Re: Textusa: The Three VERY IMPORTANT photos

by carole 07.10.19 22:56

Dear Jill and researchers, please could you have a look at this with me.
Re: The 4rth very important picture.
Textusa is correct in highlighting this image, and some of the comments on his/her blog do go some way towards clarifying the beach scene on the 4th May 2007.
The image shows a single line of buoys in the ocean.
They are the property of Beach Hut Watersports who are the licenced operator on Praia da Luz and have
been since 1988/89.In order to operate their various excursions, sailing, and leisure activities they are required by law to provide safety lanes in the ocean in order to separate the various craft. This would be a minimum of two parallel rows of buoys. Until the safety lane is established Beach Hut Watersports could not put its vessels in the sea, probably because it was too early in the season.
Furthermore there is no pier pontoon or jetty on this beach and the only access to the excursion vessels is via the safety/life saving boat, also known as the water taxi. All of these vessels operate within the safety channel as they are motor boats.
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On a recent visit to Praia da Luz we observed the dolphin watching boat returning from their trip. The buoys are clearly visible in the water. It is all quite time consuming but it is clear that everyone is kitted out with life jackets.

I do not believe that Madeleine and 4/5 other children were taken out to sea in this way.
I recently re read some of Snr Amaral's book re the mini sail.
Police were originally informed by a Mark Warner employee that the mini sail involved walking the small boats around in the shallow water as they had done in other Mark Warner resorts.
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The beach at Praia da Luz shelves down into the water and there does not appear to be anywhere suitable to carry out this activity.
Sailing boats are launched into the water to the left of the main safety lane only.
The absence of any boats of any description both on the beach and in the ocean on 4th May 2007,suggests to me that the mini sail session did not take place at all.
I'm sorry if this comes across as being short on detail or a bit unclear, i'll add some more information tomorrow.
Please could you not publish anything just yet.
Many thanks.

by Verdi 08.10.19 2:02

The images you provide for boating activities, show adults, not small children.

Have you discussed this issue on the Textusa blog? If so, it would be interesting to know the general consensus of opinion over there - more to the point, why you bring it to this forum.

Pending your continuation on the subject, I have one simple question to ask of you .... what would be the point of saying there was a mini-boating trip when there wasn't? Rather than adding a complication that implicates just about everyone in and around the Ocean Club, wouldn't it be more sensible to create a less invasive, more plausible, scenario to explain whatever it is the author is attempting to explain?

Admittedly I'm no fan of the Textusa brethren but casting that aside for the moment, why look for and expand on unevidenced claptrap involving 10,000 words which could be so easily condensed into one paragraph?

This adventure was a few very young kids going for a dabble about the shores of Luz beach, it wasn't a deep sea voyage into the unknown.

I don't believe Madeleine McCann was in the group but I can't see any reason to doubt it happened. The PJ under the leadership of Snr Amaral would have checked out such a minor detail - surely?

by **PeterMac** 08.10.19 7:17

OR you could use a photo posted by Natasha in portugalresident, showing boats, kayaks, catamarans, and pedaloes being launched from the beach and no bouys . . .
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by Verdi 08.10.19 12:55

Precisely ^^^. Thanks for the photograph, I remembered seeing an image of kids on a mini-sail venture but couldn't find it.

From my experience, a string of yellow buoys are used off-shore during the summer months, to keep motorized craft (such as jet skis) away from beach activities.

Another to dwell on..

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If you look hard enough for holes in your old moth eaten jumper, you'll be sure find one or more. No need to pick holes. Methinks the Textuserie is in the grips of a very serious moth infestation.

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Lepidoptaritis

by **PeterMac** 10.10.19 8:21

Like many things "McCann" it is difficult to make any sense of it.

The time allocated for Mini-sail is only 30 minutes. There is no explanation of what happens in the missing half hour
The day allocated was changed from Wednesday to Thursday
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In that time a small flock, herd, or gaggle (giggle ?) of small children has to be assembled, formed up into
the regulation "Sammy Snake", marched purposefully down to the beach, a distance of around 485 m (530 yards)

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when they then have to be kitted out with wet suits, and life jackets, and given a full H&S Briefing, . . .
They then do whatever Mini-Sail activities they do (including
heroically hurling themselves into the Atlantic Ocean to save an errant sun hat)
finish the activity, return to the beach, divest themselves of the life jackets and wet-suits
dry themselves (or be assisted in this by the nannies), change (where, incidentally ?)
into warm and dry clothing since it is early May, air temperature is hovering around 19º and there is a stiff WSW breeze
form up into the "Sammy Snake" and return to the Creche above the Ocean Club reception

ALL WITHIN 30 MINUTES.

As an erstwhile member of a Police Underwater Search Unit, I can tell you that simply getting into the kit can take longer than that.

It makes no sense.
Something happened, but not this

by sandancer 10.10.19 10:55

Getting a group of six three year olds ready to go anywhere is a major undertaking , toilet wash hands , shoe laces undone miss , where are we going , what are we doing , who walks next to who on Sammy Snake !
No mention anywhere about wet suits or life jackets , though I think life jackets would be obligatory ( after all when you have a three year old launching herself into the sea to rescue her friends sunhat !!!!!) I think that " story can be returned to fairyland where it originated , wonder what Berry's now teenage daughter thinks about it ? Does she remember ? It only took 12 years for dad to relate this " unforgettable " event , Cat Baker said Madeleine was crying and scared , no mention of suddenly overcoming her fear when her friend lost her hat !
Then get the children back to the crèche same routine as before , one nanny , no parents helping out , no statements from the sailing instructors .
I don't think I'd be too happy about this venture for my 3 year old , unless of course I was too busy playing tennis ! Maybe I'm just old fashioned , or just old !

by Liz Eagles 10.10.19 11:21

PeterMac wrote:Like many things "McCann" it is difficult to make any sense of it.

The time allocated for Mini-sail is only 30 minutes. There is no explanation of what happens in the missing half hour
The day allocated was changed from Wednesday to Thursday
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

In that time a small flock, herd, or gaggle (giggle ?) of small children has to be assembled, formed up into
the regulation "Sammy Snake", marched purposefully down to the beach, a distance of around 485 m (530 yards)

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

when they then have to be kitted out with wet suits, and life jackets, and given a full H&S Briefing, . . .
They then do whatever Mini-Sail activities they do (including
heroically hurling themselves into the Atlantic Ocean to save an errant sun hat)
finish the activity, return to the beach, divest themselves of the life jackets and wet-suits
dry themselves (or be assisted in this by the nannies), change (where, incidentally ?)
into warm and dry clothing since it is early May, air temperature is hovering around 19º and there is a stiff WSW breeze
form up into the "Sammy Snake" and return to the Creche above the Ocean Club reception

ALL WITHIN 30 MINUTES.

As an erstwhile member of a Police Underwater Search Unit, I can tell you that simply getting into the kit can take longer than that.

It makes no sense.
Something happened, but not this

I can simplify this even further. When I was in school we had 35 minutes to do swimming. Our school had a swimming pool. It was virtually impossible to undress, stick on a cossie, swim, dry yourself, get back into your clothes properly and turn up for the next lesson on time, the next lesson being quite a walk from the swimming pool.

It's amazing how people with apparently no watches and on holiday can account for 30 minutes.

by Verdi 10.10.19 15:43

The activity sheet really doesn't signify, it's but a schedule (a guide) of activities spread across the period of one week. It would be subject to change depending on any number of factors - for example the weather conditions, unlikely the kids would be taken for a mini-sail in Hurricane Greta or if there were only a couple of kids in attendance any one half day.

Who knows, the life jackets could have been put on before departure from the Ocean Club - imagine the delight for a kiddie, a sammy snake wearing their life jackets. The time identified for the activity could have been the departure time, rather than the time scale for the activity. Besides, we are talking here of very young kids going for a fun boat ride on the shores of the Algarve, not an air sea rescue assignment.

A kids life jacket is simple to wear, slips over the head and fastens with straps, usually at the back - a notional operation that could be done in seconds. A diving rescue team however..

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by **Jill Havern** 10.10.19 17:33

sandancer wrote:It only took 12 years for dad to relate this " unforgettable " event ,

Bit like Creche Dad Julian Totman coming forward after 11 years, having saved his young daughters pyjamas. winkwink

by **PeterMac** 11.10.19 7:26

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PdL is on the North Atlantic.
The se is not warm. In April it is only just above the coldest it gets over the winter.

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In standard English "It is absolutely FREEZING".

Leisure pools at kept at 30ºC.
Competition pools between 25º and 28ºC
I swim every morning in a pool at 23º . I am accustomed to it, but will not pretend it is anything other than 'gentleman-tackle-tighteningly' cold.
Almost no one else get in the water at this time of year, and if they do they SWIM and then get out. They don't muck around.

16º is 'breath-takingly' cold.
When [!] Madeleine threw herself out of the boat into the water she would have been in danger of death by sudden inhalation of water, due to thermal shock, and within a short time would have been seriously chilled, and in need of assistance.
cf. the description in the autobiography of Kate and Madeleine in the pool on their first day, when it is reported, in all seriousness, so that we are to believe it, that Kate was suffering sever hypothermia, that took over 3 HOURS to resolve.

Assuming that any of this is even remotely 'true', of course !

by ferrotty 11.10.19 10:33

I can tell you that the water temperature in a swimming pool outdoors(we have one here in southern Spain)beginning of May is freezing and we have a warmer climate being in the Med than Portugal, so unless the pool was heated I would not be dangling my legs in there till early June.

by ROSA 11.10.19 10:40

If she died on the Sunday then she never attended anything through that week that's all I need to know, who ever was signed in as Madeleine definitely wasn't Madeleine a ghost child or Ella. Can't wait for justice for the real Madeline.

by **PeterMac** 11.10.19 14:41

If that happened then you are right. But we do need to know more.
What is important is to examine every last detail of everything they have said,
and either disprove it, as we have done with some of the more 'ludicrous' statements,
or to cast such severe doubt that the story cannot stand without supporting evidence, which is wanting.
I believe we have done this with other statements and suggestions.

It is why it takes many months to put together a prosecution case, even when the person concerned has been caught in the act, at the scene, "red handed", and has confessed.
Every possible defence has to be anticipated and ruled out. And all the impossible ones as well.
A criminal trial is a tournament involving a single round.
It is a 'zero sum game'. One wins, the other loses. The prosecution do not [usually] get a second chance.

Which leads to the situation where the accused walks free, but the police say they are not looking for anyone else !

This example that we have been examining and dissecting – the alleged trip to the beach, sailing, allowing a non-swimming 3 year old child to hurl herself into the Atlantic Ocean apparently under the noses of the professional and trained supervisors, who appear to have made no rescue attempt, nor made an adequate record of the breach of Health and Safety regulations, or brought it to the attention of their employers or the parents so that proper follow up checks of the child's health could be made . . .
all this renders the story 'ludicrous'. As is the 'ludicrous' and mendacious story about the water-slide, and several others.
They show however, the depths to which the apologists and 'supporters' will stoop in their attempt to deflect attention from the very point you make, for which there is considerable evidence, namely -
Madeleine very probably died during the night of Sunday / Monday 29/30-4-2007

That is the squirrel we try to keep our eyes on.

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