I recently had a very scary situation develop. We were in the middle of a two week cruise of the Canadian North Shore of Lake Superior. It's a gorgeous and very remote part of the lake. Hundreds of islands, mostly wilderness and provincial park land and not many other boats as compared to other parts of the lake. We were sailing along in a nice 10 - 12 knot breeze until we got into the wind shadow of one of the islands and our speed dropped to 1.5 knots. It was a beautiful day and we weren't in a hurry so we kept sailing. I could see our anchorage 5 miles ahead and I saw three boats leaving the anchorage under power, heading in our direction. I wasn't concerned with them at this point because they were still 4 or 5 miles away. As they got closer, they were still on a direct path with us and I began watching more closely. I figured they were going to do a "fly by" just to say hello since there are so few boats cruising this area. As they got within a couple of hundred yards, I was watching intently for a change of course to avoid a collision. I fired up the engine as they weren't diverting. I hailed them on the VHF channel 16 to ask if they could see the 35 foot sailboat under full sail directly in front of them... nothing. So I threw it into gear, turned 90 degrees and blasted out of the way. I watched them power directly through the exact spot where we had been just 20 or 30 seconds prior. As they past by, I saw a woman come out of the companionway and almost jump when she saw us just 50 feet away. As the other two boats went by, one of the captains looked at us, threw up his hands as if to say, "Whatchagonnado?" My heart was pounding and I could see my hands shaking after they all went past. This whole scenario played out over the course of an hour, which was when I first spotted them on the horizon. I did hear the boats communicating on channel 68 soon after the incident. There was no hail on channel 16 to one another which leads me to believe they were just monitoring 68 to talk to one another. I was on scan, which was why I heard them. I heard the woman on the first boat say "I saw something white way out in the distance and assumed it was a lighthouse". I was floored! How long had they been down below without keeping a lookout? Would it have been better to have hit a lighthouse? Once they went past I could see the name of the boat, I won't mention it but it was a boat that we've had a few competitive entanglements with back when we raced in the cruising class (no crashes, just protests) Later on that day, we overheard them calling the Canadian Coast Guard, they were hard aground. They were entering a tricky passage to an anchorage and went onto the rocks. For two hours, they were communicating with the coasties while they tried to get unstuck. Finally, they asked the Coast Guard to come get them off.
Thinking about this still makes my heart pound. I know I should have hailed far earlier in this scenario, but they may not have heard me if they were only monitoring 68. I should have diverted far earlier in the situation and I'll never assume anyone sees me, even on a bright, sunny day. I'm just thankful the engine started!
I'm a wiser man for this.
Thinking about this still makes my heart pound. I know I should have hailed far earlier in this scenario, but they may not have heard me if they were only monitoring 68. I should have diverted far earlier in the situation and I'll never assume anyone sees me, even on a bright, sunny day. I'm just thankful the engine started!
I'm a wiser man for this.
