rescue at sea | tugster: a waterblog

. . . but first, a followup from yesterday’s post, where I was wondering about the three figures in orange. Thanks to a reader, Tommy Bryceland,

for calling my attention back to a fourth figure. See that orange way high up in the mast? He’s right to “call my attention” because while I was getting these photos, I had seen another figure in orange but then lost track. A day later, while putting together the blog post, I’d forgotten all about that fourth person and perceived that orange up there as a flag or pennant of some sort. Thanks much, Tommy. As I watched, it did seem the three were motionless for quite a while.

Suns? At sunrise the other morning,

Cobalt Sun–an intriguing name– and

Advantage Sun anchored in adjacent spaces in the Stapleton.

Coincidence, of course.

A number of Suns call in the sixth boro: Grouse Sun, Orange Sun (which was also in the boro this past Sunday), Norwegian Sun . . . and more. I haven’t seen any “son” or “daughter” that I can recall.

That sent me wondering about related names, like Star, and this past few years, we’ve seen VOS Star, Angel Star, Sound Bound Star, Rotterdam Star, Kongo Star . . . and of course all the ones I missed. Another–Evening Star–has now become Jordan Rose.

And that leads me to a real STAR in the sixth boro right now . . . Silver Muna. Possible fleet mates featured here previously include Silver Joan, Silver Ellie, Silver Ginny . . . but why is Silver Muna a star, and not a tristar? John Huntington managed to document an important incident last night. It’s grainy, I know, but see the vessel name along the top and toward the left?

Commotion was not limited to the water; in the air . . . choreographed helicopters. Commotion and chatter on AIS and no doubt among emergency crews and family members privately ….

Silver Muna arrived with two rescued, and very lucky, recreational sailors and a poodle named Minnie lost at sea, 200+ miles offshore and at the edge of shipping lanes. Here’s the story of the rescue from ProfessionalMariner magazine, and here’s the Silver Muna rescue story from Workboat. Even the NYTimes got a story with a photo of one of the sailors coming ashore last night**. I’m sure this is just the kind of “feel good” story picked up all over on media, so no matter what you consume, you might have heard, read, or seen this story. Hat tip to the Silver Muna and USCG crews involved. I’m not sure AMVER (automated mutual-assistance vessel rescue) was involved; AMVER is a USCG-sponsored program to coordinate just such rescues.

**A “feel good” story it is. It also illustrates good citizens, in this case seafarers, saving lives and then disappearing from the tale: Silver Muna is a machine of course (I personify too much) but people exercised extra time, effort, and skill. Yet, and maybe of their own choice or dictated by company policy, they’re not named or pictured. A cautionary story it is too: a short coastwise trip can require every piece of emergency equipment AND training how/when to use you can get.

Here was a previous AMVER rescue story. And here . . . a story of a tugboat, now local, that rescued a 17-year-old in the Straits of Florida years ago. Here’s a story about a recent Lifesaving recognition awarded to crews on the inland waterways.

Many thanks to John for sharing the Silver Muna photos. All others, WVD.