This was floating around at sea?!

juslookin · Dec 4, 2011

My biggest fear

My biggest fear of hitting something is a container, lost off a ship. Supposedly not an uncommon happening in the gulf. But, as to the question. No, I don't slow down at night. Not sure it would help much anyway. Just how much is enough? Slow to four knots, two knots, or what speed. So, I just keep on keeping on.

bria46 · Dec 4, 2011

Boy, now that's a prop-a-gator!

Rick D · Dec 4, 2011

That Would Ruin Your Night!

I don't slow down at night, especially since I'm often racing or returning. I don't think you'd be able to see many of these dangerous items since most of them are waterlogged and floating just awash. For example, we passed within 30 yards of a dock floating about 75 miles west of Cabo San Lucas. We were on top of it before we saw it. It was awash. Other than once hitting a timber after a big storm that split my keel seam, I'm not aware of having any other near collisions in a lifetime of sailing. Sometimes you just have to play the odds. I think they are pretty much in your favor.

MrBee · Dec 4, 2011

Just returned from a delivery from Chesapeake bay to Long island. No slowing down. never have and probably won't. At least not outa fear for floating objects. If I'm gonna hit it then it will happen.

Benny17441 · Dec 4, 2011

No use slowing down, we take all the speed we can get. We do check the lunar charts and try to maintain a more alert watch on the pitch black segments.

David in Sandusky · Dec 4, 2011

Isn't 6 knots slow?

A sailboat is a very strong hull moving at a reasonably slow speed. Nights are often pretty flat on Lake Erie, so we keep a sharp look-out, and trust our overbuilt hull!

We have spotted and avoided drift wood in different conditions of visibility, but we have also seen the ones we missed after we pass them.

MetricMountie · Dec 4, 2011

This Was Floating At Sea

We often see large trees, pieces of dock or wharf and pieces of salmon cages and associated gear floating around and as indicated much of this stuff is awash.

We keep a close eye out for this stuff and really watch for drift lines as this stuff as with other flotsum moves with the strongest of current areas on the Bay of Fundy Shore. I really don't think that slowing down woudl make much of a difference in the damage you do.

Steve Dion · Dec 4, 2011

Just wait and see what is floating out there from the tsunami in Japan last year! It sould start showing up in the next year or so.

Considering the radiation, maybe Godzilla will hit the western US shores? <g>

lnikl · Dec 4, 2011

I keep my eyes open and listen to the radio. Most of the boaters here in BC are nice enough to report the really nasty deadheads. I don't slow down at night because a sailboat doesn't really go all that fast to begin with.

Ross · Dec 5, 2011

Anybody want to make a dugout boat? Just chop away everything that doesn't look like a boat and yer done.

MLampner · Dec 5, 2011

When sailing the Chesapeake at night, particularly under power, always post someone forward unless the chop would make it dangerous. Its not so much the odd log or dock I worry about, though they can be an issue particularly after torrential rains like we had this summer, but the crab pots.

The crab pots often become nearly invisible at night and if there is some wind they can be laying flat against the water. I am always terrified at night that we'll snag one with the prop. Nights undersail is a little less worrying.

ancientmariner · Dec 5, 2011

I never travel at night. The only time I suffered damage to the boat was when going through Gabriola Pass, where it is usually necessary to maintain full power to counteract the current. I hit a totally submerged deadhead, breaking the prop and bending the shaft. Never did see it, but some rotten woodchips came to the surface. I don't know if going more slowly would have made any difference.

Water Runner · Dec 5, 2011

That tree looks like something from Avatar, though I know red woods get that big or bigger its still a huge tree!

Jalepeno · Dec 5, 2011

Sailing at night is not a problem and can be very magical with millions of stars, the odd satellite overhead and sometimes, phosphorescent plankton that makes it look like you are floating with the stars. One full moon November night a few years ago I could see some Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) over the coast mountains to the north, which is very rare this far south. I will admit is no fun to be out there in the rain on a dark and stormy night but what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger. I don’t worry too much about hitting things when under sail. But I do worry about the propeller when I’m motor sailing, especially near the mouth of the Fraser River in the spring on a high tide. I always monitor Victoria VTS (Vessel Traffic Services) on the VHF and for the locations of marine hazards and commercial traffic, and will call them for information is I see any potential conflicts.
s/v Jalepeno

Freedom77 · Dec 5, 2011

HIt a large submerged obstruction on the way to Ensenada one year. Not sure what it was, possibly log, but it was definitely a speed bump. Had a submarine surface near us one time on the way to Catalina. Fair winds and full sails....

SNOWCROW · Dec 5, 2011

That "log" is a grand Sequoia from N. Cal or farther north...worth a small (large) fortune! If you DO hit it put a line on it and bring it in...it'll pay for itself in spades! (Like tens of thousands!)

islandjim · Dec 6, 2011

Keeping watch

For years I have sailed the northeast and have never slowed in fear of hitting objects. We do keep a good watch and only put the spot light on if we begin to see debris in the water. Otherwise, it is as fast as our boat and wind will take us. Over the years I have seen large timbers or trees, but seemed to see them first. Most items we see are small and we do try to avoid them if seen. At night, it is full speed ahead with watching from the cockpit. Over all the years I have been sailing I have only hit two things and neither was floating obstruction. One was an old pier piling in 10 feet standing straight up and invisible on the surface and the other was a coral head in Turks & Caicos Grace Bay that popped up in front of us on an evening sail. That was my first trip into Grace Bay and we followed one of the dive boats through the reef, but must have drifted a little more west and caught the reef with keel. No damage besides bottom paint on the keel. It has never happened again and as I have noted the coordinates and learned the land marks for a safe entry. As most of the others responded, floating objects should be looked for, but don't slow down just to look for them. I believe the odds are with us.

FastOlson · Dec 6, 2011

Local Tree?

Jared1048 said:
http://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/2011/12/02/mammoth-piece-of-driftwood-washes-ashore-in-la-push/

Wow. Do crews limit there speed durring night passages to lessen the blow of hitting something like this?

Considering that most of the trees and logs on First Beach at LaPush are washed up as soon as they enter the ocean (river flows right into the sea just to the right of the photo), not much of that wood ever gets far out into the sea.
I and some friends stood on that tree earlier this year. I believe that it's been there several years -- not a new arrival anyhow.
It is indeed a Whopper.

I have done a lot of deliveries up n down the WA coast and while we have seen the odd deadhead go by, the crab pot toggles are still the greatest threat to props. Matter of fact a boat I was on got one tied up in the prop and had to be towed into LaPush a couple years ago. Odds of hitting one just right (just wrong?) are slim, but it can be done!

Keep a watch forward, and stay out in 300+ feet. Less pots. Ocean passages mean Accepting some risk; as others have noted the odds are well in your favor.

L

Water Runner · Dec 6, 2011

Ross said:
Anybody want to make a dugout boat? Just chop away everything that doesn't look like a boat and yer done.

Uh, with a tree THAT SIZE you could make an ocean liner!