Every year September 19 is International talk like a pirate day. It was originally started in 1995 by John Baur (Ol’ Chumbucket) and Mark Summers (Cap’n Slappy), of Portland, Oregon. From what started as an inside joke between two friends, the made up holiday gained exposure through various media outlets in 2002.
Unfortunately, I don’t really feel inclined to participate due to the current rate of piracy on our waters, more specifically in the Gulf of Aden. But then again I don’t think they started the holiday to romanticize modern day pirates and it can be pretty funny. Actually just as I’m writing this I answered a call only to receive a big AAAAARGH!!! I would be lying if I said it didn’t make me chuckle a little bit.
For those of you that would like to keep things lite, we have provided you with these links to help you talk like a pirate and you can leave some of your favorite pirate quotes in the comments.
This is a pretty funny Pirate Translator, and you can even put in the gCaptain URL if you wish to read gCaptain in pirate language.
Our friends at theboaters.com have came up with a fun game called “Complete The Caption”. Each day they post a new photo submitted by their users and allow you to…. well, the title s self explanatory.
A fun game and I hope to find more of our readers signing up for theboaters.com to help represent the professional side of nautical endeavors. You can find our profile HERE and we’ll send a free gCaptain t-shirt to the first person who beats our CEO’s record for vessel LOA on the site.
For everyone else, bookmark this page and return daily to Complete The Caption!
So, on that note, today is the 96th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Yes, we all know about Jack and Rose and their brief-but-intense relationship aboard the ship, but which details did James Cameron get right, which did he exaggerate and what did he leave out altogether? Below are 10 things you may not know about the real Titanic.
Read the full article HERE then head over and buy the official “Ship Happens” t-shirt HERE. While you have the credit card out… might as well pick up a gCaptain t-shirt!
(Ed. note: This comes from a current student, Dave Yell. You may well be able to deduce that Dave is British. In deed he held a Unlimited License there. He’s planning on doing some work here, which is way he’s in a class. I should note he is a fantastic resource.)
A man knows where he is, at all times.
He knows this because he knows where he isn’t.
By comparing where he is with where he isn’t or where he isn’t with where he is, he understands there is a Deviation.
His built in intuition uses Deviations to generate corrective commands to drive him from a position where he is to a position where he isn’t, and arriving at a position where he wasn’t, he now is.
Consequently: the position where he is now is the position where he wasn’t and it follows that the position where he wasn’t, is now the position where he is.
In the event that his actual position is not the position where he wasn’t, his conscience has acquired a Variation.
Variation is the difference between where the he is and where he is supposed to be or where he wasn’t.
If Variation is considered to be a significant factor his conscience can generate corrective commands to drive him from a position where he is to a position where he should be, and arriving at a position where he wasn’t, he now is.
However, to achieve the above he must also know where he was. His built in intelligence creates a scenario that works as follows: Because both Deviation and Variation have been modified by corrective commands of his intelligence and conscience some of the initial position information that he obtained is now inaccurate.
Therefore, he is not sure where he is.
However, he is sure where he isn’t and he knows where he was. He now compares where he should be with where he wasn’t. By differentiating this comparison with where he should be with where he was and where he wasn’t with where he now is, he is able to obtain the sum of the true Deviation and Variation, which he explains as – ERROR.
- Dave Yell 2006
- Adapted from the Missile Guidance System explanation.
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This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.
Working aboard boats in Puget Sound, I hear lots on the radio. This is but a short list of Nautical Misnomers that ticks me off:
Slack Tide … there is no such thing. Current turns to slack, while tides reaches a stand.
Over and Out … you are one or the other, but never both.
Placing “THE” before a boat name …. it’s “Diligence,” not “The Diligence”
Any CB lingo …10-4 Good Buddy, and no, I don’t have my ears on.
Incessant hailing … If the party you are trying to reach doesn’t respond, chances are they are not there.
Calling on Ch 16 to tell someone their fenders are out … maybe they just want to look like rubes.
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This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of theUPDATE:
I review shipboard incidents every day. It’s what I write about. Unfortunately, there’s plenty of material out there. The other day, something came across my desk. At first, I thought it someone’s idea of a joke. “Artful,” I said to myself, “There is no way that this really happened.” It was then I came to the realization that this paper was no joke . . . this actually happened . . . and , well I’ll just share this little tidbit with you and you can blog for yourself. Of course, I left out the names to protect the guilty. I’m just going to reflect on the high points of the story (mainly because it’s the most interesting part!).
Once upon a time, there was this cruise ship that went out for a three hour tour. The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was . . . (Oops. Sorry, wrong story). [Continue Reading →]
This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the 
