning, and mocking those who do not>?

[s/v Faith]

First,

  As important as our boats are to us, I have to say my prayers are with the people in Japan
who are suffering greatly, and have problems far greater then the damage to or loss of their
boats.

  That said, I also am sympathetic to all those who lost boats and had damage because of the Tsunami.

  Cruisers experience from past tsunamis says that heading for deeper water can provide safety, as the 'swell' is unlikely to form a breaking wave until it encounters undersea structure (or shore).  A prudent Sailor has to evaluate his options and make decisions based on some rather limited facts... what is the best course of action? Is it worth trying to get underway... what if you get caught in the channel?  Might some do better to just elect to go down and double up their lines? 

I would like to hear from others as to your thoughts on preparation....

  What I would not like to hear, and am actually sickened by reading in other places is the 'know it all' attitude of some who feel suited to say what they would have done differently.  Enlightened by the view of what they see on their television, they feel they are justified in mocking those who suffered damage or loss...

What gives with this>?  Does this bother anyone else?

[s/v Faith]

Was anyone here affected?

 

[Tim]

Though not directly affected by the tsunami surges (all  my boats currently on trailers in the yard) I watched closely the affect on the local harbors that I use.

This is a small photo lifted from the local newspaper of a fishing boat struggling the get by the jetty at the entrance to Noyo harbor in Ft. Bragg.



This was a few hours after the initial wave and was with great effort he got out. I would not want to be trying to leave anytime close to when a tsunami first hit.



Because of the aftershocks, we are still seeing small surges along the coast.

[tomwatt]

Yes frankly it annoys me no end that some people think that they could easily have prepared for the seitch.
On the news coverage, I saw fairly large working vessels (65' plus) dragging their anchors and headed inland. Historically, there are lots of instances of vessels ending up far inland after one of these surges. And I have watched over and over the footage of the Alaska earthquake where the freighter climbs over the docks and crushes everything around it.
Heading out to sea? Maybe that works... maybe there was enough warning? But likely not for everyone, especially people whose work lives require them to be elsewhere or otherwise occupied. Small boat owners that can singlehand might be able to mobilize on a moment's notice (Sailfarers for instance), but someone requiring a handful of crew might have all sorts of issues trying to meet a challenge.
I hardly think an extra dockline, an added fender, or a better anchor would serve anyone any better. And I hardly think that a jam of boats trying to get out of a harbor ahead of the wave would fair any better either. I used to marvel at the boat jams at the Golden Gate about 10 am Sunday as everyone had left moorings at the same time, made their best efforts to get out the Bay, and then got tied up in a big jumble with all the other like-minded individuals.
But then, my boat is apt to be sitting quietly on a trailer for the rest of its life.

[Frank]

Craig...there are "arm chair qauterbacks" in all sports. We sit back and say "why didn't he do ??"  It seems to be human nature....all too easy when viewed from afar. Reality is the footages give us some signs of "what we could do"....wether they are right or wrong...given the stress and urgency at the time...we can only act as best we can. Thats all ANYONE can do. Those that are critical were NOT THERE...did not feel the rush and only viewed the need to act.
Bottom line is we are BLESSED to view footage to enlighten us as what we might have done and hopefully if it happens...what we do works. If not...at least we had more prep by viewing it than they did.

[Captain Smollett]

Enlightened by the view of what they see on their television, they feel they are justified in mocking those who suffered damage or loss...

What gives with this>?  Does this bother anyone else?

First of all, yes, it DOES bother me whenever someone mocks anyone who has been hurt - even if by their own actions.

Mocking or making fun of someone else's misfortune is the mark of a weak mind...at least that's my opinion.

I think it is instruction to analyze what has happened and to try to use the experience of others to try to improve our own decision making in the future.  That does not give us license to 'mock' or even, in many cases, criticize those we from whom we are trying to learn.

Unfortunately, we live in a 'second guess' and '20-20 hindsight' culture.  Most days, I find some reason to hate this.  If a parent makes a choice about their own children, they are "fine" if things work out, but masticated if it does not.  There are clear cases of neglect (not feeding a child, for example), but a LOT of what is called 'neglect' is nothing more than "a different choice."

I'm not trying to veer into dangerous political waters (this is not about one side or one party vs another, just a general observation) when I ask, "why do we have Congressional Hearings over every little thing now?"  Of course, the short answer is because much of Congress is lawyers, and hindsight and second guessing is the way of life for lawyers - indeed, it is their livelihood.

Which gets me back to the cultural influence that drives this: money.  There's money to be made by pointing out the failure of others, whether that failure is simply one of bad luck or otherwise.  The lawyers make livings on this, but then again, so do the sailing magazines.  It's guised in a "human interest" wrapper, but mostly it is empty, soulless criticism of one person's decisions.

Part of the SailFar spirit seems to be "my boat, my choices."  It is far different to look at the tsunamis and ask, "what do I think I would do in that circumstance" than to say, "they should have done ..."  This has come up here in the past on smaller scales - Ken Barnes, for example.  Asking what we can learn from Ken's experience is a different matter from criticism what he actually did as the skipper who was there.

But in my own observation, most of the people who criticize in this 'arm chair quarterback' manner are talkers not doers.  They seem to be willing to bash the decisions of others while never putting themselves into the situation of having to make real, grown-up decisions.  What movie to watch, what restaurant to eat at or what brand of gasoline to put in the $50,000 automobile does not qualify. 

At the end of the day, I happen to believe that the wrong decision is better than no decision.  And since I also believe most of the second guessers are non-deciders, well, I'll leave it to your imagination to guess what I think of them.

Now, last year when Earl was about to hit, I was quite critical of the actions of some folks here.  In fact, on more than one occasion in the 'aftermath,' I started to post comments here on sailfar...then backed off.  At the end of the day, I think the thing about that that bothered me the most was those who were NOT making decisions, but were "letting" others make their decision for them.  Getting input and advice is one thing....abdicating responsibility is another.  When all was said and done, I was left just telling myself, "okay, well, that's not what I would do with MY boat..."

Other sailing examples exist:

Melinda Lee: three members of a family of four died in a collision on ocean passage; when the collision occurred, the watchstander (only surviving member) was below fixing a meal.  Do we criticize her for not maintaining a proper lookout, or do we merely log it into our own personal neural logbook and say, "I will be diligent to not make that mistake."

Flying Pig: boat heavily damaged due to error using electronic navigation equipment, very inexperienced sailor standing watch alone at night.  Do we criticize them for the decisions that led to the wreck of their boat (which since it has already happened, it really kind of pointless), or do we use that experience to decide for ourselves what gear we have aboard, how well trained we must be to use it and who is 'qualified,' on our OWN boats, to stand watches alone?

There was a  boat a few years ago, I forget the name, that was in an offshore race.  Two crew, both who had small boat inland racing experience, had never sailed offshore before.  The boat came in last, or near last, in the race, but made a safe passage.  Those two crew members posted several scathing criticisms of the owner of the boat, along with detailed accounts of what he did 'wrong' (to lose the race) and what they would have done better.  Not once in the public account of the trip did either of these two thank the owner for the trip/experience or give any thanks for a safe passage.  In keeping with my own "advice," I choose (now that my anger at them has subsided a bit) not to criticize these two for their behavior but merely to tell myself that humility, when it comes to sailing the world's oceans, is a GOOD thing to examine how I, myself, would prefer to behave if I am ever given the opportunity to sail on another's boat in that fashion.

Talk is cheap, actions speak louder than words and changing our own behavior is harder than blasting the decisions of others.

Sorry for the ramble...this post was probably more stream of consciousness than any attempt at organized thought.  Go ahead, 'criticize' and second guess my post, now...   ;D ;D

Thanks for the rant.  And oh yeah, my prayers and blessings to all in Japan and anyone else even mildly touched by this GLOBAL SCALE event.  The loss of a few boats is among the least of the problems at this point...

[s/v Faith]

Good discussion guys, thanks.

  Absolutely agree that we should learn from others mistakes.  When I share my own errors or misfortunes, I hope others will learn from them (don't ever use silicone on wood or fiberglass).  ;)

 

....But in my own observation, most of the people who criticize in this 'arm chair quarterback' manner are talkers not doers.

Yup.

[Bubba the Pirate]

Don't forget, Cap'n Smollett, in our 24/7 endless-stream-of-content connected world, we are now blessed with people who can make a living simply by having a snarky opinion about anything and everything. 

I appreciate your post a lot.  Besides, tsunami's and hurricanes, I've been trying to apply a similar attitude to life and let things be. I don't need to contribute to the surplus of strife and stress in the world.  Of course, there are people everywhere, every day, that seem determined to test that conviction.  :o)  Smile and Nod, Smile and Nod, Smile and . . .

Blue Pill or Red Pill?

Good Words.  Grog. 

Todd

[s/v Faith]

. . .

Blue Pill or Red Pill?

Good Words.  Grog. 

Todd

Agree,

  Grog for all!~

[s/v necessity]

The following comic came to mind regarding some of the human nature being discussed.  It's one that brings me a bit of sanity every now and then :)

http://xkcd.com/774/

As far as Tsunami preparations go I can only think of two options.  Either head far away from land to deep water, or go inland.  Either way you don't want to be near the shoreline!

[JWalker]

I also believe that it is a bit asinine to sit in a safe dry country, half a world away and talk about what should be done to prepare for a disaster of global scale. 


Thats a bit like going to Jim's (hypothetical person) funeral and saying...Oh yeah...when Jim got caught in the headlights of that truck, he should have dodged to the left....what an idiot!


But then....isnt that what journalism has become? Pointing out the obvious and acting like its news.

Prayers for the people of Japan, AND Christchurch. :'(

the media can.....well never mind. >:(

[tomwatt]

Agreed that any decision is better than indecision... even if it's a wrong decision.
One of the hard-learned lessons from military leadership (not that I was a competent leader, or even a decent one, just that I led) was to "make a decision" under pressure. Often I went the wrong way. But it's better than sitting there doing nothing, because sometimes just doing something in the face of looming disaster will trigger enough change in circumstances to allow someone to blunder their way through.
Was reading a book on boat design (John Gardner) about constructing a Herreshoff boat in which he quotes an old boat builder in saying "three-eights plank will smash just as quick on the rocks (as 1/4" plank)". The gem of wisdom in that reminds me that in a struggle for good, better and best decisions, sometimes even the perceived best option may still not survive the difficulties.

[Oldrig]

Prayers for the people of Japan, AND Christchurch. :'(

The scale of those two recent earthquakes--and especially the tsunami that hit Japan--are beyond human comprehension. I don't think there's been much finger pointing--any responsible person would be nearly speechless in the face of these disasters.

Prayers, indeed. (And for the rebels in Libya, too.)

--Joe

[Frank]

wifi has been aweful here but I got to read these last few posts and realized why I like this site so much!! Grog to ya's !!!!