Darkside - you are so right. I was amused at the Colon's hissy fit at first but what he is implying is so arrogant and ridiculous and irresponsible. Besides there's probably a whole bunch of wisecrackers out there who are probably now going to want to test him.

Heaven forbid a fisherman gets caught in a sudden storm. "Fool shouldn't be fishing when the shark oils cloudy."

K2U for pointing out the proper way to deal with these situations.

 Yoo lutt gat too huptite hall dee tyme. Vie dee hal yoo tink vah gutt hour Nashonal Kote uv Harms for??

"Quo Fata Ferunt"...........

He has a point to some degree but those making the choice know the risks and they are not stupid.

Knowone would turn their back on someone in distress. Some will say yes they will. One can only do so much. Situations and circumstances dictate what avenue to take.

Just to bore yoo lott.......1983.....Home drinking a beer after a long day. Called to rescue a Wind Surfer 2 miles off Gurnet Rock. Dash to Blue Heron with Perry Fox and 'Mooks' Pitcher. Proceed via Ferry Reach, Castle Harbour, attempting to transit narrows between Gurnet and Charles Island...hit by a thirty foot swell. At the helm was the ole seadog himself 'Foxy' who turns this vessel around, and through shear expericence and knowledge manages to get us between a couples of swells the same size. Whilst the vessel is doing 30 knots with the swell it almost nose dived into Castle harbour. The vessel was at forty five degrees nose down two twenty four inch props flapping in the salty air.

He made a decision to safe his crew because it would have been pointless and useless to continue. The windsurfer was rescued by the US Navy Helicopter.

Sorry for the story book make up of this but sometimes...yah no..........Birchy got a point but under those circumstances the individual would probabley just  end up on shore regardless.

Ok......um gone.........................

A great day too all..............................

 Guess my post got lost in the slow lane.......oh well.

A great day too all..........................

 I think your reading too much into this Darky. I am not a fan of Les. Colonel but I am sure that he would dive in if he could and if warrented by circumstances.

These situations usually boil down to slit seconds decissions and some are capable of an attempt and some are not.

I won't get into the person in a wheelchair sitting on a dock whilst a young child drowns. Ok, I already have.

A prayer too all.

Rummy.

*shrugs*

I dunno. I think Col Burch has made a good point. The jobs of the various rescue services are risky enough without wasting resources and risking additional lives for some idiot who ignores the clearly posted signs because of some adrenaline rush. Wanna catch a wave? I'd suggest Sunset Beach. More lives shouldn't be endangered because of reckless, irresponsible danger in the name of recreation.

CO ... you're kidding me right?

We are talking about children here ... children ... we must attempt to save them (if feasible) even if they were foolhardy and reckless.

Yes I know ... where are the parents? ... but we still should make every attempt to save a child (or any person) if it is feasible to do so.

What the Col. is saying is akin to standing on the shore and yelling to the drowning person "Before I can come and save you I have to know if you are drowning because you were reckless?"

Darkside, look at it this way. He is protecting these "reckless" children from dealing with the anguish that could be caused if they went out surfing on a lark during a hurricane and a rescuer actually died trying to save them...