Thats what my wife and I wondered as a 50 ft sailboat was motoring toward us at 6-8 knots dead ahead. Great sunny afternoon, wind was dying so wife let me put up the chute for a run back to the dock. Lots of searoom, no other boats around. We were making .5 to 1 knot and I was on the bow trying to keep the chute out of the water and generally preoccupied when I saw this beautiful blue hulled 50 footer steaming toward us about a half mile away. I promptly forgot about the other boat since we were under (sometimes literally) sail, it was obvious we were having some "trim" problems with the chute and were barely making way. The blue boat kept coming in on a constant heading, until about two hundred yards away when my wife at the wheel, made a slight course change so we would be clear of the other boat when it passed. At a hundred yards wife brings my attention to the blue boat with a "Why the hell does he have to come so close?" Now I take a long look at big blue and see no signs of life on deck. Big blue has a pilot house so I can't see the driver. Wife's done a great job driving the last 3 minutes while I was playing around on the foredeck so when Big Blue is 100 feet away it is clear that it is going to pass down our side with 30 to 60 feet to spare. When we are side by side we see the Big Blue driver slumped over in a comfortable helm chair in the cockpit. Dead or asleep? We go with asleep first and yell "wake up" and the guy's head comes up but doesn't turn around. We yell "wake up" again, and get sort of a sleepy backwards wave, but our second chorus woke up the two crew sleeping on the foredeck and one headed back to the cockpit of Big Blue. So wife and I conclude that Big Blue is not going to stay on auto pilot into the beach or another boat because the crew are now awake. We don't get on the radio, just go back to enjoying the rest of the day. Didn't bother to determine "Big Blue's" real name or port. So, what should we have done once we realized that we could see no one on deck and if the other boat didn't maintane course, there was a chance of collision? Should we have sounded the horn when the other boat was a minute away, half minute away? One blast or five blasts on the horn? If you utter "what the hell?" is that the clue to get/sound the horn, start the engine, and assume the other boat doesn't see you? We keep the horn in a cup holder at the helm. Sleepless in Seattle Scott
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Ad drunk to the list!
He could have been drunk or ill. A good blast on the horn would have been nice but then he might have done something stupid and made things worse by changing his speed or heading in panic. I guess you did the best thing considering the circumstances.
He could have been drunk or ill. A good blast on the horn would have been nice but then he might have done something stupid and made things worse by changing his speed or heading in panic. I guess you did the best thing considering the circumstances.
Add drunk to the list!
He could have been drunk or ill. A good blast on the horn would have been nice but then he might have done something stupid and made things worse by changing his speed or heading in panic. I guess you did the best thing considering the circumstances.
He could have been drunk or ill. A good blast on the horn would have been nice but then he might have done something stupid and made things worse by changing his speed or heading in panic. I guess you did the best thing considering the circumstances.
5 blasts on the horn is what the Rules call for
But you did follow the other two Rules in play, which are the more important ones: you kept a proper lookout and took action to avoid collision. Waking 'em up afterward was just a courtesy to them any other vessels in their path who might not be as alert as you were
But you did follow the other two Rules in play, which are the more important ones: you kept a proper lookout and took action to avoid collision. Waking 'em up afterward was just a courtesy to them any other vessels in their path who might not be as alert as you were
Make the safest plays fast
A lot of things about the "rules of the road" and our sailing training desensitize us to the best response in some of these situations. First, I think we would all agree that there is very little use of audible signals out there on the water between recreational boaters. Most of us sailboaters don't ever use our air horns because the power boats are going so fast that they maneuver around us as though we were stationary objects--they control the maneuver from beginning to end. Power boaters also don't signal each other, again because they are moving at the threshold of reaction time to each other. It's fair to say that audible signalling is a quaint practice, not an active option. Sailors are also indoctrinated to keep her sailing for as long as possible--with the result that we are often way too slow to fire up the motor in bad situations. Many of us also are not conscientious about keeping our vhf radios in the cockpit and knowing what channel we're on--in sailboats we tend not to even have our radios installed within easy reach. My analysis of your scenario is that the crew in the cockpit should have fished out the air horn and the hand-held vhf from the coaming shelf (I'm suggesting we all need to own a hand-held or remote mike to keep in the cockpit), then fired up whatever motor you had sometime during that dawning period of doubt. Your crew would then have been in a position to deal with potential disaster asap. As the larger boat bore down on you you would still have to be willing to swallow your pride as a sailor and start using that horn and radio, and to start motoring away. Your social nightmare is that some kindly old America's Cup captain with a William Buckley accent will lift his head out of the transom and shake his head at your antics since he seems to be serenely in control. But good seamanship demands a defensive posture here, because that large vessel will deal a fatal blow if she hits you. Let go of that pride and you'll live for the next sail...
A lot of things about the "rules of the road" and our sailing training desensitize us to the best response in some of these situations. First, I think we would all agree that there is very little use of audible signals out there on the water between recreational boaters. Most of us sailboaters don't ever use our air horns because the power boats are going so fast that they maneuver around us as though we were stationary objects--they control the maneuver from beginning to end. Power boaters also don't signal each other, again because they are moving at the threshold of reaction time to each other. It's fair to say that audible signalling is a quaint practice, not an active option. Sailors are also indoctrinated to keep her sailing for as long as possible--with the result that we are often way too slow to fire up the motor in bad situations. Many of us also are not conscientious about keeping our vhf radios in the cockpit and knowing what channel we're on--in sailboats we tend not to even have our radios installed within easy reach. My analysis of your scenario is that the crew in the cockpit should have fished out the air horn and the hand-held vhf from the coaming shelf (I'm suggesting we all need to own a hand-held or remote mike to keep in the cockpit), then fired up whatever motor you had sometime during that dawning period of doubt. Your crew would then have been in a position to deal with potential disaster asap. As the larger boat bore down on you you would still have to be willing to swallow your pride as a sailor and start using that horn and radio, and to start motoring away. Your social nightmare is that some kindly old America's Cup captain with a William Buckley accent will lift his head out of the transom and shake his head at your antics since he seems to be serenely in control. But good seamanship demands a defensive posture here, because that large vessel will deal a fatal blow if she hits you. Let go of that pride and you'll live for the next sail...
I agree withJulie
You did take reasonable actions. Sure the radio and the horn might have helped. But if you get on the radio or blast your horn every time another boat heads in your direction you will be the problem. Same thing with the engine. You would never have any peace if you started the engine everytime someone headed in your general direction. You will probably be gun shy for a while. A few years ago a woman pulled out in front of me and totaled my truck and almost killed herself. We were just driving along legaly when this car was in front of us. I didn't even have time to use the brakes. For a year or so I started braking any time a car entering from a side street moved at all. It still makes me nervous. But after a few times of almost being rear ended I learned to relax and assume that the other guy is following the rules. By the way , if you are the burdened vessel and take evasive action and still have an acident he could argue that he was passing safely and you turned into his path!!!
You did take reasonable actions. Sure the radio and the horn might have helped. But if you get on the radio or blast your horn every time another boat heads in your direction you will be the problem. Same thing with the engine. You would never have any peace if you started the engine everytime someone headed in your general direction. You will probably be gun shy for a while. A few years ago a woman pulled out in front of me and totaled my truck and almost killed herself. We were just driving along legaly when this car was in front of us. I didn't even have time to use the brakes. For a year or so I started braking any time a car entering from a side street moved at all. It still makes me nervous. But after a few times of almost being rear ended I learned to relax and assume that the other guy is following the rules. By the way , if you are the burdened vessel and take evasive action and still have an acident he could argue that he was passing safely and you turned into his path!!!
Tom, on that note,,
Do you think there is any way to NOT be held at least partially responsible for a collision, at least under the eyes of the CG?
Do you think there is any way to NOT be held at least partially responsible for a collision, at least under the eyes of the CG?
I think that the laws asign percent responsibility
where no one is blame less. A reasonable approach in that it takes two to collide. You do have a problem in that you are required to maintain course and speed and take actions to avoid collision... Personally I assume that the other guy is a total idiot who is deaf,dumb and blind. I don't usually use the radio or horn or start the engine but do steer to avoid possible collisions. I hate the Inter Coastal Waterway in that when you are in the ditch you can't do much. Idiots in big stinkpots that don't slow down make big wakes that you can't avoid. the barges are bad but they are predictable. The sportfishermen are probably the worst. Trawlers in general are pretty good. I must add that most stinkpotters are decent fellows that slow down when passing other watercraft. The barges don't have a lot of choice and I try to stay out of their way. Since they usually travel at sailboat speed that usually isn't a problem.
where no one is blame less. A reasonable approach in that it takes two to collide. You do have a problem in that you are required to maintain course and speed and take actions to avoid collision... Personally I assume that the other guy is a total idiot who is deaf,dumb and blind. I don't usually use the radio or horn or start the engine but do steer to avoid possible collisions. I hate the Inter Coastal Waterway in that when you are in the ditch you can't do much. Idiots in big stinkpots that don't slow down make big wakes that you can't avoid. the barges are bad but they are predictable. The sportfishermen are probably the worst. Trawlers in general are pretty good. I must add that most stinkpotters are decent fellows that slow down when passing other watercraft. The barges don't have a lot of choice and I try to stay out of their way. Since they usually travel at sailboat speed that usually isn't a problem.
If you get on the radio
what do you say? There is a power boat on a collision course with your boat in about 15 seconds and you can't make out the name and you are not at a location quickly described. "This is a white hulled sailboat of 37 feet with two white sails up about to be hit by a white 35 foot power boat making 15 knots, change your course, change your course." or how about "Pan, Pan, Pan, sailboat about to be hit by power boat" I think my time would be better spent preparing for impact or efforts to avoid. If I had more time and was dealing with large vessels I could radio to the tug and barge that I had a fouled prop/dead engine and no wind and could only make a half knot. I think I will be as Tom predicts, excessive use of the horn at least for a while and also driving away from any boat such that we never cross paths. Scott
what do you say? There is a power boat on a collision course with your boat in about 15 seconds and you can't make out the name and you are not at a location quickly described. "This is a white hulled sailboat of 37 feet with two white sails up about to be hit by a white 35 foot power boat making 15 knots, change your course, change your course." or how about "Pan, Pan, Pan, sailboat about to be hit by power boat" I think my time would be better spent preparing for impact or efforts to avoid. If I had more time and was dealing with large vessels I could radio to the tug and barge that I had a fouled prop/dead engine and no wind and could only make a half knot. I think I will be as Tom predicts, excessive use of the horn at least for a while and also driving away from any boat such that we never cross paths. Scott
care with sound signals
A single blast can be interpreted as "I'm altering my course to starboard." Would two blasts have been more appropriate in this situation? Of course, when in doubt, five blasts is appropriate, because five blasts can be used to single both danger and doubt.
A single blast can be interpreted as "I'm altering my course to starboard." Would two blasts have been more appropriate in this situation? Of course, when in doubt, five blasts is appropriate, because five blasts can be used to single both danger and doubt.
Use Radio & Horn
I agree that sound signals aren't used very often among recreational boaters, but commercial vessels do use them, and every boater should be familiar with them. In the situation described here, had I been concerned enough about the risk of a collision, I would have attempted to hail the blue-hulled sailboat on Ch. 16. Simply say, "This is <myboat>, a 99 ft. sailboat calling the blue-hulled sailboat heading south". If you transmit on low power, you'll avoid confusing other boats farther away. If he doesn't answer, try it several more times. Whenever you're unsure of another boat's intentions, it's better to try and communicate than merely hope for the best. As for sound signals, I believe a single blast in a head-to-head situation means "let's cross port-to-port." The other vessel is supposed to answer with one blast, indicating their agreement. Two blasts would mean "let's cross starboard-to-starboard." Commercial vessels often verbalize these sounds signals when communicating on the radio, by saying "okay, that'll be one whistle." At night on the Chesapeake Bay, it's very common for commercial vessels to hail recreational vessels to confirm their intentions. Monitoring Ch.13 and being familiar with the one whistle or two lingo is enormously helpful.
I agree that sound signals aren't used very often among recreational boaters, but commercial vessels do use them, and every boater should be familiar with them. In the situation described here, had I been concerned enough about the risk of a collision, I would have attempted to hail the blue-hulled sailboat on Ch. 16. Simply say, "This is <myboat>, a 99 ft. sailboat calling the blue-hulled sailboat heading south". If you transmit on low power, you'll avoid confusing other boats farther away. If he doesn't answer, try it several more times. Whenever you're unsure of another boat's intentions, it's better to try and communicate than merely hope for the best. As for sound signals, I believe a single blast in a head-to-head situation means "let's cross port-to-port." The other vessel is supposed to answer with one blast, indicating their agreement. Two blasts would mean "let's cross starboard-to-starboard." Commercial vessels often verbalize these sounds signals when communicating on the radio, by saying "okay, that'll be one whistle." At night on the Chesapeake Bay, it's very common for commercial vessels to hail recreational vessels to confirm their intentions. Monitoring Ch.13 and being familiar with the one whistle or two lingo is enormously helpful.
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