Risk Management

It takes a fairly large and dramatic event in the maritime world for it to make the general media's headlines. Given the large numbers of people throughout the world who have enjoyed some form of cruise experience on a ship, last week's grounding and subsequent beaching of the Costa Concordia off of Italy's Tuscan coast was bound to be front page news.

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There are many 'lessons learned' that will no doubt come out of the investigation of this incident but, for me, it is yet another example of poor risk management. The technological advances in navigation such as GPS, DGPS, ECDIS and AIS have instilled in some mariners a sense of invulnerability to the hazards around them. In consequence, safety margins get narrowed, speeds are maintained at an elevated level in situations where common sense would tell you to use caution.

This attitude is not unique to the marine world, however. You merely need to drive along any major highway in order to witness extremely risky behaviour such as tailgating or excessive speed or erratic driving or using phone devices or even texting while at the wheel!

A sailing friend gave me my first lesson when handling a sailboat: "If you think you might need to put a reef in the sail, do it; and if you are thinking about shaking a reef out of a sail, wait."

Human error is frequently sighted as the major cause of accidents with the Costa Concordia incident most probably being included in this category. Still, our perception that technology will save us from the folly of our own lack of prudence is perhaps the largest error of all.

Adapt or die

In Canada, the complaint most commonly lobbed against cycling is that it is a summertime activity and Canada is a country with six months of winter though this hardly applies to the southern portion where 90% of the population resides.

Still, when you compare the effort and money expended in urban areas like Montreal to allow motorized vehicles to park and circulate along its thousands of streets, can it really be deemed the best suited means of transportation to the conditions?

What would a true Reseau Blanc cost the city to maintain in contrast to the tens of millions of dollars spent to try to fit a square peg into a round hole each winter?

Place d'Armes

Most visits to Old Montreal for me involve cycling excursions to the Lachine Canal or Ile Notre Dame via the Berri bicycle path. While cyclists often espouse the merits of two wheeled transportation over four in relation to being out in the open and having the time to look around, the reality is that cycling around the city is a matter of constant surveillance to avoid accident and injury.

Trudging through the snow, however, does offer the time and opportunity to observe and appreciate the sights of this great city as I did on a Friday evening heading towards the Centaur Theatre near Place d'Armes.

Fresh Eyes

One of the simple pleasures when returning home from a month aboard the ship is the freedom to just walk. To walk to the library or to the store or to just walk aimlessly around the streets of your neighbourhood to see familiar sights that are new merely by a month's absence.

Of course, there are always some things you had not noticed before. This corner I usually pass on my bicycle in more clement weather.

Montreal is plagued, like most urban areas, with an innumerable amount of graffiti but there is a surprising amount of quite stunning tableaus to be found on the walls of the Plateau.

Last Canal Day of the Season

December 30th was the last day for transit through the Welland Canal this year. Over the years, the Seaway has extended the closing date from Christmas Eve to the end of December to allow vessels the chance to make an additional voyage before the locks shut down for maintenance over the winter. We go up through the canal from Port Weller to Port Colborne on the last day to remove navigation lanterns from the buoys and to position the vessel for icebreaking service on Lake Erie and Lake Huron.



Raising in Lock 1



Lock 1 offered a chance to see an unusual use for a bicycle as one of the lock personnel cycled around the lock area retrieving lifebuoys for winter storage. Maybe it will catch on at the Old Port and Lachine Canal!

Every minute of down time is used by the Seaway as they put equipment in place in advance of the shut down so that work can begin the next day. There is no room for delays as the system must reopen again at the end of March.



We did our part by helping to move some new rubber fendering from the approach wall at Lock 4 onto the 'Bull Nose' between the flight locks prior to entering the lock. The Seaway has been replacing some of the traditional wood fendering with the more resilient rubber version over the last few winters.

Lock 4 West is the first of the 'flights' for upbound vessels. Not sure what the gushing fountain is caused by though it is a bit disconcerting as you enter the lock.

Between Lock 7 and Lock 8 is a long run with only one bridge to pass under, but it is a famous one. Many people have seen the dramatic footage of the bridge lowering down on the Windoc and ripping the top of its wheelhouse off. I don't think any mariner passing under this bridge does not ponder this incident no matter how many years ago.

We finished our last buoywork of the season by Lock 8 and secured in Port Colborne for the night. Lake Erie has southwest gales forecast for New Year's Day so 2012 will come in like a lion and winter will be delayed a bit longer on the Lakes.

Bonne Annee