Obvious who has right of way on this one!
- Thread starter BobM
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I encountered something similar the other day - it was not a cigarette tour boat, but a very large yacht, passed me on parallel course maybe 50 yards away - just as described, he cut power at the right moment and just long enough to avoid swamping me. Probably cost him some fuel too, getting that thing back up on a plane after slowing down.
At the other end of the spectrum was the cigarette boat owner who put in at the ramp I use. Parked his boat on the inside (ramp side) of the dock, which is against the rules and plain rude, then sits there idling at ear-splitting volume while he diddles around with this and that - finally backs out, turns around, and guns it out past the "no wake" buoy with a roar like a 747 taking off. I think he earned the prize for "most obnoxiously loud boat" on the Potomac.
Right of Way - Bigger Boat. Sailboats do not have right of way over large commercial vessels like cruise ships, tankers, container and other ships.
" Here lies the body of Michael O'day,
who died maintaining the right of way,
He was right, dead right, as he sailed along,
but he's just as dead as if he'd been wrong"
who died maintaining the right of way,
He was right, dead right, as he sailed along,
but he's just as dead as if he'd been wrong"
I saw a similar situation in the Straights of Mackinaw. Or Mackinac, if you prefer. I was in a car driving across the bridge at the time. The sailboat was doing his darndest to get across the straights, heading north, and appeared to underestimate the speed of the aproaching freighter. It appeared to me that the freighter cut it just as close as he could. Perhaps the sailboater should have been more careful. The freighter pilot probably should have been more careful, and more forgiving.
Been reading along for days, and while I'm not speaking from experience ('cause I don't have any!) I thought I would encapsulate for the benefit of others (and my future self).
Why is this a bad idea? Let me count the ways...
1. It's against the rules of the road.
2. If something goes wrong guess who gets hurt
3. As mentioned, big ships like this have escorts, in this case a tug and a pilot boat, strategically positioned such that one is always hidden - run into one of them and the results are the same.
4. Your in a fricken sailboat!
5. Big ships block wind – what if you lost wind as you were crossing the bow – even if the ship missed you there's always the pilot boat.
6. I'm guessing the big ship pilots look at us the same way we look at that those unyielding fools in motorboats – I really hate to get lumped in with those guys.
7. Stupid is as stupid does.
8. Did I mention your in a fricken sailboat!
9. Farewell and adieu to you, Spanish Ladies, Farewell and adieu to you, ladies of Spain.
10. Neither the old spice guy, the most interesting man in the world, nor Chuck Norris would even do something like that - well, Chuck might, but then, your no Chuck Norris.
Why is this a bad idea? Let me count the ways...
1. It's against the rules of the road.
2. If something goes wrong guess who gets hurt
3. As mentioned, big ships like this have escorts, in this case a tug and a pilot boat, strategically positioned such that one is always hidden - run into one of them and the results are the same.
4. Your in a fricken sailboat!
5. Big ships block wind – what if you lost wind as you were crossing the bow – even if the ship missed you there's always the pilot boat.
6. I'm guessing the big ship pilots look at us the same way we look at that those unyielding fools in motorboats – I really hate to get lumped in with those guys.
7. Stupid is as stupid does.
8. Did I mention your in a fricken sailboat!
9. Farewell and adieu to you, Spanish Ladies, Farewell and adieu to you, ladies of Spain.
10. Neither the old spice guy, the most interesting man in the world, nor Chuck Norris would even do something like that - well, Chuck might, but then, your no Chuck Norris.
The amazing thing...
...is that there were two complete idiots...I can't believe the flipping sailboat cut the path of the thing...it completed the crossing quite close to the bow of the tow boat. Plus it DEFINITELY lost the wind when the tanker went by as it was from beyond the tanker. I bet that guys bilge pump is still pumping brown water.
...is that there were two complete idiots...I can't believe the flipping sailboat cut the path of the thing...it completed the crossing quite close to the bow of the tow boat. Plus it DEFINITELY lost the wind when the tanker went by as it was from beyond the tanker. I bet that guys bilge pump is still pumping brown water.
It's people like this....
That give boaters a bad name and beaurocrats the idea that maybe charging huge fees for licensing boat operators both power and sail is a good idea.
Why anyone would tangle with something like that tanker is beyond me. Common Sense isn't so common anymore.
That give boaters a bad name and beaurocrats the idea that maybe charging huge fees for licensing boat operators both power and sail is a good idea.
Why anyone would tangle with something like that tanker is beyond me. Common Sense isn't so common anymore.
Ross,
I think the motion has an effect on the brain. Many people I know get lethargic and go to sleep, a form of seasickness i guess. Others get violently ill in the form of nausea. My own experience says it is like a drug and effects you in some way that is pleasing and makes you want to keep doing it (AKA an addiction). The brain sits in fluid and is sloshing around inside your head as you move in all manner of directions. Drive for ten straight hours and see how you feel in a car, now add all the other motions in all directions in a boat and it is no wonder skippers get disoriented and make dumb decisions. Now add fatigue from no sleep for a couple days and it gets real interesting.
Any doctors out there that could comment on my hypothesis of the physiological effects of sailing?
I think the motion has an effect on the brain. Many people I know get lethargic and go to sleep, a form of seasickness i guess. Others get violently ill in the form of nausea. My own experience says it is like a drug and effects you in some way that is pleasing and makes you want to keep doing it (AKA an addiction). The brain sits in fluid and is sloshing around inside your head as you move in all manner of directions. Drive for ten straight hours and see how you feel in a car, now add all the other motions in all directions in a boat and it is no wonder skippers get disoriented and make dumb decisions. Now add fatigue from no sleep for a couple days and it gets real interesting.
Any doctors out there that could comment on my hypothesis of the physiological effects of sailing?
not all boat owners are richie rich--- there are many boats out there for dirt cheap---almost anyone can buy one--is just getting them to learn how to use them...
I was on Lake Michigan in the U.P. in a canoe about a half mile from the shipping channel when a freighter passed by. I was 14 and at a canoe camp, I was an experienced paddler so they put me with the most inexperienced canoer. We were about 20 yards from the shore when the first wave came. The kid in front started paddling to the side so that we were exactly parallel to the wave when it hit. It was at least 6 foot, and rolled us over a couple times. Of course no one had the video camera going(don't think they had them back then)lol. Proabably wouldn't have mattered much if we were straight in to it or not. Now I sail in Tampa Bay and believe me, I will never race a freighter that can go 3-4 times faster than my sailboat. And if your motoring how much do you want to bet your engine will quit, or your prop will fall off(Murpy's Law) and if you're sailing and lose the wind or your steering???? Any basic boating course will tell you who has the right-of-way. When you rent a jet-ski a safety class is mandatory, so it should be when renting a boat or registering one. Just like driving a car is a privelage, not a right, owning and operating a boat should have the same restrictions. I could do a lot of damage with a 18,000 pound piece of fiberglas, aluminum and lead. Like scrape the paint off the bottom of an unyielding freighter. BTW, is there a better picture of the near-hit anywhere?
Lost faith in Sailors
This one is too easy. I understand the weekend power boater not knowing the rules, but sailors usually do. I guess I have to adjust my opinion.
Rules or not....never claim right of way and leave the channel when you see something like that approaching. They can't even see you within a quarter mile or more. There is a safety video called 'View from the Top'. Pilots often show this to clubs of sailors. A large vessel simply has no short-distance view forward and would likely not even know they rolled over you. If it was easy to navigate these things in close quarters, we would not need pilots.
This one is too easy. I understand the weekend power boater not knowing the rules, but sailors usually do. I guess I have to adjust my opinion.
Rules or not....never claim right of way and leave the channel when you see something like that approaching. They can't even see you within a quarter mile or more. There is a safety video called 'View from the Top'. Pilots often show this to clubs of sailors. A large vessel simply has no short-distance view forward and would likely not even know they rolled over you. If it was easy to navigate these things in close quarters, we would not need pilots.
For me the whole right of way thing is pretty simple. The smaller and more maneuverable the boat is then the less right of way he has. If I am on a pwc I am going to be the give way boat regardless. On a sailboat unless their is a huge yacht or a tanker I will have right of way. Of course if the other boat is not getting out of the way you must take action. It is really nothing to get hung up on.
I have had some pretty good times with this. Last year I got really into parasailing. I would think that it should be pretty obvious that when I am doing a 1/4 mile turn pulling a parasail 500 feet behind me and trying to stay within a river that is just more than 1/4 mile wide, that a guy out on a pontoon boat cruising has no excuse for cutting in front of me. People have no courtesy for that. It is a pain when you have to slow down in the middle of a turn because the parasail will hit the water and then we have to go back to the launch beach. People cut me off all the time when I pull a parasail.
Next good time was this year. Me and my dad took my 25 foot sailboat out. Some people on a ski boat decided that they were going to teach a friends to ski. However they wanted to do that right next to us and probably five times would start off try to cut over and then the person would fall and sure enough before he could get up again we would nearly be either running him, the rope or the boat over. For Christ sake your teaching someone to water ski stay away from a sailboat!!. . That said in a larger body of water I would have made a different course but it was in a river 1/2 mile wide and we were tacking so there really was no option.
I have had some pretty good times with this. Last year I got really into parasailing. I would think that it should be pretty obvious that when I am doing a 1/4 mile turn pulling a parasail 500 feet behind me and trying to stay within a river that is just more than 1/4 mile wide, that a guy out on a pontoon boat cruising has no excuse for cutting in front of me. People have no courtesy for that. It is a pain when you have to slow down in the middle of a turn because the parasail will hit the water and then we have to go back to the launch beach. People cut me off all the time when I pull a parasail.
Next good time was this year. Me and my dad took my 25 foot sailboat out. Some people on a ski boat decided that they were going to teach a friends to ski. However they wanted to do that right next to us and probably five times would start off try to cut over and then the person would fall and sure enough before he could get up again we would nearly be either running him, the rope or the boat over. For Christ sake your teaching someone to water ski stay away from a sailboat!!. . That said in a larger body of water I would have made a different course but it was in a river 1/2 mile wide and we were tacking so there really was no option.
Unless the sailboat had no motor at all on his boat that doesn't even constitute a weak excuse for his actions.
Sailing in Salem Harbor I frequently find that the Salem to Boston ferry can come up on you really quick and always seems to do so when I'm at the point where the channel is only 500ft wide or less. When that happens I don't care where the wind is or who technically has the right of way, I motor up and get out of the way...
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