Yesterday, I had a boat run across my bow. Technically he was "give
way", but he was going to clear..... problem is he disappeared under my
bow because I was blind for about 1/2 mile ahead.
NEVER get closer than two miles to a ship.
If you are in close quarters and forced to be closer thanh that (In this
case there was no excuse for him doing this), NEVER lose sight of the
bridge or put yourself into a situation where you may.
Never expect a ship to maneuver for you in narrow channels (his main
concern is staying safely within that channel .... if you interfere with
that you are low on the totem pole of concerns).

otn

"No vessel under 20 meters, and *no* vessel under sail, shall impede a power
driven vessel following an estabished VTS"

Maybe if you printed that in big letters just about the plimsoll line up near
the bow, the
idiots would get the point as they learned, the hard way, about the actualities
of stand on and give way responsibilities.

G This was a case of clearing the breakwaters with 1.0 k
crosscurrent , running out to the "seabuoy", where I was limited in how
far I could turn, port or stbd and backing down would endanger the ship
due to total loss of maneuverability. Along with everything else I was
watching, I was watching him ..... luckily, conditions were such that I
could compensate for his poor judgment ......this is not always the
case, and someday ..........

otn

Gould 0738 wrote:
"No vessel under 20 meters, and *no* vessel under sail, shall impede a power
driven vessel following an estabished VTS"

Maybe if you printed that in big letters just about the plimsoll line up near
the bow, the
idiots would get the point as they learned, the hard way, about the actualities
of stand on and give way responsibilities.

At a Power Squadron meeting a couplle of years ago, the Harbour Master
showed a video pointing out just that problem.
the video was taken entering our harbour from the bridge of a large
containership.
All the forward part of the ship really does block out quite a bit of
vision.

Good reminder. How far a large ship has to be in order for a recreational
boat to put itself in its path and still be "safe" must often be a matter of
judgement. Along the Brockville Narrows, boats calmly scatter before a
freighter, but I don't think a two-mile limit is practical. The waters are
too long and narrow, and in the summer are too congested with small boat
traffic. Correct me if I err. But a simple principle, which I have not been
taught in my _formal_ boating education, is the one you iterate of
sight-lines to the Bridge. I _have_ been taught it by other boaters.

I always try to think about what might go wrong, how much time would I have
to get out of harm's way, what would my options be, etc. I'm sure I have cut
it too close on occasion.

I was on a friend's sailboat once, racing one evening, and we all thought he
saw the freighter looming closer, astern of us, because the rest of us
couldn't miss it! But you know what they say about assumptions. We weren't
in any danger of colliding, but I think we lost sight lines, and we did get
the five short blasts. Our skipper would have gone astern of the ship had he
known it was there.

So, again, better to learn from others' errors, such as the guy you
describe.

====

Charles T. Low
- remove "UN"
www.boatdocking.com/BDPhoto.html - Photo Contest
www.boatdocking.com
www.ctlow.ca/Trojan26 - my boat

====

"otnmbrd" wrote in message
ink.net...
Yesterday, I had a boat run across my bow. Technically he was "give
way", but he was going to clear..... problem is he disappeared under my
bow because I was blind for about 1/2 mile ahead.
NEVER get closer than two miles to a ship.
If you are in close quarters and forced to be closer thanh that (In this
case there was no excuse for him doing this), NEVER lose sight of the
bridge or put yourself into a situation where you may.
Never expect a ship to maneuver for you in narrow channels (his main
concern is staying safely within that channel .... if you interfere with
that you are low on the totem pole of concerns).

otn

On Sun, 2 May 2004 10:32:09 -0400, "Charles T. Low"
wrote:
How far a large ship has to be in order for a recreational
boat to put itself in its path and still be "safe" must often be a matter of
judgement. Along the Brockville Narrows, boats calmly scatter before a
freighter, but I don't think a two-mile limit is practical.

===========================================

I agree. In congested water with lots of commercial traffic, and lots
of pleasure boats, 2 miles is asking way too much. I used to race
sailboats on the narrow western portion of Long Island Sound south of
City Island where the entire distance across is no more than 2 miles.

On a nice summer weekend it is not uncommon to have several hundred
boats, some without auxiliary power, lying becalmed in that area as
large commercial boats are transiting both east and west at the same
time. Not ideal obviously but somehow it all seems to work itself
out since I've never heard of an incident in that area.

Charles T. Low wrote:
Good reminder. How far a large ship has to be in order for a recreational
boat to put itself in its path and still be "safe" must often be a matter of
judgement. Along the Brockville Narrows, boats calmly scatter before a
freighter, but I don't think a two-mile limit is practical.


G I will always "spout" the "two mile rule", knowing full well that in
many Inland waters it is not only impracticable but also impossible to
adhere to.
The point being, to try to think along those lines and attempt to
maximize your distance from a ship, especially as it regards crossing
ahead (if you can't clear ahead by 2 miles, don't cross, wait and go
astern).

BTW, if you are passing a ship in a narrow channel, try to maximize your
distance off when abeam, but, if you have shoal water close to the edge
of the channel, stay well clear of it, as that ship will tend to pull
the water off that shoal as it passes.

otn

otn,
When it comes to something like a freighter I ignore the rules of the
road, he's got the right of way, always! Same thing goes for 18 wheelers on
the road, they have the right of way. I've never wanted to be dead right.
Paul

"otnmbrd" wrote in message
ink.net...
Yesterday, I had a boat run across my bow. Technically he was "give
way", but he was going to clear..... problem is he disappeared under my
bow because I was blind for about 1/2 mile ahead.
NEVER get closer than two miles to a ship.
If you are in close quarters and forced to be closer thanh that (In this
case there was no excuse for him doing this), NEVER lose sight of the
bridge or put yourself into a situation where you may.
Never expect a ship to maneuver for you in narrow channels (his main
concern is staying safely within that channel .... if you interfere with
that you are low on the totem pole of concerns).

otn

Hey long time no read. Whatever happened to Rule 5? You got a special let
out so you don't have to place the lookout in the bow?

Jim

"otnmbrd" wrote in message
ink.net...
Yesterday, I had a boat run across my bow. Technically he was "give
way", but he was going to clear..... problem is he disappeared under my
bow because I was blind for about 1/2 mile ahead.
NEVER get closer than two miles to a ship.
If you are in close quarters and forced to be closer thanh that (In this
case there was no excuse for him doing this), NEVER lose sight of the
bridge or put yourself into a situation where you may.
Never expect a ship to maneuver for you in narrow channels (his main
concern is staying safely within that channel .... if you interfere with
that you are low on the totem pole of concerns).

otn

Lookout was there, but having to trust the lookout's "running
commentary" regarding what's happening, so that I can maneuver
accordingly, does NOT give me a warm fuzzy feeling.

otn

Jim Donohue wrote:
Hey long time no read. Whatever happened to Rule 5? You got a special let
out so you don't have to place the lookout in the bow?

Jim

"otnmbrd" wrote in message
ink.net...

Yesterday, I had a boat run across my bow. Technically he was "give
way", but he was going to clear..... problem is he disappeared under my
bow because I was blind for about 1/2 mile ahead.
NEVER get closer than two miles to a ship.
If you are in close quarters and forced to be closer thanh that (In this
case there was no excuse for him doing this), NEVER lose sight of the
bridge or put yourself into a situation where you may.
Never expect a ship to maneuver for you in narrow channels (his main
concern is staying safely within that channel .... if you interfere with
that you are low on the totem pole of concerns).

otn