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Low bridge, better lower the mast....


Just Jack

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Well it was actually a drawbridge that was closing on them. I wonder what the deal was with the operator.

 

I could be wrong but I'm thinking that once a drawbridge starts closing, you have to let it close before you open it. And vice versa.

 

Regardless, it definitely looks like the skipper was trying to race through the ever-smaller opening.

 

KInd of analogous to trying to beat a train to the crossing.

 

In other words, what an idiot.

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Boy... I got bridge op stories for you... Sorry can't help but chime in! Too many stories... All day & night long the whining and crying goes on VHF channel 16... Especially from sailboats many miles away wanting to hold up road and rail traffic because they think they are special and number one. AN IMPORTANT NOTE before we get started: Rail traffic (I know this story wasn't a rail bridge) takes priority people... No matter how much you can't manuever or how God awful windy it is. Then there is the little problem of who owns the bridge... LoL... Even if a vessel has to sit there a while. Nothing like a potential speeding Amtrak going into the drink!

 

Did you see the other vessel right behind them?... LoL.. Dumbazz sailboater got wise and didn't follow like a lemming! There is hope for @ least one! Steel wins out over plastic & light weight metal! Their (second boat) mast was higher and they were gonna go through too! LoL... Like SJBF said, once it starts going down, they aren't going to just stop the counter balance in full down swing. @ the lock, same thing too... Dumbazzes abound left and right and 6 out of 10 it innvolves a sailboater. The other 4 are jetskis and powerboats... Throw in the occasional canoe. We do so many boats, some times you just gotta throw the red light on an close the lock in that direction or you'd have them open all day and boats would get through only twice a day! To be fair, unlike this bridge op, I give them about a 1,000 feet before hitting the traffic signal and energizing the gates. People waiting for a bridge or stuck in the lock chamber usually get angry in the summer heat when they are sitting there for a 1/2 hour to 45 minutes, going nowhere. Nothing like having a mob on your butt. Once you hit the signal, no looking back... Too much wear and tear on the stuff to stop them in mid-travel. Especially, doing 10's of thousands of boats a year. I wonder if there was a traffic light @ that bridge? Above the lock here (the first fixed bridge above the lock is one controlling height going south), there are many draw/lift/bascule bridges, they all have traffic signals w/bells and whistles.

 

AnywaySailboaters are idiots. In confined channels, sailboats put on such a show that "they can't manuever." Looping all around, carrying on like they are a 800'x100'x9' draft vessel in a 300' wide 9' deep channel... You should see them, the sailboats won't stop for anybody... They are like the cyclists of the sea! Even under sail, they are not always the privileged (stand-on) vessel... BUT they sure pretend to act like it! Bicycles of the sea I tell you! Under motor too, they act like whiny little douches who can't manuever and are drafting some insane depth! LoL... They never got the memo that bigger, stronger always wins and they become the burdoned (give way) vessel in a lot of situations. Then there are the "walkers"... The ones that get off their boat and start walking all around town. 9 outta 10, sailboats! Wallbash... Only thing missing is mass amounts of spandex!

 

Then there are the boaters (power and sail) that don't read the charts and want bridges all day. On channel 16 you hear some little boat that thinks he is super tall: "106th street, we need a lift" Bridge Op replies back: "We are 22 feet Capt, how tall are you?" Boat: "17 feet." Bridge Op: "We are 22 feet, but we will go up for you if you think you really need it." Boater: "Can we have a lift." Yeah, wear and tear for an idiot who wants to feel special! Cyclists of the sea I tell you! Mix in the sea gulls and you got the flying bickering douchebags... But, they can't help it... They are animals!

 

I rant... I rant... ;-) ;-)

 

Did I tell you how much I hate sailboats? LoL... I should start a thread... "Douches/Cyclists 1of the Sea: I Do Not Stop for Anybody, they stop for me." Friggan logic is not their strong suit.

 

 

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Boy... I got bridge op stories for you... Sorry can't help but chime in! Too many stories... All day & night long the whining and crying goes on VHF channel 16... Especially from sailboats many miles away wanting to hold up road and rail traffic because they think they are special and number one. AN IMPORTANT NOTE before we get started: Rail traffic (I know this story wasn't a rail bridge) takes priority people... No matter how much you can't manuever or how God awful windy it is. Then there is the little problem of who owns the bridge... LoL... Even if a vessel has to sit there a while. Nothing like a potential speeding Amtrak going into the drink!

 

Did you see the other vessel right behind them?... LoL.. Dumbazz sailboater got wise and didn't follow like a lemming! There is hope for @ least one! Steel wins out over plastic & light weight metal! Their (second boat) mast was higher and they were gonna go through too! LoL... Like SJBF said, once it starts going down, they aren't going to just stop the counter balance in full down swing. @ the lock, same thing too... Dumbazzes abound left and right and 6 out of 10 it innvolves a sailboater. The other 4 are jetskis and powerboats... Throw in the occasional canoe. We do so many boats, some times you just gotta throw the red light on an close the lock in that direction or you'd have them open all day and boats would get through only twice a day! To be fair, unlike this bridge op, I give them about a 1,000 feet before hitting the traffic signal and energizing the gates. People waiting for a bridge or stuck in the lock chamber usually get angry in the summer heat when they are sitting there for a 1/2 hour to 45 minutes, going nowhere. Nothing like having a mob on your butt. Once you hit the signal, no looking back... Too much wear and tear on the stuff to stop them in mid-travel. Especially, doing 10's of thousands of boats a year. I wonder if there was a traffic light @ that bridge? Above the lock here (the first fixed bridge above the lock is one controlling height going south), there are many draw/lift/bascule bridges, they all have traffic signals w/bells and whistles.

 

AnywaySailboaters are idiots. In confined channels, sailboats put on such a show that "they can't manuever." Looping all around, carrying on like they are a 800'x100'x9' draft vessel in a 300' wide 9' deep channel... You should see them, the sailboats won't stop for anybody... They are like the cyclists of the sea! Even under sail, they are not always the privileged (stand-on) vessel... BUT they sure pretend to act like it! Bicycles of the sea I tell you! Under motor too, they act like whiny little douches who can't manuever and are drafting some insane depth! LoL... They never got the memo that bigger, stronger always wins and they become the burdoned (give way) vessel in a lot of situations. Then there are the "walkers"... The ones that get off their boat and start walking all around town. 9 outta 10, sailboats! Wallbash... Only thing missing is mass amounts of spandex!

 

Then there are the boaters (power and sail) that don't read the charts and want bridges all day. On channel 16 you hear some little boat that thinks he is super tall: "106th street, we need a lift" Bridge Op replies back: "We are 22 feet Capt, how tall are you?" Boat: "17 feet." Bridge Op: "We are 22 feet, but we will go up for you if you think you really need it." Boater: "Can we have a lift." Yeah, wear and tear for an idiot who wants to feel special! Cyclists of the sea I tell you! Mix in the sea gulls and you got the flying bickering douchebags... But, they can't help it... They are animals!

 

I rant... I rant... ;-) ;-)

 

Did I tell you how much I hate sailboats? LoL... I should start a thread... "Douches/Cyclists 1of the Sea: I Do Not Stop for Anybody, they stop for me." Friggan logic is not their strong suit.

Thankfully, you don't work for the US Postal Service :D I understand your point though.

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I could be wrong but I'm thinking that once a drawbridge starts closing, you have to let it close before you open it. And vice versa.

 

Regardless, it definitely looks like the skipper was trying to race through the ever-smaller opening.

 

KInd of analogous to trying to beat a train to the crossing.

 

In other words, what an idiot.

 

Going up... It is easier to stop from what I hear. ?? Some bridges won't give full lifts... They will even use only one leaf (draw) bridges @ times. Going in the down swing... It is like a rolling train I suppose.

 

Same thing with filling the lock chamber with valves... Water is rushing in even if the valves are reversed and begin closing... We had a small boat tie off his line in a knot... Valves began to open and the boat swamped... Even noticing the drunken idiots and closing the valves, 1/2 million gallons of water is still rushing in for a spell. Of course they all jumped to the back of the boat where the heavy motor which made things worse... They were trying to burn the rope... Oh my... If they would have noticed, there are axes every 200 feet along the lock wall...

 

Usually: ID-10T problems...

 

 

Thankfully, you don't work for the US Postal Service :D I understand your point though.

 

LoL... Thankfully drunken idoits and arrogant sailoboaters are easier to deal w/than making sure the mail, that never talks back, gets to Paducah on time.

 

Well it was actually a drawbridge that was closing on them. I wonder what the deal was with the operator.

 

Maybe he didn't want traffic on the road being held up for another 20 minutes while the nancies of the sea took their sweet time (to their credit, this Nancy seemed to be clipping @ good speed from far off, even after the bridge started going downward)... Called: "clearing road traffic." ;-)

 

They put the red light on and closed the bridge. What do you do @ a red light? Hint: Stop or on a boat, throw 'em in reverse. ;-) :-P

 

What does jboyst's girl do when she is stuck behind a cyclist... Now you can sympathize w/the bridge op.

 

:-)

Edited by ExiledInIllinois
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Just watched it again... That was total sailor error... Bridge was almost closed and in the downswing for quite some time. Boat was clipping and making a small wake... Like trying to beat a rail crossing.

 

Hear the horns going off in the back. The boat was also speeding in that confined waterway. I take that he would have had to wait a long time... I know on the Intercoastal, they run schedules. In Chicago, in The Loop... Chicago river, they don't run on call, 24/7/365... They "rove" from bridge to bridge... Certain Saturdays in the spring and fall, they accomdate the sailors... Most boats will head south through Calumet Harbor where the bridges are 24/7/365...BUT step down their masts @ the lastest after 92nd Street Bridge... That way, they won't need bridges all the way south...

Edited by ExiledInIllinois
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Boy... I got bridge op stories for you...

 

When reading this I was laughing about how this sounds like the anti-cyclists thread. Then you drop the reference in there.

 

>> And yes, I am making some fun of myself (cyclist). And no, I am not trying to hijack the thread. <<

Edited by BuffaloBud
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When reading this I was laughing about how this sounds like the anti-cyclists thread. Then you drop the reference in there.

 

>> And yes, I am making some fun of myself (cyclist). And no, I am not trying to hijack the thread. <<

 

LoL... I even made the sailing reference early on in the cyclist thread about who should be privileged and who should be burdened. I see it all the time, especially in the spring and fall when the sailors come back in. It must be all the open space they have out on the lake, I don't know... It isn't that I haven't sailed either. Funny the similarities They both get so indigant! Especially, here... One is out for a joy ride, wine and cheese crowd and the other are paying the bills making sure product gets to market. Like this speeding sail boat that hit the bridge. It is almost like he had baby medicine onboard and had to get it the sick dying children... While everybody else is stopped @ the bridge, burning taxed fuel trying to get to their job. It isn't like Jr. holding up traffic on Michigan Ave. in Chicago during rush (wouldn't happen anyway, they have schedules/roveing ops in The Loop) is commuting to his office @ the Wrigley Building.

 

Hate to paint everybody w/a broad brush... There are cyclists and sailors that "get it." Just very few... ;-) :-P

 

This one boat is no exception... @ least his wing-man pulled up! What were these two clowns thinking? They had a running start from far off... They heard the horns/bells/whistles... They saw the light from far off... And still they gun it! Gun it as in sailboat standards, but they were going well above a slow walk... Which should be the speed in that area... Notice all the marina's. How would someone like their boat waked when it was moored @ dock? Even though sailboats can slice better through the water... I bet that was only a No-Wake/5 mph zone... 5mph (or whatever in kph, not sure where they were) is pretty damn slow and they were totally clipping faster than that... What asshats. They will probably cry and whine/want a new mast/fix... Just like the idiot that sunk in the lock because they tied off and didn't allow their lines slack and pay-out/pay-in... They called and wanted the gov't to give them a new motor (swamped)... Thank God the Corps told them to go pound salt.

Edited by ExiledInIllinois
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That could have been me if I was a saiboat 35 years ago.

mods!!!!!!!!!!

 

hahahahahahahhahaha I am so kidding. If anyone actually does get this and they reply and make an issue of it...or trouble comes, let me get the knock. The comment was worth it.

Edited by jboyst62
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mods!!!!!!!!!!

 

hahahahahahahhahaha I am so kidding. If anyone actually does get this and they reply and make an issue of it...or trouble comes, let me get the knock. The comment was worth it.

 

I get it....but don't think it is so funny...

 

 

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I get it....but don't think it is so funny...

 

I was gonna say the same thing. Glad someone else brought it up.

 

If you win the lottery... Don't get a sailboat! ;-) ;-)

 

Get a crusier and do this:

 

http://www.greatloop.org/index.php

 

http://www.greatloop.org/sasonal-great-loop-map-cms-1035

 

 

Really pretty up through Ontario. Also, through Tenn & Alabama through the Tenn-Tom...

Edited by ExiledInIllinois
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I was gonna say the same thing. Glad someone else brought it up.

 

If you win the lottery... Don't get a sailboat! ;-) ;-)

 

Get a crusier and do this:

 

http://www.greatloop.org/index.php

 

http://www.greatloop.org/sasonal-great-loop-map-cms-1035

 

 

Really pretty up through Ontario. Also, through Tenn & Alabama through the Tenn-Tom...

 

Cruisers are for lazy !@#$s. Real men work for their knots.

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Cruisers are for lazy !@#$s. Real men work for their knots.

 

Yeah... From what I see, the knots in their heads! Sailors are some real knot heads. One time I had a sailboat pull up to the wall... Looking for the boat signal... Big button on the wall, 600' mark, big sign, even has a light on it... This knot head gets off the boat (no no, people tend to drown when climbing up and down a wall... Signs everywhere saying don't get off your vessel) and starts to pull out a screwdriver and open up an electrical junction box... That is where he thought the signal button was... I said: "Simmer down Dan Akroyd and put the Yankee Screwdriver away... We will be right with you, as you can tell being on the wall... We have the other end of the lock open... See that really big thing in there, it is coming for you if you don't move." Okay... Maybe I didn't say that exactly, but wanted too!

 

Yeah... Real knot heads! I should have just let him electrocute himself... I didn't wanted to have to hose off the scorched double polo shirt and melted top-siders from the lower guidewall... Everything is 480v around the joint...

 

:-P

Edited by ExiledInIllinois
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