Bruno Trouble and Wanaka...

Case · Post by **Case** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 4:24 pm

I came across this article... the name seemed familiar...

Bruno Trouble and Wanaka...

EDIT: I give up. The link above seem to generate errors for some reason. Here's the full mumbo jumbo link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01470.html

- Case

Bluenose · Post by **Bluenose** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 7:01 pm

I guess I don't find this story quite so impressive after reading about his game of bumper boats with Tim. I just don't understand why the press has to make him into some kind of hero. Sailors have been sailing boats up the docks for centuries. Long before there were lifting keels you could drop for "brakes".

Post by **dasein668** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 10:37 pm

Case, you had an extra [/url] in the link. I fixed it so that the original link works.

Post by **Tim** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 8:10 am

With such consummate skills at their disposal, one wonders if there's anything they can't handle. It's heartwarming to read such spellbinding, gritty tales of seamanship championing over adversity.

bcooke · Post by **bcooke** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 1:37 pm

hehe, The Wasington Post allows readers to post their comments. Feel free to tell them what you REALLY think :-)

News for the ignorant maybe. Nothing in the story suggests a level of skill, compentency or a minimum level of danger. Totally unremarkable event except maybe the incompetence of the skipper.

This morning the TV news is going on about a Canadian sailor that had to be 'rescued' when the motor on his sailboat failed. The Coast Guard went out three hundred miles to retreive him. The experienced sailor had been sailing since he was 14 years old.

-Britton

Bluenose · Post by **Bluenose** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 2:24 pm

bcooke wrote:hehe, The Wasington Post allows readers to post their comments. Feel free to tell them what you REALLY think :-)

News for the ignorant maybe. Nothing in the story suggests a level of skill, compentency or a minimum level of danger. Totally unremarkable event except maybe the incompetence of the skipper.
This morning the TV news is going on about a Canadian sailor that had to be 'rescued' when the motor on his sailboat failed. The Coast Guard went out three hundred miles to retreive him. The experienced sailor had been sailing since he was 14 years old.

-Britton

O man, your killing me here. I am trying to be on my best behavior and you add a Coast Guard rescue for an engine failure.

On busy summer days in the San Juan Island's I monitor my radio and listen to the calls for assistance for engine failures. If I am out for three hours I am likely to hear one or two calls. I always track their positions because I am pretty certain that one day I will get to rescue a sailboat with an engine failure. I did have a power boater get mad at me for not towing him upwind through the narrow channel back into our bay so he could figure out what was going on with his engine. I just didn't think that I could tack upwind and keep him off the beach. But I still wonder if I could find a way.

Rachel · Post by **Rachel** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 3:05 pm

I once "rescued" some folks in an inflatable dinghy that had motor problems. Row-towed them back to the dock in my 7' hard dinghy. They didn't seem to notice the irony.

Edited to say: I didn't mean to sound overly smug about that; it just struck me as funny. There were many places that I couldn't go because of not having a motor. What I don't get is the number of inflatable, outboard-powered dinghies that have no oars, or uselessly pathetic oars.

bcooke · Post by **bcooke** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 3:20 pm

That is because even with decent oars, the ability to row an inflatable is pathetic at best. That is why I don't own an inflatable ;-)

Rachel · Post by **Rachel** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 5:00 pm

Although I basically agree with you, Britton, I did find an Achilles inflatable reasonably pleasant to row with modified oars. Many inflatable brands look to have oarlocks that would not be receptive to such mods though.

The Achilles, however, had articulated steel pins that were about 3" long. The stock (short, sad) aluminum oars would fit over these pins, and then a small, plastic ball would thread onto the exposed pin end to hold the oar in place.

I got some 7' wooden oar blanks and drilled a hole through each of them to accept the Achilles oarlock pin. Then I lined each hole (one per oar) with a section of stainless tubing that was sized to slip over the articulating pin that came on the boat. Luckily it was long enough to allow a normal oar to be used.

With these oars the dinghy rowed pretty well - it was quite pleasant, in fact. Enough so that I rarely felt like mounting the 2hp Honda to the transom. It was a ~8' Achilles, circa 2000, that had a high-pressure inflatable floor. Of course a hard dinghy is much nicer to row, but with the long wooden oars, the inflatable was orders of magnitude better than with the original oars.

Rachel

bcooke · Post by **bcooke** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 2:44 pm

I hope you didn't confuse my opinion to be one based on actual experience. I just have an inborn aversion to inflatables and I use the oars thing as justification after the fact.

I got some 7' wooden oar blanks and drilled a hole through each of them to accept the Achilles oarlock pin.

So then you can't feather your oars on the backstroke?! <shudder> I don't know how you can stand it. That is just bad technique :-) Maybe that is because I learned to row in a banks dory and those 11 foot oars were very unforgiving of bad technique - the dory itself for that matter- good cheap load hauling boats but a bear in any kind of wind. Hardly worthy of their reputation.

What were we talking about again?...

Rachel · Post by **Rachel** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 5:15 pm

Nope, no oar feathering with that set up.

Now, let me just say that I love to row, and I used all my dialectic powers to argue in favor of a hard dinghy on that boat (I was not the owner, just crew).

Not that I'm not skillfully persuasive, mind you, but we ended up with an 8' Achilles inflatable and a Honda 2hp. ;D In the inflatable's defense, a cabintop traveler set-up would have meant keeping the hard dinghy on the foredeck, which isn't the best option. So I modified the inflatable for better rowing (sans feathering).

That said, as soon as I had a chance, I bought a used Fatty Knees for myself, and took it along on my next voyage (different boat). It's a great dinghy. Come to think of it though, I still don't feather the oars most of the time -- I guess just to save all those wrist-twists. It is nice to have the option when the boat is loaded down and there are waves.

R.

PS We were talking about Wanaka, of course!

Bluenose · Post by **Bluenose** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 9:11 pm

PS We were talking about Wanaka, of course!

I don't know. I think I would much rather read about the merits of a good dinghy and proper rowing form that talk about a glorified America's Cup skipper bumbling his way from one anchorage to another. It is also better for my blood pressure.

Ancient Race · Post by **Ancient Race** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 9:39 pm

I notice that the WP has cut off comments . . .

Post by **dasein668** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 8:59 am

gjvp wrote:I notice that the WP has cut off comments . . .

Maybe the WP didn't like what Britton and I had to say about mssr Trouble?

Bluenose · Post by **Bluenose** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 9:12 am

touché

Maybe the author didn't want any facts to get in the way of his hero worshiping.

Since I wasn't able to leave my own comment, I recommended the two fine comments that got in. Here is the direct link in case anyone else is so inlined.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... ments.html

Tim Mertinooke · Post by **Tim Mertinooke** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 11:36 am

Nice job gentlemen, I enjoyed reading your comments and the detailed explanation of events last summer in Long Cove. It is rather peculiar that the comment period has ended and it is even more peculiar that when you try to e-mail the author this message pops up;

We're sorry, but we don't have a contact information on file for the person you'd like to contact.

I think you boys sent poor old Angus into hiding.

Figment · Post by **Figment** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 1:15 pm

You are all very mean people.

Ganges #363 · Post by **Ganges #363** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 1:36 pm

I wonder if I'm the only one reading this thread who is appalled at the vitriol aimed at Bruno Trouble'.

Things got out of control for Trouble' while, trying to find shelter from forecast 60k winds, he was anchoring in a strange cove, in the dark, in a stiff breeze. He dragged down on another boat and broke its anchor rode. He came back the next day with an apology, a bottle of champagne, and an offer to travel into town to purchase a replacement anchor and rode.

The apology and the champagne were accepted, the offer of a new anchor turned down. Trouble' then returned again with a catalog and $800 in cash, and another apology, which was accepted.

So, you accept the apologies and cash, then go on to trash the guy in public? Seems obvious to me who the Corinthian is here. I guess no one in this thread has ever been in an embarrasing situation.

As for the WashPost article, it was written from the point of view of the reporter, not Trouble'. The article was written for the general, non-sailing public, not Ocean Navigator. Everything regarding Trouble' in the story described a competent skipper solving mudane problems. If you think none of those were newsworthy, fault the reporter and his editors, not the subject of the story. My guess is that the vast majority of the readers found the story interesting and informative.

And I would also guess that most experienced sailors reading about Trouble's handling of the broken anchor rode would consider him a gentleman. I certainly do.

Post by **Tim** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 2:04 pm

I'd like it on the record right now that the accepter of the apology was never involved in any trashing. I stand by my original writings on the subject from last August, in which I felt I was rather fair and gave appropriate credit to this fellow.

I was embarrassed to find my site linked to comments on the WP article, and would have preferred that it not be, but there's little to be done about that. I did not post any comments on the WP website.

It's true I found the article to describe a rather inane situation, as indicated my my sole comment above, but I'd really prefer not to be included in any of the other commentary going on here since it has nothing to do with me.

Figment · Post by **Figment** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 2:16 pm

man, it's going to be a looooooooong winter.

bcooke · Post by **bcooke** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 3:39 pm

Yeah, I meant to get back here before things got too heated up but I guess I am a little late.

Of course Tim is not involved here. I view his one post on the subject as a critism of the newsworthiness of the article rather than the subject of the article.

My own comments were also directed at the lack of newsworthiness of the article. I felt and still feel it is an inflation of the mundane for the entertainment of the the ignorant- something that seems to have become a widespread problem in the 'information age'. I did suggest a lack of competence in the skipper and I think their is some evidence to supprt this but certainly people can disagree with this.

I would wholeheartedly agree that Mssr Trouble went to great pains to rectify his mishap with Tim and he should be commended for that. On the other hand I am familiar with the area and situation in Tim's case which is what makes me wonder at Trouble's sailing skills. There was no need for Tim to have been inconvenienced in the first place with even basic boathandling skills under the conditions that existed at the time.

I don't really want to start a witchhunt for Angus either. I think he is guilty of inflating a story for monetary gain and adding to the public's misperceptions of the 'dangers at sea' but there are far worse crimes to worry about out there. Most likely Angus knows little about sailing and is probably in no position to judge the boat handling skills of others including Mr. Trouble. My hope in posting my comments on the WP site was to inform the editors that I, as a reader and consumer of their product, desire and expect a better product. Unless I tell them about my dissatisfaction then they can only assume that we the consumers want more of the same.

And if I am being honest then yes, it made me feel good to voice my opinion and pretend that what I think really matters to anybody. Obviously, my opinions don't matter or I wouldn't be bombarded with the constant drivel that seems to be passed off as news today.

-Britton

Case · Post by **Case** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 4:14 pm

I'll admit it... I wish I did not link that article to this forum.

I only linked the article because I found it to be amusing. Amusing that Bruono's Troubles did not end after the tangling Bruno had with Tim last August.

But it did not turn out in the way I quite intended. Oh well, that's life anyway.

- Case

Ronin120 · Post by **Ronin120** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 5:46 pm

I'm not much of a poster here but I do read this forum quite a bit for the wealth of knowledge found within. I feel it necessary to perhaps provide another point of view regarding Mr. Trouble and Mr. Phillips. And as full disclosure, one of my former race crewmembers and my wife have sailed with Angus. And I have raced against him in the past.

I'm pretty sure that Angus Phillips knows his way around boats quite well. He's done plenty of offshore racing (Bermuda and Annapolis to Newport several times) and has been in some pretty rough conditions. He's no stranger to challenges offshore. And the times that I have met him he was always a gentleman.

As far as Bruno Trouble goes, his record stands. And it is pretty darn impressive. I'd settle for fraction of his experience and be happier for it.

I read the article about Bruno Trouble and the loss of the prop and even though I've done more than my share of offshore racing and deliveries I found it quite interesting. And there have been times that I wished I'd had a "brake" in some embarrassing docking maneuvers. Trouble sounded like a person that I would go offshore with and I'm a firm believer in never, ever going on a voyage with a crew member you don't know very well.

I have to agree with Ganges #363, it seems the piling on is a bit harsh. Especially about "inflating a story for monetary gain." He's a writer for newspapers and sailing magazines. That's what he's supposed to do, tell a story. It's not reporting. The way I read the story it sounded like a fairly fun and pleasant delivery, nowhere near rising to the level of "dangers at sea." Beer drinking conditions.

I'm pretty certain that there are a fair number of folks reading these forums who would enjoy getting paid, like Angus Phillips does, to do the things they love, like sailing, racing and repairing old boats. I know I would.

Best,
Dave

triton #227 · Post by **triton #227** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 7:53 pm

Well said, I don't see what is so bad about this guy he seams pritty nice to me, we all make mistakes.

Figment · Post by **Figment** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 9:29 pm

ok, ok, everybody breathe for a minute.

For the record, I don't actually think you're all very mean people.
Cue the John Cleese apology from A Fish Called Wanda.

Bluenose · Post by **Bluenose** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 10:07 pm

I appreciate hearing other points of view on this article and Mr. Trouble. In hindsight I don't regret my thoughts on these two situations, but in the future I am hopeful I can show a bit more restraint in my posting.

I keep trying to learn that just because I think something doesn't mean I have to say something.

Post by **Tim** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 12:27 pm

I think everything that needs to be said here has been said, but I will leave the topic open in case anyone feels a need for futher explanations, amea culpa, or other germane commentary.