...possible/probably in a collision with a barge. See the link. I wrote the following to a friend (and site user here) about tugs and tows:
"The LAT says that debris was in the vicinity of where a tug and tow had passed. I once saw a 40' Chris in the second street yard that had been cut by a cable. She had her deckhouse sliced right off the deck. Killed several people as I recall from 35 years ago. Tugs and tows are the scariest things out there IMHO and the main reason I got AIS. I dodged one off Oceanside that I tracked on radar for some time. The tows look for all the world like an echo until you are right on them, and that's assuming you drop the range way down and that you are off a lot of degrees. Worse, they don't always track straight. Further, I had a scare when my crew called me on deck at night (fortunately) when they couldn't figure out what was ahead of them. The radar was inconclusive and I tried the night scope. Fortunately, I was able to pick out the light on the tow with it and further, was fortunate he answered my hail and agreed to a course to pass. He was outside the traffic lane by two miles at that time, and I have no idea where he was coming from."
(I hope the link to the story came out OK)
http://www.theeagle.com/nation/Calif--reps--brother-among-2-missing-boaters
"The LAT says that debris was in the vicinity of where a tug and tow had passed. I once saw a 40' Chris in the second street yard that had been cut by a cable. She had her deckhouse sliced right off the deck. Killed several people as I recall from 35 years ago. Tugs and tows are the scariest things out there IMHO and the main reason I got AIS. I dodged one off Oceanside that I tracked on radar for some time. The tows look for all the world like an echo until you are right on them, and that's assuming you drop the range way down and that you are off a lot of degrees. Worse, they don't always track straight. Further, I had a scare when my crew called me on deck at night (fortunately) when they couldn't figure out what was ahead of them. The radar was inconclusive and I tried the night scope. Fortunately, I was able to pick out the light on the tow with it and further, was fortunate he answered my hail and agreed to a course to pass. He was outside the traffic lane by two miles at that time, and I have no idea where he was coming from."
(I hope the link to the story came out OK)
http://www.theeagle.com/nation/Calif--reps--brother-among-2-missing-boaters
