SF Bay: Sailboat Sinks After Encounter With Tug/Barge

[rardiH36]

More eventually will be learned about the circumstances of the below report. "Near Golden Gate Bridge" almost certainly would mean that this was a sea-going tug/barge combo. Wish that the reporter had said that the "tug/barge and the sailboat collided". Rather than the "tug/barge collided with the sailboat". The former would not imply at this stage who was at fault. The later suggests that it was the tug/barge that hit the hapless sailboat. Winds yesterday afternoon per the Golden Gate Bridge weather station were 20-25kts. Great that no one appears to have been injured. I certainly stay well clear of tugs towing barges -- which are not infrequent on central San Francisco Bay. And have more than a few times retreated 180 degrees when an even remote chance of getting too close is a possibility. And don't even consider crossing between the towboat and the barge


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Boat sinks near Golden Gate Bridge; 2 saved

Jaxon Van Derbeken

Updated 10:42 pm, Saturday, January 26, 2013

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Two people were rescued near the Golden Gate Bridge on Saturday after a tug or the barge it was hauling out to sea collided with and sank their sailboat, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
One of the two rescued in the 3:10 p.m. mishap suffered hypothermia and was treated at the Coast Guard station at Sausalito, according to Coast Guard Ensign Corinne Gaines.
"The sailboat was a total loss - it sunk," she said.
Officials did not disclose any information about the sailboat, tug or barge. Gaines said it was not clear whether the tug or the barge hit the boat.
Gaines said there was no pollution reported from the incident.
The tug and barge were both ordered to port and their captains will be interviewed by Coast Guard investigators.
Jaxon Van Derbeken is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jvanderbeken@sfchronicle.com

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/artic...Gate-Bridge-2-saved-4226285.php#ixzz2JCnZ05bx
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[Jackdaw]

You can not imagine a more unwieldy and un-manouverable craft than a tug-barge combo. Regardless of who hit whom, it would have been the right-of-way vessel in almost every imaginable curcumstance. Glad no one was hurt.

 

[sailaway78]

Glad no one died

But staying away from these things is the ONLY way to be safe. The hell with even thinking about the rules of the road. You can be just as dead, even if your in the right.

 

[AnchorDragger]

A small boat driver who thinks he has right of way over a far less maneuverable watercraft is sadly misinformed. Forget rules of the road, even if you are anchored. Just get outta the way or you may die.

 

[Stu Jackson]

It was HONKIN' on The Bay yesterday. Still, no excuse for a sailboat hitting one of these rigs. And this is before I even "bother to get the facts." Dumb. Sorry about the loss, but still dumb.

Because of the wind, it was SO CLEAR that you could see 25 miles out to the Farallone Islands.

Even if the sailboat had "too much wind" issues, they should never have been anywhere close to that rig. You can see them coming miles away and they always use the traffic lanes.

Sorry for the reality check.

 

[soldier1964]

I have worked on one of these tow boats years ago. some people will come right along the side of one not realizing the turning radius or the distance it takes to stop. either having barges in tow or being pushed, both can be truly deadly. those two had angels on their shoulders keeping watch. be very careful around these vessels.

 

[capta]

Y'all have to get the notion of "right of way" out of your thinking.
No vessel has the right of way any longer. There is the burdened vessel and the stand on vessel, but even at that, it is all a moot point since the ColRegs also state; the last vessel that can avoid a collision shall avoid a collision. And that's pretty much always going to be the pleasure craft in coastal and inland waters.
If you are out playing and they are out there working it would do you no harm to be courteous and stay out of their way, anyway.

 

[Chris Patterson]

It's my understanding that the survivors usually tend to be on the tanker/carrier..

 

[centerline]

im not sayin' who was right or wrong, cuz I dont know, but if the vessel is that much bigger than you, its a waste of time to quickly go thru the regs to find who the stand on or give way vessel is.... just get out of its way... common courtesy and/or common sense would dictate giving way to the larger vessle
you can be right and stand your course, and you can be dead right just to prove your point.... but by implementing a little sense or courtesy, you can save yourself and your boat to sail another day.
if you're in a game of "chicken" with a tug and barge, loaded or otherwise, I can tell you who is gonna lose without being there....


its most probable they saw the tug and was going to sail across its stern as it passed in front of them..... but failed to see the barge in tow or the tow cable.
I cannot imagine any other way they could have gotten in trouble, unless they truly thought they were the stand on vessel... its all speculation

 

[serenisea]

We were out there on Saturday after picking up Serenisea2 from the boat yard. There were about 350 some odd boats participating in the Three Bridge Fiasco, with winds like Stu said. It was beautiful, but pretty busy. It wouldn't surprise me if it was an uncontrolled round up into the barge, as I saw a lot of boats drastically over-canvased. We hit gusts of 33 knots at around 1400 hours up a bit north of the Golden Gate. We had in a double reef and two-thirds of a 90% jib out and were flying with still about 15-20 degrees over on our side.

 

[plaineolde]

I don't know anything about navigation conditions on San Fransisco Bay, so I can't make any judgement about this incident, though I don't like to jump to conclusions.
I do know that on the northern Chesapeake Bay, where there is a significant amount of shipping and barge traffic, I've had a number of 'incidents' with barges/tugs. Due to the depth of the Bay, all ships and most barges need to stay in the shipping channel; if you look at a chart of the northern Bay, you can see that the channel winds around quite a bit and has several branches. Ships have a pilot on board, but I'm guessing tugs do not. The majority of tugs/barges are push type, with the tug fitting into a recess in the back of the barge. Barges towed with a cable are not quite as common, though I've seen plenty.
I keep an eye out for ships and make sure I'm not crossing the channel anywhere close to them. If I have any doubt about their intentions, I call on the radio either channel 16 or 13, and always get a response. I stay out of the channel other than crossing it.
Tugs on the other hand do NOT always follow the channel; there is a 'jog' in the channel off Worton Creek where I keep my boat, and many tugs/barges cut this to save a bit of time I guess. That's fine, but if I'm sailing a course 90 degrees to theirs, even if I can see them a mile or more away, I need to know what they're going to do so I can get out of the way. I've turned 180 degrees only to have the tug change course toward me. I'll call on the radio and often get no response, resulting in a lot of unnecessary stress on my part trying to figure out how to stay out of the way. If the tug/barge can follow the channel, they are able to navigate sufficiently to help avoid a potential collision, and should answer a radio hail regardless.
I was once caught in an unusually strong squall, wound up with a broken forestay and a 155 genoa that I could not get down. Singlehanded, I proceeded down wind perpendicular to the channel, trying to get the sail dow. A barge/tug was coming down the bay; I could see it 2 miles away. Despite repeated radio calls and the fact that it should have been obvious that I was in difficulty, the barge continued right at me, cutting the channel, eventually passing astern less than 100 yards. It was one of the most frightening moments I've ever had on a boat. Again, if they can navigate the channel, that tug captain could have made his intentions clear well in advance, as required by the rules and avoided a potentially dangerous situation.
Both tugs and ships have to deal with the large number of idiots operating pleasure boats, especially on weekends, and I imagine they get plenty frustrated. But they are still professionals who should use their skills to avoid loss of life regardless of who is at fault.

 

[DJW]

It may not be in the legal world but in the water world "Might is Right"

Dennis

 

[Jackdaw]

Y'all have to get the notion of "right of way" out of your thinking.
No vessel has the right of way any longer. There is the burdened vessel and the stand on vessel, but even at that, it is all a moot point since the ColRegs also state; the last vessel that can avoid a collision shall avoid a collision. And that's pretty much always going to be the pleasure craft in coastal and inland waters.
If you are out playing and they are out there working it would do you no harm to be courteous and stay out of their way, anyway.

They were in the bay so technically not under colregs but inland rules. The notion of 'stand-on' becomes meaningless when Rule 18(b)(ii) applies:

(b) A sailing vessel underway shall keep out of the way of:

(i) a vessel not under command;
(ii) a vessel restricted in her ability to maneuver;
(iii) a vessel engaged in fishing.

It doesn't stand on. Its got somewhere its gotta go. You just get out of the way.

 

[Stu Jackson]

One of the things we have here on SF Bay is VTS, vessel traffic service, CH 14. I make it a habit to listen to them all the time. It's easy, and you know, if you have your wits about you, just about where everything other than recreational boats are on the Bay. Many, many, altogether too many skippers don't know about this, nor use it. Dummies.

 

[capta]

They were in the bay so technically not under colregs but inland rules. The notion of 'stand-on' becomes meaningless when Rule 18(b)(ii) applies:

(b) A sailing vessel underway shall keep out of the way of:

(i) a vessel not under command;
(ii) a vessel restricted in her ability to maneuver;
(iii) a vessel engaged in fishing.

It doesn't stand on. Its got somewhere its gotta go. You just get out of the way.

I don't exactly get your point. If "A sailing vessel underway shall keep out of the way of" doesn't that make it the burdened vessel and therefor it must "just get out of the way" as you said? In each case above, isn't the sailing vessel the burdened vessel, unless she is one of the three?

 

[shemandr]

It's my understanding that the survivors usually tend to be on the tanker/carrier..

Excellent Point!

 

[centerline]

I don't exactly get your point. If "A sailing vessel underway shall keep out of the way of" doesn't that make it the burdened vessel and therefor it must "just get out of the way" as you said? In each case above, isn't the sailing vessel the burdened vessel, unless she is one of the three?

as burdened as the sailing vessel may be, it isnt as burdened as either, (i), (ii), or (iii)....

you gotta stay out of the way of a working vessel, a vessel that has no helmsman, and a vessel that has no room to maneuver ..

 

[Jackdaw]

I don't exactly get your point. If "A sailing vessel underway shall keep out of the way of" doesn't that make it the burdened vessel and therefor it must "just get out of the way" as you said? In each case above, isn't the sailing vessel the burdened vessel, unless she is one of the three?

My point is this, when dealing with a restricted in maneuvering vessel, just because you are the give way vessel, you cannot assume the big thing is going to STAND ON. Its a dangerous thought process. Its going to do what it needs to do, and when. That can be too easily forgotten in a 35 foot sailboat that can turn around in its own length.

 

[MrBill_FLL]

Tonnage rule = Tonnage RULES! how big a sailboat?

 

[rardiH36]

I just checked Latitude 38's "lectronic" web page which now has mention of the incident. No further info than what already has been reported other than Latitude did check with the organizers of the Three Bridge Fiasco race. The collision didn't involve any of the participants.

Guess we'll have to just wait for more reporting as time goes by.