C James

It's absolutely not a cliffhanger. The chapter is certified entirely cliffhanger-free. The Coast Guard cutter has no other option than to do what it did; I could not turn and take a collision on its side. It can probably survive a head on impact but not a side-on one from a boat 1/3 its size. That's diesel fuel, so burning a thin slick of it like Sea Witch is trailing isn't possible. It has a different purpose. But, at least we now know what Basingstoke wanted the shark jaws, wire, and crowbars for. CJ

Chapter 111: Coming to a Head Above the Florida Straits between Florida and Bimini, Operation Wesson was in full swing as Sea Witch roared eastward, heading into the heart of the trap. The forces deployed against Sea Witch were formidable: four Coast Guard cutters, four armed helicopters, and a Gulfstream radar surveillance plane. The Gulfstream, which in government service was called a C47A instead of a Gulfstream V, was well suited to its role as a radar and visual observation pla

Coming to a Head is up. If you're reading and get confused about the geography of the islands, there's a link to an interactive map just past the end of the chapter text. This is chapter AUD78, because we are still using Australian Math for the chapter numbering. (I did promise to being this in under 100 chapters, and I keep my promises!) Okay, have fun reading, and let me know what you think.

I'd rather go for a stroll in a minefield than say which is first. The Aussies and Kiwis take their rivalry very seriously. But I was framed!!!! It was the act of a nefarious conspiricy that framed me!!! And they're out to do it again!!! He's a pilot.. maybe he wouldn't notice an airstrip? Maybe he didn't check his aeronautical charts, which show it? Nothing to worry about. The reason for its existence is in the coming chapter. Some of it was planned out long ago, including little things, like the name of Dirk Hartog Island near Carnarvon, and how the name makes Trevor think of his father, Dirk. I was looking at the area (I'd already picked it) but didn't have a name for Trevor's father yet, so saw that and thought it would work. I knew about the history of the Batavia wreck long before writign the story too; it's one of the most dramatic of the Dutch East Indiamen wrecks. Carnarvon being a placename on both sides of the continent was super easy: I knew that long before writing the story. The reason is I have an interest in glacial periods, and thus sea levels changes over time. Right in the center of Carnarvon Bay, Tasmania, is an island called Isle of the Dead (used as a cemetery for the old prison there). On it is a waterlevel benchmark chiseled into the rock in 1841. So, I had already heard of Carnarvon Bay, Tasmania, having seen it mentioned in an article on the Isle of the Dead benchmark about ten years ago. I've also long known about Carnarvon's relationship to the loss of HMAS Sydney (WWII naval history is another of my hobbies) and also the Jindallee over the horizon backskatter radar system (Modern military weapons and tactics are another of my hobbies) so a lot of this detail work was easier than it looks. Did I know that Trevor would go to Webbie Hayes fort from the start? Yep. I knew about it (from the Batavia wreck) and that's why the islands were mentioned a couple of times during Trevor's approach to Carnarvon. Did I know about the airstrip before I started the story? Nope... I only noted it on Google Earth when I was doing the initial research in Google earth, checking out the area (that's when I noticed what Shane calls Rhys Lagoon, too). Some things though are planned out as the story progresses. The outline called for Trevor to hide Kookoburra somewhere, somewhere that she'd been before as the Ares, but it was only after his arrival in Carnarvon thatI picked the Murchison, and pure dumb luck that the flow was at record highs that year, and that the weather was stormy the night he crossed the bar at the river';s mouth. (I do check weather and tide times for the dates and locations, if relevant) Eric in FTL was always so helpful. Fear not, we'll see how the shark jaws, the rubber mallt, the wires, and the crowbars all work together in the next chapter, "Coming to a Head". Maybe Basingstoke just wants to hang the jaws on his wall as a souvenir? Coming to a Head posts in 24 hours (well, maybe 26) and it's a nice, relaxing chapter, a chance to recover from any faint hints of tension in the recent chapters.

But but but.... Chapters posted after Jan 1st don't count for the 2011 awards, and besides, there's no cliffhangers here!!!

What does Basingstoke plan on doing with the stuff? Hrmmm, perhaps he just wants to hang the shark jaws on his wall as a souvenir? I've never lived in Florida, but I've been there many times. Also, I have the aid of my editor, Emoe, who is a Floridian. And, um, a clifflike location? Uhoh... can't be to do with Circumnavigation then, because it's entirely cliffhanger-free. Every member has a warn status bar, visible only to themselves, moderators, and administrators. If there was any warning in it at all, it would show as red, not empty. Yours is empty, no problem. ************************************************************************************ "Coming to a Head" will have some pictures in it; a map of East and West Wallabi islands, plus a picture of an Island-class Coast Guard cutter, and also of a Sea Ray 38. CJ

I've had pavlova in both Australia and New Zealand, and they are indeed different (and both very delicious!!) ACK!!! Please don't let the Evil Steve of the North (Wildone) brainwash you!! There is no cliffhanger here... Bridget is happily sailing into Operation Wesson, a huge Coast Guard operation aimed at her. On West Wallabi Island, Trevor, Shane, Lisa, and Joel are enjoying some carefree sightseeing. They are also perfectly safe, unless Basingsstoke knows of, and uses, that airstrip on East Walabai. So, nothing to worry about.

But but but.... I never use cliffhangers!! All my stories are utterly and entirely cliffhanger free. Even MikeL, our resident frog, has amphibiously certified them cliffhanger-free!!! I'm being slandered! Unfairly accused! Wrongfully maligned! Also, as Talonrider will attest, only chapters posted in 2011 can count for the 2011 awards, so therefor, even if the unthinkable happened and I were to post a chapter tomorrow with a cliffy in it (which I would never do!) it would not count.

But... Isn't "Bastard" a term of endearment down under? ../..//public/style_emoticons/default/innocent.gif Hell, for sweet, innocent me? It was a nice, relaxing end to the chapter... Bridget heading out inot the teeth of Operation Wesson, and Trevor, Lisa, Shane, and Joel having an idylic time on an uninhabited island. And as for Basingstoke, what can he do? He can't land that type of plane on a beach, or in the water. So, nothing to worry about. I'll bet Shane had you seeing red when he refered to Pavlova and a Western Australia creation. And WELCOME to the forums!!!! Thanks!!! And welcome!!!! BTW, don't listen to anyone (especially named Wildone) who might claim that the chapters sometimes have cliffhangers. Fear not, for I never, ever use cliffhangers. Bridget seems to have two options; try to fight (the only weapons aboard are two rifles and her pistol) or surrender, and let her, and her 20 million in loot, be taken into custody. What will she do? Sea Witch is faster then the fastest of the cutters, but only barely (thje Island Class can do 29 knots, while Sea Witch, lightly laden under perfect conditions with Nitrous boost, could do 35, max, and less than that with a full fuel load). So, Sea Witch has a slight speed advantage, but the cutters are between her and where she wants to go. And then there are the helicpters. Maybe he just wants to fly by and give them a freindly wave? And Yep, Billy sure looks to have goeen way more than he bargained for. Agreed, not a cliffy! The chapter had to end somewhere... and what could possibly go wrong? Hrmmm.. I can agree with that! Another vote for "not a cliffhanger". An airstrip, on an uninhabited island? Well, that's very rare indeed. I don't know of any other example of this on the planet. Yep, very rare... But, does Basingstoke even know about it? Also, it's almost two miles from where Kookoburra is moored; she's in the bay between the two main islands. So, nothing to worry about... BTW, time to release the title of the coming chapter... It's "Coming to a Head".

And one other thought for the day.... Wildone said, in the last thread, always and only trust the narrator. So, if I'm the narrator, that means that when I say "I never, ever use cliffhangers" it must be true, right???

Chapter 110: Operation Wesson Ahead, a stark intrusion loomed on the horizon: a low, flat island, with little vegetation. Of more concern was the violent surf roaring against the shielding reefs. Trevor took the helm for the final approach, taking Kookaburra carefully past the reefs and into the shallow, placid blue waters between East and West Wallabi Islands. Shane leaned in to study the navigation display for a moment. “Trev, I picked the spot off East Wallabi because the chart said it’s

Operation Wesson is up. Sorry for the week's delay. I'll do my best to keep to a weekly schedule for the remaining chapters (less than ten). CJ

Or, an accusation of cliffhangery! Only a fiend would do such a thing as that... BTW, the chapter should be posted in a couple of hours... I'm just doing the final checks now.

Julie (Trevor's old captain) has been mentioned a few times, in passing, since introducing Trevor to Bridget. She, via e-mail, put Lisa in touch with Bridget, and then Trevor has written Julie a few times. Circumnavigation II? Well, I can say this; no plans at the moment. Well, hrmmm! Is Julie what she seems? She was very good to Trevor... she even gave him that garlic crusher he's so fond of. Tahiti. An awesome place for diving. I can also say, without fear of contradiction, that either we will, or will not, be seeing Julie in the story again.

Welcome to the forums!!!!! I'm not surprised that there was panic amongst the cruise staff; they weren't receiving instruction from the bridge. Some of them (who deserve great credit) began the evacuation before it was ordered, which probably saved lives. That's what I was thinking too; approaching at 90 degrees at 15 knots... yipes! I've been on the bridge of several cruise ships (they do bridge tours, though not at sea anymore) including the Costa Atlantica (whose captain at the time was Shinetto, the Costa Concordia's captain). They have navigation displays that show navigation maps and plot the ship's position. The captain must have disregarded the chart data entirely, and then began his turn too late. All the info released so far indicates that he was at the helm, conning the ship visually, at night, which in itself is nuts that close to danger. Great points, but I'm astounded that a maritime lawyer didn't know that that Athens Convention has no legal impact in the US, because the US is not a signatory to it. Canada isn't a signatory either, but has incorporated the principals of it into its law. (the US has not). I'm reminded of something I read long ago, that had occured back in the latter years of the cold war. A group of US buisnessmen sued the Soviet Union over some kind of dispute. I can't recall what, but it related to something inside the Soviet Union, maybe the Soviets not paying for a shipment of something. The buisnessmen won in court, but the Soviets decided to just ignore it, saying the court had no jurisdiction. As a result, the court's judgement was enforced by seizing a Soviet freighter. I';ve signed quite a few cruise contracts, and they do vary a bit, though not a lot. The issue with contracts is they are often not binding in the case of clearly criminal conduct by one of the parties, and the captain's actions (especially his denials to the harbormaster that the ship was in serous trouble, and the huge delay in evacuating) rise to the level of criminal misconduct. My wild guess is the US lawsuit has at least a chance. How much of a chance, I have no idea.

Our four sailors are in a bit of risk... but, they aren't worried. And yeah, that aligator farm scene.. ugh, not good. Good point on Gonzalez; he does indeed have a conundrum as to how to avenge Henry. As for the contract; even if Sanchez did realize that it should have never been done, it wouldn't matter. He needs to fulfill it for internal political reason in the cartel. The thorny little issue is this; Sanchez accepted the contract from Bridget on behalf of the cartel, not just himself. There ya go again, blaming me!!! I had nothing to do with Henry's death. If you'll re-read it, you'll see it's clearly Bridget and Billy who did the wretched deed. Ack, another one blaming me! Having Henry eaten (shudder!) was not something I thought of... that was Bridget's idea, after capturing Henry. She is mentioned a few times as being very concerned that that might happen, if the secret she took the contract out to protect ever gets out. I hope that we'll now be beck to weekly postings, with no further interruptions. And you're right, there's no sequel planned for Circumnavigation. Yep, George never figured out that Bridget controled a lot more than he knew. I started hinting at this very early on, when Lisa's father recognized Bridget's name as the brother of the guy who owned his employer. Ahhem! I said there were no cliffhangers, not that you should try and find any! Human maths? Wildone... if that's a reference to the Aussie maths we're using for the chapter numbering, I do beleive you just implied that Aussies aren't human!!! Okay, going through your list one by one, #1: The shark jaws. Do we have any idication that Basingstoke isn't going to just hang it on his wall for decoration? Nope... So, not a cliffy. He may well have just been doing some souveneer shopping. #2. Yep, bull sharks are responsable for more attacks than great whites. But, sharks have been mentioned many times throughout the story, and bull sharks are actually #2, not #1 (the oceanic white tips that got the pirates are actually #1, but they don't go near shore). So, not a cliffy. #3. Are Jim and Dirk in grave and deadly danger from Frank Tittle? Of course; they could drop dead from shock when they get his bill. But, we already knew that, so not a cliffy. #4. Bridget, not Rachel, is about to pick up Sea Witch, so not a cliffy. #5. Is there a risk that Bridget couldmurder all the charachters? Absolutly not; she's a characther, and she's not going to murder herself, so the chances of her killing all the characters is precicely zero, so not a cliffy! Aaaand... Time for the new chapter title. It's Operation Wesson.

Oh, and btw.... beware, the evil Wildone is still making scurrilous, slanderous, and downright salacious accusations about me, so don't listen to him if he claims a cliffy in this chapter.

Wildone, shame on you! If you look, you'll see the chapter thread (the chapter is up) as Circumnavigation 99+10 (remember, we're using Australian math now, so it's actually chapter AUD76) and that chapter thread was up before you posted this! You're just trying to frame me for cliffhanger king again! And yeah, an internet problem was behind the delay.

Chapter 109: Blissfully Ignorant The noise of the morning shift change intruded on Gonzalez’s fitful sleep, and he opened his eyes to find himself slumped over his desk. Ignoring his aching back, he began making calls, getting himself back in the loop on the case. It was late in the morning when the State Attorney found Gonzalez, still at his desk, working the phones. The State Attorney took a seat, wringing his hands while Gonzalez finished a call. Gonzalez took one look at the State At

Blissfully Ignorant is up. First off, I'd like to thank Benji and Emoe, who came up with that title independently after I'd mentioned I needed to change it from the old one, "Ignorance is Bliss". (I'd used that one before, long ago). So, enjoy the chapter, and please let me know what you think.

You're right; the Andrea Doria was a huge blow to Italy; she was a source of pride and a symbol of their recovery from WWII. The loss of her, coupled with the shameful news that the first three lifeboats to get away were full of crew, was a national scandal. The captain and senior officers of the Doria, though, stayed at their posts and did their job. The Concordia was the opposite is some ways; most of the junior staff did pretty well by some accounts (though some lied to passengers, put passengers in harm's way, and outright paniced), while the captain and senior officers behaved disgracefully. It's known that at least the captain and first officer fled their posts. Also, the Concordia wreck was caused by intentional reckless behavior; conning that ship visually, in the dark, right up against a perilous shore, is insane. Another similarity; both ships lost about half their lifeboat capacity thanks to listing. In the case of Doria, this wasn't avoidable; the list began in moments. On Concordia, it happened because they waited for hours before launching the boats. One thing I'd really like to know; why did the captain and senior bridge crew lie to the harbormaster (telling him repeatedly, over the course of at least an hour, that it was kjust an electrical problem) AFTER they had been told by their own engineers that the ship was definitely sinking and could not be saved? BTW, here is an article that has a lot of good pics, including one of the currently best-selling T-shirt in Italy, which I think shows how a lot of Italians feel about this. She shirt says: "Vada a bordo, Cazzo!" That's what one of the coast guard officials told the captain when they learned he had gone ashore. "Vada a bordo" means "go back aboard!" and cazzo, um, well, the English-speaking press is reporting it means "damn it". It doesn't. It's basically akin to our f-word, and in this context it's a vile insult. Read the transcrips below and you'll see why the captain has the nickname "chicken of the sea". The captain did not return to his ship. There was no turn to port at all (the press are reporting that there was, to take the ship towards land, but they are in error. the ship actually turned to seaward), with the exception of a slight turn to port a moment after the initial collision. The island was on the ship's port side, and the turn after passing the port was to starboard (out to sea.) The ship lost all propulsive ability within a few minutes after the first impact; she was from then on going under just momentum and wind influence. It is very fortunate that she lost her engines as fast as she did; had they run for about two minutes more, and the same course steered, she'd have been further out to sea when she lost all steerageway and the wind began taking her towards shore. She'd have capsized in deeper water and gone down like a rock, with most of the passengers still aboard. Good point! They don't want people knowing where they are. From the description of what happened. A small list to port then a gigantic one to stardboard. This sounds like she lolled or lolling. This is mainly a design feature in roll on roll off ferries where the water enters the deck and some movement cause the water to rush to one side and then a reaction of the ship, causes all the water to rush in the opposite direction. The theory in this case is that a large amount of water entered and then rushed across a tranversal deck. The first rush(to port) resulted in a minor movement put it transferred its energy to a large rush in the opposite (to starboard). Given the pictures of the gash, there must have been a large amount of water entering into a number of so called watertight compartments. However, as CJames has pointed out, the effect of the Law courts and the amount of compensation (USA courts) for a fit survivor asked for will result in the true reasons for the loss never coming to light. Free surface effect? Hrmm, you're right; the rush of water must have been enormous. Supposedly, they are designed to "sink upright", so that a list disabling half the lifeboats won't happen. I assumed (wrongly) that this would mean they'd have a lateral bulkhead, running bow to stern, over the centerline, so counter-flooding could be done. From what little I can find, they don't seem to have this. One thing that has always bothered me about the design of modern cruise ships; they are less stable than the liners of old. The height (ten stories or more) puts their center of motion rather high. I've always believed (wrongly, as it turned out) that the first of these to be lost would be lost due to losing power in a storm. I still think that's huge risk; they would be turned sideways to the sea by the wind, and with their roll moment, I don't think they'd last long in high seas. I hope the truth comes out, so that the needed lessons can be learned. Otherwise, if it's whitewashed, the changed will likely be cosmetic, leaving people at greater risk. I'm not at all fond of the lawsuit-happy culture, but in this case, I'm actually siding with the suing lawyers; those passengers (the ones that survived) had their lives put at terrible risk by an act of criminal reckless endangerment compounded by further criminal acts after the initial grounding (such as lying by the crew, the unconscionable delay in beginning to abandon ship, etc). If the testimony is correct, Costa was informed of the damage to the ship early on, and did precisely nothing (such as calling the Coast Guard). Costa, IMHO, deserves to be ripped a new one for this disaster. BTW, I don't speak Italian, but here's a quote from the translation of the transcripts of the captain's testimony. If this is accurate, well, the words speak for themselves. That's the captain being quoted.

Indeed!!! A very thoughtful gift from the considerate Mr. Basingstoke. So, let's look at the history of that garlic press. Trevor saved it from the pirate ship (mistaking it for an EPIRB in the dark, due to its similar shape and his numb hands). This directly resulted in Trevor's ordeal in the Southern Ocean. He then used it as a mayday beacon, by setting that huge log on fire and tying it to it with a mayday note inside. That note was indeed discovered (and resulted in the press descending on Trevor). Now, the garlic press has served to introduce Basingstoke to Trevor. Perhaps we were wrong to think of Bridget as the primary antagonist in this story? Could his garlic press be the actual antagonist? Will it redeem itself before the end?

Interesting news: at least one of the "black boxes" has been reported to be nonfunctional for weeks. It's pretty clear that Costa lines knew of and approved of a close pass of the island, because their ships do such things fairly often. They cannot say they didn't know; on every Costa ship, near the main lobby, is a display showing the current positions of all other Costa ships. They are tracked in real time. The cruise line would know of any course deviations. The prime cause is that the captain took manual control, and utterly disregarded safety, his instruments, common sense, and proceeded to make the turn to parallel the shore visually (at night). His navigation display would have shown the danger very clearly. It's known for certain where the ship first hit: divers found wreckage there. One lingering puzzle; the gash is on the port side. The ship, however, rolled over on its starboard side. The watertight bulkheads run side to side, so water entering one side could reach the other, but it's still odd that it would list away from the hole. This makes me wonder if the initial impact could have also holed the ship's hull elsewhere.

The Costa Concordia, one of the largest cruise liners on earth, over a thousand feet long and 114,000 tons, struck rocks off the Italian coast, then capsized and partially sank on Jan 13th. 12 are known dead so far, but there are still around 30 missing. It could have been vastly worse; there were over 4,000 people aboard. I've been on quite a few cruises, including two on Costa lines so I'm quite interested in this story. Also, for those of you following "Circumnavigation", you'll recall me yammering on about AIS: a type of active radar transponder, which reports on a ship's ID, course, heading, etc. AIS, in this case, allows us to see what really happened to the Concordia. It's already known that she, via reckless handling, hit rocks a couple of miles south of where she now lies. However, the press reports involving the time between that initial impact and the second grounding a couple of hours later are IMHO dead wrong. They report that the ship was trying to reach the port near where it ended up. It wasn't. It's reported that the crew, knowing the ship was sinking, intentionally ran it aground. That didn't happen either. The ship had a data recorder, like an airliner's black box. It was recovered from the wreck the next day, intact. Oddly, no data has been forthcoming from the authorities. I'm troubled by the fact that, due to manifest faults of the captain (he caused the disaster with a reckless maneuver, then got himself ashore hours before the last of the passengers were saved) combined with some painful history (the Andrea Doria disaster, long a painful and embarrassing memory for Italians) and this being an Italian cruise line, with lawsuits sure to flood Italian courts, there is motive here for that "black box" data to be withheld or "lost". Fortunately, we have AIS. A reconstruction based on AIS data was made. To the best of my knowledge, this is accurate. It is also FAR better than you'll find in the media. It also shows a few huge surprises. Okay, going back to the novel "Circumnavigation", it was mentioend that (and linked to) there are publicly availible AIS data pages on the 'net. There are also (Bridget was shown using one) subscription services that have far better data and tools. One of these is Qastor. Here's a page showing a reconstruction of the disaster based on AIS data. They have both PDF and .WMV files for those who, like me, don't have flash. the .wmv files play just fine on windows media player, and I highly recommend them. The link I suggest is grounding costa concordia.wmv There is also an interpolated one below it, but the first one is a bit easier and faster to view, and has no guesswork involved to fill in the data dropouts (there is a 16 second gap during some of the approach to impact in the actual AIS data). The data does, though, show the actual impact, where the ship hit the rocks at high speed during a turn to starboard. It ripped at least one massive (160 foot long) gash in the hull, and left a boulder the size of a small house sticking out of the hull. The true mystery, though, is what happened after that? The AIS reveals what happened to the ship, and how to came to be aground a couple of hours later (a grounding that likely saved two thousand or more lives). The ship was flooding; 5 compartments breached. (generally, losing three adjacent watertight compartments would likely result in sinking with that design). They lost power: that ship used 6 electrical generators to produce power for the ship systems and the ship's electrically driven engines. The generators failed within five minutes of impact. There is a backup generator, but it's not enough to provide propulsion. So, then, how did the captain get the ship to shore just barely in time, before she capsized (and would have gone down like a rock)? He didn't. As you watch that AIS video, watch how the ship behaves as it passes the port; it's velocity vector diverges from its centerline angle (in other words, it starts moving somewhat sideways). It then turns AWAY from shore, before slowly (at about a knot) moving towards shore sideways. That makes no sense for a powered maneuver, but, it makes total sense if the ship was dead in the water and the wond was from the north northeast at around 10 knots (which I've confirmed it was) The ship was drifting, sideways to the wind, and was blown ashore. (and that's something the media has yet to figure out... they are still reporting that the crew intentionally grounded the ship after the first impact, after turning back and trying to reach that little port, non of which happened.) Here's why it's a huge scandal; this is the timeline of what happened, based on what is presently known. I think it speaks for itself. (And BTW, the delay in ordering the passengers into the lifeboats would have ensured around 2000 or more dead had the ship been just a bit slower drifting ashore; it was just about to capsize when it did). And, ironically, I recently learned I've met Francesco Schettino, the Concordia's now-infamous captain, though far too briefly to have any impression. I didn't even remember until I saw this news item and saw the date. I was aboard that ship (Costa Atlantica) for that cruise, and on cruises I always go to what's called the captain's cocktail party: frequent cruisers are invited (so just you and about 800 total strangers, not exactly an intimate party). The captain and senior officers stand in a greeting line and greet the passengers with a quick handshake as they file in to get a free glass of champagne. (I'm very fond of free champagne.. or free drinks of any kind). BTW, one more Circumnavigation tie-in: the scene where Trevor saw the shuttle launch from the sea was inspired by me seeing one from roughly that same position, on the deck of the Costa Fortuna, which had just sailed from Florida, bound for Italy.

Indeed!!! It all worked out very well; they were paid far more than the car was worth, and now they get the car back too!!!! See? A happy ending, for one and all.