The captain of the cruise ship that ran aground off the coast of Italy is most certainly facing a heap o' trouble. I guess because Capt. SO and I are boaters, I have followed the tragic incident and subsequent stories with interest. Granted, since I am only reading what the media has put forth, there could be mitigating circumstances on why the ship ran aground, but unless the entire navigational crew was beamed up in concert by Scottie, then there is no good reason for this disaster to have happened.
Where the ship ran aground is so obviously close to shore and so obviously rocky......from the surface......it is no wonder that photos of the ship's hull reveal rocks protruding from the hull. Was the navigational crew eating brownies from Alice's restaurant? Were they getting jiggy with Jim Beam? Was Jimmy Buffet at the helm and the crew acting out "Margaritaville"? Maybe they had all eaten too many Twinkies and they were experiencing an out-of-control sugar high?
Imagine just being into the second or third hour of your long-awaited Dream Cruise, sitting down to dine - perhaps dressed in your finest.....ala Titanic or "The Poseidon Adventure" and you hear a grinding and banging sound as the lights suddenly flicker out. Then, as mass pandemonium ensues, in some cases in darkness, you and your fellow passengers begin fighting over life vests. Finally you and your companion have secured life vests over your finery and you head toward the lifeboats, only to discover that the lifeboats on your side of the ship - starboard, maybe, are not accessible and you have to run - or try - to the opposite side of the vessel, along with thousands of other frantic passengers. The crew, as a whole, reportedly is clueless on what to do, so they begin commandeering lifeboats themselves in order to save their own hides. As you stand by helplessly waiting for someone, anyone, who is in charge and is giving clear, concise instructions, you notice a person in what appears to be a captain's uniform climbing into a lifeboat.
Would you feel rage, desperation, resignation, agony or all of the aforementioned?
I hope to never have to find out. My captain knows how to use his navigation system, his back-up GPS unit and, lastly, HE has charts. Paper charts. The kind of charts that show how deep the water is or is not.
Ancora imparo
