ATLANTIC OCEAN (May 28, 2008) Sailors assigned to the guided-missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81) conduct a refueling at sea with a stranded British sailboat in the Atlantic Ocean. U.S. Navy photo by Chief Intelligence Specialist Kenneth Anderson (Released)
Sailors? The ones on the big grey boat – yes. The ones on the sailboat – not really. This photo and the accompanying caption struck me as funny for several reasons. The Navy PAO says the Brits were stranded. Out of fuel to be sure but not exactly stranded. Pull on the lines and run up the laundry. Judging by the sea state and light breeze on the water they wouldn’t have gone anywhere quickly but they would have made it eventually. Generally speaking, no fuel on a rag-bagger means you have no means of recharging your batteries or refrigeration so all your gadgets will start going to sleep and you’ll have to rely on canned or dry goods. Given the modern world’s addiction to GPS there is a good chance they would have made landfall a few miles off their intended destination. Were I in their shoes I would much rather be out of fuel than fresh water!
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