What was he thinking?

jon hansen · May 12, 2020

very odd article i think. there is no "blind spot" for the required look out on the bow. anna funk, says there is a blind spot. is that a real name. anna funk. the sailboat has cleared, but it was close. will prolly get you the nu. one sign if it were in a car. who knows, was that the actual photo. sorta like Jwalking, anna funk

jon hansen · May 12, 2020

for the required bow look out there would be no blind spot. so why would anna sight it in her response? from that photo, the sailboat has cleared, while close, that frieghter could not hit that sailboat for a million dollars or so it looks to me.

victorhoisington · May 12, 2020

There is no requirement for a bow lookout in the regulations. The tanker is clearly working in a restricted channel and the sailboat did not provide enough room for clear passage, as stated in the regulations. All ships are required to have at least 1 look out, tankers are not any different however, they are looking for other large ships and not small vessels. This is a big problem in the Bay Area where many small vessels like to play and the BST's try to ply their trade.

The sailboat is clearly in the wrong and did not provide enough room for a clear passage of a vessel restricted by its draft.

jon hansen · May 12, 2020

so when did they change the law for a lookout on the lowest and farthest forward section of the vessel? i think NOT. but i've been wrong before.
what's the speed limit in that ditch? anna doesn't say
saying that the lookout is looking for only large ships is LOONEY TUNES

. that is false information, fake news, .......
i assume your just joking

shemandr · May 12, 2020

BST's?

kloudie1 · May 12, 2020

Could have been made much better had the sailboat skipper radioed the tanker and told him that the sailboat would stay clear.. Best to have communications open when in places like that..

jon hansen · May 12, 2020

from the article, how do we know if the ship is even under way. prolly is, but at what speed. assuming the speed from the picture is what?

jon hansen · May 12, 2020

dlochner said:
ColRegs
Rule 5, Look Out
SS 83.05 of the Inland Rules

Nothing specific in the rule about where and how to maintain a look-out.

thanks dave. there it is. the only way to be correct to the letter of the law is to have the lookout at the farthest forward and lowest spot. any captain will tell you that

jon hansen · May 12, 2020

dave, i'm not pro the sailboat in the picture, i'm making fun of the article.
and then Victor claiming that the lookout is only looking large ships.
you can't make this stuff up

jon hansen · May 12, 2020

dave, you are correct again. the little know "gross tonnage" rule is very important. possible the most important.

jon hansen · May 12, 2020

driving the great lakes' rivers on the ships up here on any nice summer day will have constant little boats playing chicken with the ship. rarely would we even blow danger, change heading, change speed. natural selection was the rule used

you ain't going to hurt the ship.

sail sfbay · May 12, 2020

The Stockton Deep Water Shipping Channel in the California Delta is 41 miles long and sees large freighters all the time. Boater need to VERY aware and stay clear of freighters. There is plenty of open water to sail in the Delta without sailing in the Delta shipping channels. I have been hundreds of times and were are always on the lookout for other boats and especially freighters. My marina in Point Richmond, located on the NE edge of the SF Bay, is on the Richmond channel and you leave from or return to the marina you need to know where the channel markers are and best to stay clear.

jssailem · May 12, 2020

jon hansen said:
natural selection was the rule used

A very efficient rule. Seems consistent with the idea of Conservation of Energy.

Feels like the CG reaction may have included a “Teaching Moment” for boaters in the Delta. Summer is coming.

Nice that the Reg is both clear and vague.
Clear: “Every vessel shall at all time maintain a proper look-out by sight and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate...”
Vague: “...in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision.“

Like jon says: “for the required bow look out there would be no blind spot.” With a narrow channel, pleasure boats in the channel, heading into the sun, a prudent action by a captain is to post a bow look-out with a radio to report back to the bridge.

Up here in the Puget Sound the ships transit the northern section often at the same speed they have cruised the open ocean. 15-20 knots in not unusual. They cruise within the TSS (Traffic Separation Scheme) under the monitoring and control of VTSPS (Vessel Traffic Service Puget Sound). This is an international effort that affects all vessels sailing the waters of the Puget Sound.

The purpose of Vessel Traffic Service Puget Sound is to facilitate the safe, secure and efficient transit of vessel traffic to assist in the prevention of collisions or groundings that could cost lives, property damage, or subject the pristine waters of the Salish Sea to environmental harm.

All boaters are required to be knowledgable of this rules governing the transit of vessels in the area.

https://www.pacificarea.uscg.mil/Portals/8/District_13/sectpugetsound/VTSpugetsound/2019_VTSPS_UserManual.pdf

Thanks Dave. A good reminder of the risks for all boaters as we begin our cruising activities for the 2020 season.

victorhoisington · May 12, 2020

BST - Big Steel Things, as mentioned the rule of gross tonnage applies, Big ships will run over your small vessel and you must give way to them in almost all cases if for no other reason than self preservation.

As noted, the regs, state "maintain proper lookout", nothing specific to a Bow lookout or any other specific location. The tanker has primary right of way over small vessels of any type (yes, even sailboats must give way to them) when operating in a restricted channel and restrained by draft, even if he had a Bow lookout (and the article doesn't state if there was or wasn't one), the tanker should not have to sound its warning horn. If the sailboat had any sort of trouble it would have been run over by the tanker and nothing the tanker captain could have done about it. BST's do not stop on a dime (usually takes at least a mile or more to stop) and when running the channel he shouldn't have to worry about small vessels.

They can and will run over small vessels in their way and will not stop in many cases regardless of collision or not, if he got 5 blasts of the horn, it was more than can be expected from many of them. I agree the CG was probably looking to make an example and made sure it got played up in the press since many small boat operators don't know or follow the rules of the road.

What was he thinking?

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SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John

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