"People have asked why we at Latitude have never had a readers forum. The reason is because, after reading others, we've often felt our intelligence draining away as we read."

A couple of thoughts...

One thing I've often told new students in our sailing school is that you can ask one question of ten sailors and get ten different answers, all correct. At least to them.

And like Dan Y, I feel sorry for the whale. Good on him for sinking that boat!