Ode to the ‘shipping Forecast’ Fanning the Flames on Foreign Flagging

— alan g.

Your article “Is She For Sale, Or Ain’t She?” [ August 2015] was informative but silent on the issue of when a U. S. resident makes a purchase in the United States and then foreign flags the vessel. The analogy to a home is not really the same, as it is unlikely that a home purchased in the United States by a U. S. citizen would then be shipped to another country. The solution is simple: Sail outside the legal mile limit into international waters, sign the documents and transfer payment. We do this all the time with airplanes, worthwhile pursuits, but always placing us at the mercy of the variable and unpredictable weather patterns of northwestern Europe.

Small, usually wood sailboats were the vessels of choice in those days, and we shared the seas with professional mariners whose vessels were bigger and stronger than ours. We were playing on their turf and knew it. “The Shipping Forecast” was an essential element in our quest to enjoy life on the water with a reasonable chance of survival.

Hunkered down inside a 30- foot racing sailboat in deteriorating weather in the middle of the Irish Sea during a Fastnet race one year, I’ll always remember hearing the dire weather prediction for sea areas Shannon, Fastnet and Lundy guaranteeing us an uncomfortable ride for the next 24 hours. I wouldn’t use the word “mellifluous” because the delivery was always somewhat staccato, but the effect on us was uplifting. We received the information we needed delivered in a calm, authoritative voice. We trusted it. It was reassuring and, strangely, increased our confidence in our ability to deal with what was to come.

I imagine we had a bottle or two of smuggled French brandy on the boat during that race—we usually did—and I’m sure it also played a part in helping us survive the ensuing storm. —David P.

the Quay, 1535 SE 17th Street, Ste. B201, fort lauderdale, fl 33316

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