Blog 2014

What Is a Maritime Expert Witness?

 A maritime expert witness is a person who possesses knowledge of matters relating to the construction of ships, marine shipping, or navigation and who offers this expertise in a court of law. They prepare an analysis of situations and present the information to attorneys, judges and juries. They offer general insight on the cause of an accident, reconstruct the events of an accident and determine environmental threats. They also may be called upon to analyze the cause of personal injury suits and product liability suits.

An expert witness is a person who has specific knowledge in a given field and is called to testify in a court of law. The court permits this person to testify without having been present at the scene of the crime due to specialized training or experience in a given field. Unlike other witnesses, who are only permitted to give testimony based on observed facts, an expert witness gives technical testimony based primarily on expertise and opinions. The court allows either the prosecuting or defense attorneys to use such testimony to support claims made by the prosecution or the defense.

A maritime expert witness analyzes the cause of marine causalities and personal injuries during litigation for either the defendant or the plaintiff. An maritime expert witness may also be called to testify in environmental cases and offer analysis on the threat of hazardous materials such as lead, toxic PCBs and other toxic metals either aboard the ship or at the ship yard.

A maritime expert witness may be called upon to recreate the technical events causing an accident. An expert witness can provide testimony and analysis on the design, construction, and operations to determine the cause of the injury. A maritime expert witness is instrumental in product liability cases and can help determine whether an accident was due to faulty ship design or construction, management of the ship, or maritime operations.

Our services are available to offer expert witnesses when maritime accidents occur and the cause is unclear. An exceptional maritime expert witness service will provide the knowledge of fundamental maritime principals to advance the case and demonstrate the probable cause and effect necessary to the courts. The service will always include an analysis either supporting or defending claims and prepare reports for litigation. The analysis should cover each phase of the design, maintenance and operation of either the ship yard or the ship.

WIND AND WAVES                    

The relationship between the wind and the waves is very important to boat to skippers. So important  that a completely new classification system was designed as a guideline incorporating both wind speed and the wave conditions most readily found at those speeds. This system, called the Beaufort Scale, was developed in 1805 by Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort of the British Navy. It is a guideline for what can be expected in certain conditions and a weather classification system. It assumes open ocean conditions with unlimited fetch.

Aside from just wind speed, temperature is also a factor in creating waves. Warm air (which rises) moving over water has a less acute angle of attack on the surface than does cool air (which sinks). A cold front moving across open water will create much steeper waves and hence create breakers sooner than a warm front moving at the same speed.

Also, a change in wind direction over existing waves can create confusion and hence larger waves. If a wind has been blowing northeast over an open body of water for three days and suddenly switches to northwest over that same body of water, new wavelettes will form within the existing system of waves. The energy of both systems will multiply to create larger waves.

When a wave system meets a current flow one of two things can happen. If the wind and current are both going the same direction, it tends to smooth out the waves, creating long swells. If the current and wind are moving in contradicting directions, it will create much steeper and more aggressive waves.

MAKING SENSE OF THIS

So, what does all this mean? Why is it important to know how waves are made? Well... You can determine several things from waves.

One of the things you can tell based on waves, is boat speed. This assumes that your vessel is a displacement ship, like a keelboat, and not a planing one like a speedboat. When sailing a displacement vessel, the boat is constantly displacing a large chunk of water as it moves along. The heavier the boat, the deeper the trough it carves through the water. Now, along with the physics of waves we discussed above, we can add that the faster a wave travels, the longer it is. As a boat's speed increases, the number of waves that it pulls along the hull decreases until the boat is actually trapped between the crest and trough of a single wave that it has created itself moving through the water.

Understanding the Waves        

The first rule of waves, especially in the open ocean, is that there are no rules. Kind of a hypocritical statement considering the intent of this, but it is a cold hard fact. There are simple physical factors that makeup the "normal" wave, but within the forces of nature, there a myriad of other factors that need be considered. Regardless, an understanding of what makes a wave can be of considerable benefit  to the everyday sailor.

There are three factors that make up waves:

• Wind speed Length of time the wind has blown
• Distance of open water that the wind blows over; called fetch

All of these factors have to work together to create waves. The greater each of the variables in the equation, the greater the waves. Waves are measured by:

• Height (from trough to crest) Length (from crest to crest) Steepness (angle between crest and trough)
• Period (length of time between crests)

Waves are never created in one uniform height. Waves fall into a systemic pattern of varying size. Therefore, in order to classify wave height we determine the significant wave height, which is the average of the highest 1/3 of the waves in a system. This is how weather reports will specify wave height. Once you have the significant height, it is simple to determine the theoretical average height, the highest 10% and the highest wave sizes in a given area. Mathematically speaking, it's simple arithmetic based on predetermined ratios:

TYPES OF WAVES

Waves take their time to develop; they don't spontaneously erupt from the ocean. It takes a certain speed of wind to blow over a certain distance for a considerable length of time to create lasting waves.

There are three different types of waves that develop over time:

• Ripples
• Seas
• Swells

Ripples appear on smooth water when the wind is light, but if the wind dies, so do the ripples. Seas are created when the wind has blown for a while at a given velocity. They tend to last much longer, even after the wind has died. Swells are waves that have moved away from their area of origin and are unrelated to the local wind conditions -- in other words, seas that have lasted long beyond the wind.

The definition of swells can be a bit confusing when you understand that waves never actually go anywhere. The water does not travel along with the waves, only along with the current -- two mutually exclusive elements of water animation. If two people stand at either end of a long rope and undulate their arms up and down in an equal rhythm, waves will develop along the length of the rope that appear to move from one end to the other. The rope fibers aren't actually moving at all, other than up and down. This is exactly what is happening with waves. The speed, or velocity of the wave is measured by how long it would take a wave to pass a given point crest to crest -- say a line drawn on the ground beneath the rope. There is a slight movement of the water particles within a wave, Waves can be further described as:

• Non-Breaking
• Breaking

A non-breaking wave, is a "normal" rolling wave. A breaking wave is one who's base can no longer support it's top and it collapses. Depending on the size, this can happen with considerable force behind it -- 5 to 10 tons per square yard. Enough force to crush the hull of a ship. When the ratio of steepness of a wave is too great, it must break. This happens when a wave runs into shallow water, or when two wave systems oppose and combine forces

Next: Wind & Waves     

Watch Schedules and Ship's Bells       

I was recently asked a question concerning why ships sounds bells and what they signify.

So here we go………

As early as the 15th Century, a bell was used to sound the time onboard a ship. (Time, in those days, was kept with an hourglass.

The bell was rung every half hour of the 4 hour watch. A 24 hour day was divided into six 4 hour watches, except the dog watch (16:00 - 20:00 hours) which could be divided into two 2 hour watches to allow for the taking of the evening meal.

The bells were struck for every half-hour of each watch, with a maximum of eight bells. For instance, during the Middle Watch you would hear the the following:

00:30 1 bell
01:00 2 bells
01:30 2 bells, pause, 1 bell
02:00 2 bells, pause, 2 bells
02:30 2 bells, pause, 2 bells, pause, 1 bell
03:00 2 bells, pause, 2 bells, pause, 2 bells
03:30 2 bells, pause, 2 bells, pause, 2 bells, pause, 1 bell
04:00 2 bells, pause, 2 bells, pause, 2 bells, pause, 2 bells

At eight bells your watch was over! All other 4 hour watches followed this same procedure except the Dog Watches.

At the end of the First Dog Watch, only four bells were struck, and the Second Dog Watch bells were struck like this: 6:30 PM, one bell; 7 PM two bells; 7:30 PM, three bells; and at 8 PM, eight bells.

Chances are that at some point in your boating experience you will probably want to anchor. You may want to stop and fish, swim, have lunch or stay overnight. You might need to drop anchor  to control the boat if bad weather is blowing you ashore or if your engine has quit and the wind and current are pushing you into shallow water or other boats.

Long before you experience the reason, the first step in anchoring is to select the proper anchor. In spite of manufacturer’s claims to the contrary, there is no single anchor design that is best in all conditions. On most pleasure boats, the three anchors you will find most are the fluke or danforth type, the plow and the mushroom anchor.           

Mushroom anchors do not have the holding power of a fluke or plow anchor and should only be used on small, lighter weight boats. Check with your  local marine supply store . They can help you select the proper anchor for your boat and for the waters in which you will be boating.     

Anchors also must have something to attach them to the boat. This is called the anchor rode and may consist of line, chain or a combination of both. The whole system of gear including anchor, rode, shackles etc. is called ground tackle.

The amount of rode that you have out (scope) when at anchor, depends generally on water depth and weather conditions. The deeper the water and the more severe the weather, the more rode you will put out. For recreational boaters, at a minimum you should have out five to eight times (5 to 1 scope for day anchoring and 6 to 8 to 1 for overnight) the depth of the water plus the distance from the water to where the anchor will attach to the bow.

For example, if you measure water depth and it shows four feet and it is three feet from the top of the water to your bow cleat, you would multiply seven feet by six to eight to get the amount of rode to put out.

Thinking ahead can make your boating experience even more pleasurable. 

GETTING TIME BACK ON YOUR SIDE

Since the weather seems to have finally broken, I notice that my TO DO list seems to be never ending.

Whether its’ my workload from my job, my HONEY DO LIST at home, or just my need to get these things done for myself list, they all seem to be multiplying by the day.

SO HOW DO I GET THINGS DONE?

I subscribe to a few tried but true methods that seem to work for me. If they help you, feel free to try them. If they don’t, well good luck on that list anyway.

MAKE PRIORITIES

All time management begins with making clear certain priorities that have to get done. These are things you must concentrate on. Eliminate lower tasks by either delegating them  to your workers, ( or kids, as it may be) or stop them altogether if they aren’t important.

DO HARD STUFF FIRST

Procrastinating blocks progress, drains your energy, and distracts your mind from getting things done.

MAKE CHECKLISTS

Use a piece of paper, block it into four boxes. Mark everything that must be done today in the upper left box. That’s the days ‘priorities. In the upper right, write the things that should get done today. In the lower left write things that should be done soon. And in the lower right write your lower priority tasks. As items arise add them to the appropriate box. Update the list everyday.

DON’T BE A PERFECTIONIST

Perfection takes a lot of time. Hence, you get less and less done. Some things don’t need to be done perfectly, get used to it. ( I'm good at this one)

BREAK THINGS DOWN TO THEIR SIMPLEST FORM

Minimize complexity. The simplest solution to a problem is often staring us right in the face. Begin with a simple course of action and adjust accordingly.

  So there's a few of my tips, let me know some of yours!!

The value of a marine surveyor

The next time that you are shopping or looking at a list of boats or yachts for sale, it is a good idea to remember that you are not alone when trying to identify the most suitable and safe, sea-worthy vessel for your needs.

What a marine surveyor does

A marine surveyor will carry out an inspection and examination of the  marine vessel that you intend to buy and will check the condition of the boat and the materials aboard. It is like having a survey done before you buy a house, so you know exactly what you are getting before you buy it. A marine surveyor will also inspect equipment that is intended for use on the boat to check that it complies with the relevant safety standards.

The marine surveyor will check that a boat is suitably built and maintained to operate safely in the relevant weather and water conditions. A good marine surveyor will also have the necessary experience of a range of boat models, so that any recurring structural or maintenance weaknesses can be highlighted. In this way, I have found it possible to pick up many maintenance tips. In addition, the paperwork that comes from a marine surveyor can be essential for the necessary insurance coverage.

There are many types of surveys, both for commercial and recreational  purposes .

 For more information:

www.royscottmarine.com

What's with this Weather?

The icy grip of winter has been encompassing much of the United States. By now, the phrase "polar vortex" has become all too familiar to all of us. Low-pressure systems typically strengthen in winter and weaken in summer. When the polar vortex is strong, the Westerly winds blow hard; when it weakens, the cold air escapes. It seems that in January & February 2014, cold air escaped the Arctic vortex and raced south across much of North America.

These extreme cold events have us all questioning how changes in Earth's atmosphere could be creating warmer temperatures in the Arctic and that are weakening the vortex and leading to more cold weather outbreaks. The White House released a two-minute video last month in which science advisor Dr. John Holdren explains why we might expect to see more extreme cold events in the future.  In the video, Holdren explains that the temperature difference between the Arctic and the mid-latitudes is shrinking and that temperature difference is what drives the polar vortex. Great that we know that,

But ...

what does this all mean to our children?