Bligh Reef Haunting

It is 6pm at my home here in Anchorage. It is pitch dark out. What else to expect from the lighter side, as it is only five days past the winter solstice - the day that finds the least amount of daylight. And on the 24th, just 3-short days following the solstice, the 136ft Pathfinder – an escort vessel designed and operated to keep crude oil tankers off rocks and reefs in Prince William’s Sound – finds itself the victim of Joe’s Rock. So, it was dark outside with seas normal at 6 feet and directional wind clocked at Beaufort 10. Basically easy going for mariners! And with very few navigational warning lights in and around Prince William’s Sound, it means steering home not by sight but through radar-assisted navigation. Just like a flying pilot using IFR, Instrument Flight Rules. It means the eyes and ears of forward progress are simulated through electronic eavesdropping means. And the Pathfinder was equipped with the best technology “oil men money” could buy. Along with that, there was an extra cushion of oversight, courtesy the United Sates Coast Guard utilizing the extended reach radar system - monitored around the clock from its Valdez dispatch. With that said, there is no way in hell that a super-powered hi-tech tug could find itself on the famous rock unless…. So what went wrong this time? How in hell could a vessel sworn towards ecosystem protection find itself “hard aground” on Bligh Reef? It’s haunting. Maybe a little too much holiday cheer? How about too much brandy infused fruitcake? The six man able-bodied crew was tested following the Pathfinder finding the wrong path, but no alcohol or drug abuse was found. Thank God. Asleep at the wheel? Maybe, especially if the wheel of misfortune was destiny’s child this day for the captain and crew. But the excuses and secrecy behind what really happened, all in efforts to not tell the truth of the matter, it is beginning to bore this subject like déjà vu EXXON Valdez 1989! Look, the EXXON Valdez used up all the possible excuses back in 89, when that ship found itself embedded in the same damn rock as the Pathfinder found on the 24th. And all these current lame excuses that there occurred no environmental damage from the Pathfinder’s cargo of fuel finding freedom in the Sound, it is pure noggin head blasphemy. According to sneak previews, there is the possibility of thousands of gallons of diesel fuel becoming part of the Sound’s ecosystem. But low and be bold diesel is not as toxic as spilled crude oil, according to the State of Alaska on-scene bureaucrats trying to defend their position and job status, so the spilled goods have dissipated harmless? Hey, Alaska still has a bridge to nowhere for sale! But thanks to Sarah Palin, lying has become Alaska’s favorite pastime. Now according to Phineas J. Whoopee and his 3-D BB, diesel fuel has a vapor pressure of “nothing” when it cools off down to temperatures of the seawater found in and around the Sound during December. So this stuff that leaked upon impact, it has broken up into zillions of toxic concoctions that have already entered into the ecosystem. From benzene to ethylene to toluene to xzylene balls of aromatic hydrocarbons, the ecosystem was bombarded. It hurts. Nature is not equipped to handle so much on so short a notice. Time will tell the extent of this new atrocity, but there will come fish tumors along with cancer candidates upon those that continue to eat the flesh of the intoxicated. I stopped eating the fish from the Sound a long time ago, even before the EXXON wreck, when it was discovered that the outflow of water separated from the North Slope crude oil was contaminated with NORM – Naturally Occurring Radioactive Matter. And as far as the fish in the Inlet, I don’t like the taste of crap and the amount of crap that is discharged from Point Warzonoff into the path of migrating salmon, forget that flesh for a meal! So we have upon us another shipwreck. No, not Palin this go-around. And a wreck upon the same damn rock that was christened famous by Joe some many years ago! It is simple, to see the cause. When our eyes and ears - once used for navigating in rough seas or when darkness is upon us - are postponed useful due more advanced ways and means, there is always the possibility that something in the electronics could go creepy. But in this day and age, everything is digital, so for something to malfunction, it doesn’t sit too well in theory postulated upon hardness, readiness and reliability. But there is also a weakness to modern day gizmos, namely that back door loophole that allows would be assassins - a.k.a. hackers - allowing such trespassers to enter into restricted areas and wreck havoc. This is what has happened herein with the Pathfinder. Now nobody will ever admit to such a breech, as it would mean headaches for a whole lot of concerns. But this may be an isolated case, as there is some insane bozo out there that has planned this attack. Like already mentioned, with the excuses following a time tested déjà vu mentality, why not the real reason? Look, it was the same individual or organization that planned the EXXON Valdez wreck. His or her or their MO may single out a disgruntled oil broker, disguised as an environmentalist gadfly. Maybe not direct involvement, but his ways and means finds whackos amongst the masses, which incites insane revenge. Bottom line, as was the EXXON Valdez a planned wreck – out of environmental and economic loss revenge – so has the Pathfinder found itself yet another victim. But all this will be cloaked by the same lame and accepted excuses forthcoming, as to admit there is some insane addict that understands how to infiltrate the eavesdropping network, it would be scary and terrorists would seek him or her out, in efforts to disrupt the vital transportation link of so far seaworthy commerce. Bottom line herein, this idiot is out there, alive and well. Today he laughs, as nobody seeks the truth, as it is easier to buy excuses and bury the truth of the matter, wherein no theory could rest assured that there was not a sabotage attempt. It would be like opening up Pandora’s box, a needle in the haystack crime scene. And isn’t it ironic that the Pathfinder was towed back to safety during “darkness”, as pulling the disabled tugboat through churning seas was like taking it through a washing machine for no other reason then to cover up the damage. What sheen? And when it hits Valdez and the pundits attack it for pictures showing a breached hull, it will be clean and the true damage of this newest atrocity upon the Sound will be lost again. As it appears the solution to pollution continues to find a cure, dilution! So as the Sound suffers through yet another catastrophe, the culprit behind this mess sits back, taking not credit, but baking his cake and eating it too! All at our expense as he knows all too well that when the bureaucracy to defend is inept, his ways and means defend his mission and he enjoys success, which is a real sick attitude at that. The sad thing, he will strike again, just like a serial killer, just like a rapist. It is not for the pleasure, but for the unclaimed fame! And someday, the truth will come to past, and we will say to ourselves, how did this happen on our watch!