The cost of inattention
When you're dead, you're dead, right? So where's the sense in buying yourself a nice big yacht if somebody has to die for it? And how the hell do you live with your conscience when they do?
Thank God the RNLI are as hot as they are. Thank God that other mariners rally round as urgently as they do. Among others, Messrs Compton and Gutteridge owe their survival to the crew of Condor Vitesse, a cross-Channel catamaran, that heard their call and diverted to the area.
Would you divert, knowing that somebody had put to sea without verifying that they were properly RYA competent? Well yes, of course you would, we boating types recognise our responsibility to everyone else, capable or not.
Except that why should the RNLI be expected to scramble when their "customers" are needlessly taking risks that endanger their own lives?
The real price tag
Mr Compton deserves sympathy, he really does. Losing your yacht at sea can ruin your entire day - though impressions are, with his high-powered position in the City, that he will not feel seriously underprivileged. Which means he probably wouldn't feel too put out if the RNLI and the various other rescue teams involved presented him with a sizeable bill.
Silly billies
After all, if you can afford to play silly billies, you can afford to pay. And that's what going to sea with an under-qualified crew is, right? Playing silly billies. And you're playing even bigger silly billies if you decide you are going to be the only competent crew - and there's no such thing as going to the head, coming down with food poisoning of breaking your leg in the forward furling drum.
Gypsy Moth IV
Compare £250,000 with the £300,000 spent on rebuilding the craft in the other significant accident of this week when Gypsy Moth IV ran up on the coral of Rangiroa Atoll, the other side of the world in Tahiti. Working for charity more than a joy ride, Gypsy Moth IV had a fully qualified skipper, a qualified mate and a qualified female deck hand.
Excusable errors
Gypsy Moth IV was in largely uncharted waters. Maybe one of the teenagers aboard distracted the crew at the wrong moment. Maybe there was a wind gust, or an unforeseen current surge. Maybe there was a coral outcrop that had never been captured on Admiralty data.
Whatever the cause, there was certainly no error of judgement like going below as the only competent mariner aboard and leaving the helm in the hands of a novice in waters where known and charted hazards are visibly present.
Be safe, get qualified
Very thankfully the passion we share for going to sea is one o the most rewarding any human can experience. It is also dangerous without taking proper care in the first place. £ 250,000 is a heavy price to pay for making a mistake. But woefully inadequate if there's a life involved.
We all learn by our mistakes and we never stop learning. We know the risks. Now, are you ready to go to sea again yet?
