27ft sailboat run over by 382 ft San Juan ferry

[John Nantz]

On Friday afternoon (Friday, Sept 13th) the Washington state ferry "Hyak" ran over a 27ft sailboat in the San Juan Islands. According to one account there was fog present. We live south of the San Juans and had an overcast all day so I'm not sure what the visibility was there.

According to KIRO TV news the skipper was below deck at the time (http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/state-ferry-collides-sailboat-san-juan-islands/nZwxY/) but according to another account he was in the cockpit (http://www.inquisitr.com/949568/hya...lboat-sinks-after-ferry-captain-runs-into-it/). A picture of the ferry is in the last link.

Normally, if there is fog, the ferry has a crew member stand at the bow to look for traffic but it has been my experience that the ferry often will go too fast for the visibility and would be unable to stop if something was sighted. Having a crew standing at the bow as a lookout at the speed they often go through in fog in is just eyewash.

When I told my wife that the skipper was below deck she couldn't believe it. I told her that if you were just about to be run over wouldn't you need to take a pee? After all, isn't it illegal to do that in public?

It usually takes awhile for the facts to be sorted out.

 

[Chris Patterson]

Mm. I know nothing of this at all, but if the skipper was below deck, (I'm assuming it was the sailing boat skipper), he may have been hove to. Running over an idle boat would be a lot worse to explain..

And it said he was rescued in waist deep water, and the boat sank in 250 feet. Ol' guy must have started swimming like hell..

 

[TLW]

There seems to be some confusion as to whether the skipper of sailboat was below or in cockpit. I read at least one reference to his being in the pilothouse, which might explain the confusion. Nimble makes a 27 foot pilothouse sailboat.

 

[John Nantz]

Ferry "didn't honk his horn"

There seems to be some conflict in what was reported with regard to the accident.

If the boat was a pilothouse model then it would be logical that the skipper could have been in the pilothouse on a foggy day. The temperature here is quite cool, high 50s to low 60s. To say he was "below deck" while in the pilothouse would not be accurate. Heck, would the ferry helmsman or captain on the bridge be below deck?

If the key words are searched there are more articles on this incident'

We took the ferry to Seattle this morning and "he was honking his horn" (using a statement that one person used) every two minutes. It was "kinda foggy" but I couldn't give a good estimate of the visibility distance from where our car was, but a wild guess, maybe 200 or 300 yards? I counted four sailboats under power headed north and across our course in the main channel.

Seems the ferry operators may have got told to be more cautious with regard to using the proper signals and are erring on the side of caution. Wonder how long this will last before it wears off.

 

[Mark Maulden]

I sail this area all the time. It's my backyard....Someone made reference to shipping lanes in one of the articles. There are none in this area. The only shipping lanes close to the islands are Haro strait, Rosario Strait, and Georgia strait. The washington ferry does not go into the Georgia Strait and they only cross the other two. The ferries have several routes between the same departure/arrival points and they use them so you never know when a ferry pokes itself out from a point of land. When ferries pass in opposite direction, it's usually red to red, however, I have seen green to green depending on traffic. We went to Deer Harbor from Anacortes on west side of Orcas last weekend. This time of year there is usually fog in Rosario Strait and once you clear Thatcher Pass, it's usually gone. However, this whole trip was in the fog and dancing with the ferries. Sometimes you get caught!! Thank god for radar and plotter. I also use my cell phone and have the shipfinder AIS app running to see where the ferries/freighters/tankers/etc are. I also use this app in in clear weather especially in the passes..Also monitor chan 5 which is Seattle VesselTraffic and talk to them if needed. I'm still planning on an AIS transceiver one of these days if I can find something well under $1K and will display on the plotter......One of my fellow musicians is a ferry driver. I'm gonna ask him what "happened"....Hopefully, it wasn't him..Also, I don't understand how the sailboat skipper could not know of an approaching ferry until it "hit". Maybe the pilothouse contributed to that...

 

[sinnettc]

Was up there at the end of July. Heard the horn when we were at Spencer spit first morning waiting for fog to clear so I know they use them. Passed through thatcher with the ferry in rain on the way back. Several sailboats too and the ferry was going slower than usual.

We went through Harney Channel on our way to Deer Harbor in bright sunshine. I still spent a lot of time watching over my shoulder for a ferry.

I have a tube type radar target on my backstay though I don't know if it actually helps or not.