On my last trip from Houston to new orleans, I came withing 50 feet of wipeing out a catalina 470 that was anchored in the fog at mile 118 ICWW . @ sailboats were anchored in the fog and deep in a bend of narrow ICW channel. If you are traveling the dich and stop at night NEVER , NEVER anchor in a bend. Luckily it was hazy / foggy and ALL icw traffic was movine very slow if moving at all. I sometimes travel in the fog on radar and Capn voyager software ," depending on area and safety factors ". Most ALL barge traffic will stay in the bends and avoid the shallow points. When we are strung out over 600 ft long and 54 feet wide, we have to use ALL the bend and canal to navigate the turns, so being in the bend is right where your gonna get hit. Luckily, Myself and another tug captain were professional enough to stop, sound the danger signal, get them awake and have them move to other side of canal.
Others just bitched about them being there and tried to avoid them while passing along their postion to other barge traffic. Knowing they were there, i had slowed to les than 2 KTS and was watching for them. After some HARD backing down , I stopped less than 50 ft from them with my barges. These barges weigh 480 TONS when empty and the slightest bump can destroy a yacht. ALL ways be aware of your surroundings and be safe. Your family needs you.
Others just bitched about them being there and tried to avoid them while passing along their postion to other barge traffic. Knowing they were there, i had slowed to les than 2 KTS and was watching for them. After some HARD backing down , I stopped less than 50 ft from them with my barges. These barges weigh 480 TONS when empty and the slightest bump can destroy a yacht. ALL ways be aware of your surroundings and be safe. Your family needs you.
