Brittany, Ouessan, the harbour of Brest, the Atlantic Ocean and its waves.

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RobertArthur
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Brittany, Ouessan, the harbour of Brest, the Atlantic Ocean and its waves.

#1 Post by RobertArthur »

As a schoolboy my first book(let) about ships and the sea was this one. Many more followed. Yesterday evening I watched this video, not on the French tv, but on the French side of the internet. Impressive, this tugboat Abeille Flandres.

rabbit
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Brittany, Ouessan, the harbour of Brest, the Atlantic Ocean and its waves.

#2 Post by rabbit »

I sailed passed Ouessant when I was about 15. Scared the living daylights out of me. Take a look at this amazing piece of seamanship a few miles further south in the Raz de Sein and never again complain about the price of fish

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Char
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Brittany, Ouessan, the harbour of Brest, the Atlantic Ocean and its waves.

#3 Post by Char »

rabbit wrote: Fri Dec 03, 2021 4:19 pm I sailed passed Ouessant when I was about 15. Scared the living daylights out of me. Take a look at this amazing piece of seamanship a few miles further south in the Raz de Sein and never again complain about the price of fish
Absolutely amazing bravery - the way that first boat got bowled over by that wave it must have taken tremendous courage to brave those waves to help. What a lucky man. Thanks Rabbit. :D

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Blaze
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Brittany, Ouessan, the harbour of Brest, the Atlantic Ocean and its waves.

#4 Post by Blaze »

I've spent most of my life beside or near the sea so have always known people who spend their lives at sea.
My respect for those who risk their lives to save others is immeasurable. Some of them will say "But I don't risk my life, I'm trained, every care is taken" but nature is fickle and not always predictable. They do risk their lives - I'll never forget the Penlee lifeboat disaster in 1981 nor the loss of 3 SNSM members at les Sables d'Olonne in 2019.
The Abeille tugs do incredible work and the video posted by @RobertArthur is impressive. Such small boats to deal with huge cargo ships and tankers ....

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RobertArthur
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Brittany, Ouessan, the harbour of Brest, the Atlantic Ocean and its waves.

#5 Post by RobertArthur »


rabbit
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Brittany, Ouessan, the harbour of Brest, the Atlantic Ocean and its waves.

#6 Post by rabbit »

RobertArthur wrote: Sat Dec 04, 2021 1:59 pm The Erika , an eyewitness report. And this time line.
Interesting clips. It reminded me of my first job. In the 60's I worked in Marine insurance in Lloyds. One of the biggest risks was "Forts Liberty Ships" These were cargo ships made in the USA as part of the WW2 war effort to help the UK. They were built quickly Three were built every two days and around 2700 were built in total. They were made using welds rather than rivet and were meant to be for one or two convoy crossings, but after the war they came under the ownership of less scrupulous shipping companies and sailed under flags of convenience. Their premiums were exceptionally high as they tended to break their backs in heavy weather, just like the Erika. They were built with a design life of 5 years but some were still in use in the 70's.

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Brittany, Ouessan, the harbour of Brest, the Atlantic Ocean and its waves.

#7 Post by rabbit »

I crossed to France recently on with BF in a F11. We were supposed to be going to St Malo but had to switch to Cherbourg. A 6 hr night crossing took 14 hrs. What surprised me was how poorly equipped the cabins are for bad sea conditions. It was a large cabin but with no hand holds, no fiddles on tables. Everything that wasn’t bolted down ended up on the deck. Of course I needed to pay a visit in the night and had to crawl on all fours to get to the bathroom as no hand holds.

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