In the News..

[Flash]

"She insists she was placed under no pressure or paid any money by Qatar 2022 to change her story."

And her familly have subsequently been released with their heads intact!

[dixie d]

the news is saying that the u.s.a can go bust by august 2 i thought they were the richest country in the world
can someone explain.
just found this by googling



http://www.usdebtclock.org/   

[Josie]

Just read a news story from nearby to us here in Mediterranean France.  I've posted elsewhere that the weather has been unseasonably windy and the sea is now very cold as all the warm water has been blown away from the shore.  It seems that 3 guys in their early 30's rented a jet ski on Saturday early evening (didn't know they take 3), got into difficulties off shore when it broke down, eventually decided to swim in from 800 m out against big waves and a strong wind.  One of them wasn't strong enough so held onto a buoy while the others swam back.  All were wearing life jackets.  The one holding onto the buoy drowned and they found his body yesterday.  The other two suffered from hypothermia and one stayed in hospital overnight.

They let off 2 flares but no-one came to their rescue probably as there were no boats about.

Shocking.

I'm assuming that the jet ski belonged to one of them as I can't imagine a rental company hiring one out if the conditions were that dangerous.

[Clanky]

I've posted elsewhere that the weather has been unseasonably windy

It certainly is!

The littl'un has been busy all week telling cargo to f**k off when they come asking for refunds because of the weather, it must be horrible spending every night of your holiday being seasick and every day catching up on sleep, but really, what do they expect us to do about it?

[John B]

Fit a stabiliser? 

[Clanky]

sshhhhh you!

Both stabilisers are extended and are operating correctly, we have indicator lamps to tell us so!

[Flash]

We had a customer that had a temperature indicator that told him the domestic waste he was processing into garden compost was being done so at a sufficiently high temperature to be safe 

And then the HSE asked him to calibrate it 

And then he asked us to upgrade his control system 

I looked at it and then I told him to f**k off!!

And then the HSE took a similar view and shut them down 

And the moral of the story, if I can think of one, if you're buying sh*t for the garden, make sure it's good sh*t and not just sh*t.

[Clanky]

Not sure if you were here when I had a slight issue with the port stabiliser Flash.

I went down to the engine room one night as we seemed to be riolling quite heavily in a gentle ripple, I had a look at the stabliser panel and both stabilisers were showing as extended and the angle indicators were moving as I would have expected, i went down to the stabiliser flat and had a look, the rams were in the extended position, the mechanical angle indicators were doing what they should be doing, the only issue was that the pump pressure was almost zero, so I changed the pressure gauges and they were still showing zero, so the pumps were pumping with no pressure and the stabiliser was moving, hmmmmmmm

I had a look at the amps on the pump which were also very low, so we got a diver to have a look and what he found was that we had a stub shaft which was going in and out and tilting in exactly the right way, unfortunately there was no fin attached to it.

[smokie]

So, it's something to do with something made of metal that "works" somehow.
Right, well all that's gone right over my head then.
Pumps, pressure, gauges................ what's it all about, that's what I want to know and I don't understand why you'd need any amps, does this thing have some connection to music?

[Flash]

Sounds like a typical 'software problem' we get reported Clanky  

Smokie you need the amps so the pump can generate head, because without head your drybollicks won't work for oyur ram.  Simples!

[Josie]

Back to the guys on the jet ski.  I mentioned the story to Mr J as if you knew how many people there are around here gazing out to sea in the daylight you'd be shocked like me that no-one spotted these men in trouble.  Anyway thought I'd try out my safety sense on Mr J for future use in a crisis at sea so I suggested what they must have done wrong and seem to have got it more or less right.

Excluding not jumping on a jet ski after an afternoon boozing (hypothetical) I tried:

1.  Bad idea to ever abandon your "vessel" unless it's actually sinking - Mr J said yes you can never see people in the water but you can see a boat/raft/jet ski etc.

2.  How about using a radio/mobile phone/ other communication device?  Right again.  Why didnt they use a waterproof marine radio to call for help from the shore?  Mr J said they should carry an EPIRB like us.  Not really sure what that is but it's a piece of kit that we carry in the plane and transfer to the boat and which sends out a message to the coastguard or similar in an emergency.

[John B]

Clanky has one of these, but the blade snapped off.

[Josie]

I don't mind being ignored...

[Clanky]

Josie, we have a saying that the best lifeboat is the big steel one with the lifeboats hanging onto it, getting into the water should always be a last resort.

As for the EPIRB, to be honest it is a bit of overkill for a jetski, a mobile phone in a waterproof bag would have probably saved this guys life.

[smokie]

Sounds like a typical 'software problem' we get reported Clanky  

Smokie you need the amps so the pump can generate head, because without head your drybollicks won't work for oyur ram.  Simples!

My guess for the acronym would be Outboard Yawing Underwater Retractable...........Ram.
Go on, I'm right, aren't I? 
See, I'm learning new stuff every day.