What would you do?

[Herb Parsons]

Re-examine Things

I'd have to re-examine things below, to find out why a wake from another boat would cause things to go crashing around, and why I didn't warn folks to hold on to drinks.I can't imagine anything I do on a regular basis to be that "vulnerable" to a powerboat's wake...

 

[sailaway78]

MY IDEA

As I have posted up here before, makes no difference if you are the stand on vessel or the give way vessel, after your in the water. In most circumstances I always make my intentions known very early on. A couple of months ago, about 100 miles off the La. coast, three in the morning, had a shrimper bearing down on us, on a collision course. Now if I would have held my course, we would have been T boned. No question about it. Who had the "right of way", makes no difference here. The shrimper was on auto pilot, no one in the wheel house. What did I do, I got the hell out of the way. I will not risk my life, my passengers lives, or my boat, or someone elses boat, just because I have, or think I have the right of way, or as Franklin said, am the stand on vessel. And by the way Fraklin, soon after I get back to New Orleans, planning a trip to Texas to visit with Tony B. Am certainly looking forward to dropping by and meeting you. As for the wake hitting you at your 10 o'clock. If you saw the boat, saw the wake, saw it all coming, why didn't you turn into the wake and take it on the nose. I just don't understand the people who are too hard headed, too stubborn or whatever, to change course to avoid a collision, or an uncomfortable situation. I also have to agree with Herb. Where were things stored that the wake slung stuff all over. I have been in big breakig seas, on the beam, and didn't shuffle anything around much. Now I have vented, and I feel much better.

 

[CharlieCobra]

You blew it...

If you maintained course long enough to have him close aboard with his wake, you didn't warn everyone aboard about the wake, ya didn't turn into the wake and stuff was loose in the cabin. You flat blew it and need to stay tied up to the shore power instead of getting near me out there.

 

[sundown]

register potest

We have this problem constantly on the inside passage route to Alaska. What some of these power boaters do not seem to realize is that at short range they are throwing a more violent wake than the cruise ships. I had a 27 ton displacement hull and one of these morons crossed my path and threw such a wake that it ripped the TV right off of its bulkhead mount. I have been picnicing on the shore and had one put up such a wash that it put my fire, that was 4 feet above the tide line, out.As I see it there are only two courses of action. Write the other skipper off as a no brain or take the name and port of registry of the other vessel and submit a complaint to the coast guard or, in our case the Dept of Tansport. There are regulations that one is responsible for the wake of thier vessel.

 

[Ross]

The pecking order always has challengers

When I see a power boatat five miles and on a constant bearing I watch him. If he is still on the same course at 2 mile, I change course a few degrees. It is not enough to cause me any grief but enough to maintain a good separation zone between us. The question always will be, "What would a prudent person do in these circumstances?"

 

[Seattle Scott]

Hail on the radio on 16

" Power boat, power boat, ( or boat name if known) heading ______ bound in vacinity of ________, this is sail boat Celebration, you have just crossed my bow, and I may have equipment damage as the result of your wake, request identity of skipper".Repeat if necessary. If you establish communication, find out boat and skipper name, phone, address and if stuff broke send the guy a letter. If no communication, then let it go or do a "security" call to "all small craft in vicinity of ______, there is a _____ foot power boat making ________ knots with an excessive wake, so get out of the way because the power boat will not reduce its speed when crossing." No yelling no harsh words. Seems to me the sailor did everything right, except maybe warn the beverage holders and secure things better down below. Taking the wake at 10 o'clock was perfact and its hard to get out of the way at 4knts when 15 knts is headed toward you and the fast guy doesn't make his intentions known. Scott

 

[tim]

GET OFF THE WATER

If you can't take a wave hitting your boat once in a while you should not be on the water maybe you should be in a motor home dodging blue hairs and pot holes on the highway.

 

[Rick D]

Apologize To My Guests

...things like that rarely happen quickly, and I should have anticipated what was going to happen and warned my guests. PB skippers sometimes just don't realize what the wake does to a smaller sailboat, and perhaps like this guy, misjudged the result while trying to do the right thing. I also should have taken the wake off the bow and not head on. I would send someone else down below to see what the crashing noise was since turning over the helm might be a bit intimidating to them.Having said all that, I once was taken by surprise by a Scarab-type go-fast boat who turned directly in front of me while my date was below using the head. I had just enough time to give her a yell, but not in enough time for her to avoid being launched up to the cabin top to whack her head (and pride). I NEVER should have laughed, but, well, you know... Rick D.

 

[Stu Jackson]

We get this all the time coming in and out of the

Oakland Estuary.Taking oncoming waves from a boat going in the opposite direction directly on the bow by turning into the waves is no way to do it and will only make things worse. Just keep your heading, since the waves coming at you are coming in the same direction as wind waves would be if you were sailing close hauled. I keep seeing people turn into the waves and go crashing all over the place unnecessarily.When the PB is passing you from astern, wait until the waves begin to reach you and then parallel them, instead of taking them on your quarter, or turning all the way into them. If you take them on your quarter, you are going to rock 'n' roll in two directions and corkscrew like heck. If you parallel them, the boat will only rock in one direction, on a fore and aft line, sideways, which is much easier to handle.Anything goes flying down below means you shoulda spent more time buttoning up before you left the dock.Anytime something's coming at us, our tradition is to call out "Rolls!" so everyone knows to hold on.We have three "rules" on board:1. One hand for yourself, one for the ship2. Do what we ask first, then ask questions3. Hold on when anyone says "Rolls!"There is commercial traffic in the estuary, with pilot boats, crew boats, ferries and PB-ers. There's NO way the PB-ers are ever gonna learn, so we should just learn to take what's coming at us in the least inconvenient and seaworthy manner. Try the suggestions next time you go out.

 

[Ted]

blow

Should have given the danger signal with the horn. Install a very loud horn to make sure you can be heard and let them have it. Then warn everyone below in plenty of time to hang on.Your vessel should ALWAYS be ready for sudden wakes from any direction. Sh*t happens and it's your responsibility to be ready for it.

 

[Jon]

Amen to that!!!

"If I can I afford this big boat I don't need to follow the rules"Oh you are SO correct. Every idiot in the US with a few hundred grand and no common sense retires down here and immediately feels the need to buy a 50-foot go-fast motor yacht. As soon as they clear the breakwater? Full throttle and damn the torpedoes...or sailboats...or kayaks...or dinghies...

 

[Ross]

Turning to quarter the wake will take

you into the realitively calm water in the wake. You have a basic choice; you can pitch or you can roll. We encounter this most often in the three mile narrow channel across the flats. Sometimes traffic is heavy and we just have to roll. but you roll longer than you pitch. It is not prudent to try to sail the channel when the traffic is heavy.

 

[B. Whittaker]

Report it

First, I would check for any passenger injuries. Second, I would account for any damages. Third, I would report it to the Coast Guard/Sherrif's office.Almost every time I go out sailing, I see powerboats or PWC piloting too fast too close to almost everything. From private docks, to each other, to peacefully anchored fisherman, to me in my sailboat. The freedom to have a powerboat that can go fast and create a big wake, carries with it the responsibility to not interfere with others through reckless/inconsiderate behavior.That misbehavior must be dealt with by reporting it, or it will only get worse. As our population grows, and as baby-boomers enter retirement in large numbers, waterways will become much more crowded. Again, this requires more consideration of others, and stricter enforcement.I would like to see more small lakes have restrictions on powerboats myself, e.g. speed limits, or limiting high speeds to certain hours or days.

 

[All U Get]

Aye Captain

Aye Captain, how'd it sneak up on you? Prudence says be prepared and I expect to be heeling 15 to 20 degrees with gear stowed in Bristol fashion. I'm responsible for those on my boat and give way to potential harm. If it happens, my fault. I agree with the rest.

 

[Shoestring]

ignorance

You all have valid points;I try hard not to let things like that bother me too much.Most power boaters are reasonably intelligent human beings, and some were even sailors once or still are. The guy who smiles and waves as he swamps you usually is just off in his own happy world, and only thoughtless. I can forgive that.Only a few times have I been bothered when it seems intentional, and that really bugs me, but I usually just mutter to myself and sort of hope somebody else does something rotten to him someday. Fortunately,I work on the weekends and sail durring the week. This gives me a great advantage as far as boat traffic goes. Also, I think the price of fuel being so high has kept a lot of power boats at the dock this season.My fuel is still free!

 

[Tom Monroe]

I've changed my attitude

I sail an inland lake, and seems to me that the only assumtions I can make with any validity in this situation are:1. the guy doesn't have the faintest clue about any "rules"2. he's too drunk to care anywayMay not be true, but that's what I have to assume. So I'm constantly practicing "defensive sailing" ... that is, I do the same thing I do on the expressway. I'm constantly putting myself in the position of least danger if something happens. I used to try to "stand-on" (pun intended) my rights, flip these guys off, get on the horn, and all the other things mentioned in these posts. Accomplished nothing but churn MY stomach and ruin MY day, because reality is that the people who are practicing these unsafe or impolite behaviors could care less what I do or think. So I can get mad and ruin my day, to no effect, or I can do my best to avoid the other guy, continue on my way, and enjoy my day. I can't control or change their behavior, but I can do something about my response.Behavior on the water, in campgrounds, and everywhere else out-of-doors is deteriorating. There's a popular float river in Missouri where these idiots stand on top of cliffs and throw large rocks at passing canoes to see how close they can get, or perform other family un-friendly acts you don't want your grandchildren to see.Like I said ... you can let it churn up your stomach and ruin your day, or just keep your distance as best you can.Tom MonroeCarlyle Lake

 

[rsn48]

Sail boat skippers fault

I sail in an area that has many container ships, vehicle ferries - at one time fast ferries (big wake), tugs and barges, large recreational power boats, water based air port, etc. This means there is a lot of commercial traffic who isn't going to slow down for anyone, especially a smaller recreational boat so alternative plans have to be laid.The skipper of said sail boat should have called out "WAVE" when he saw an incoming wave that could spill drinks, etc.; this way passengers, cook, crew would know something of significance was coming in to upset drinks, pots off the galley, whatever. Once the offending waves had settled down, he would then call out "CLEAR:" this meant you could, as a passenger, put your drinks down, or the cook would know they could continue in the galley and the crew carry on. So the spilled drinks was the skippers fault. Also the same with crashing below; the skipper is responsible for the safety of his or her vessel and things crashing below sound like items not properly stored.If the wave was coming in at ten o'clock, I might have steered the boat so as to face it at 12 o'clock, just as you are taught to do in much smaller craft that are tippy, like canoes. This way the boat would experience one action, up and down, not two actions, side to side and up and down.In the course of a sail, along the busier Coastal BC waters, what you have described can happen a number of times a day. Proper planning for the WAVE is about all you can do, or quit sailing.I wrote this before reading a similar post further down. Taking waves head on is reasonable with "wake" waves as they really aren't that big, taking serious storm waves on would be more appropriate at the ten o'clock position.

 

[Eric]

Under Sail?

The important words, "under sail" are evident. I see no one mentioning this fact. Perhaps I have missed a post, but under sail and motoring without sails up are two very different situations.I always have plenty of time to warn others sailing with me that a wake is coming. If I am under sail, I hold my course, and never, ever, head into the wake. that is just asking for my 24 footer to stop dead and pound like there is no tmw. Rather I hold my course or alter it sightly to maximize the time between troughs. If no sail up? Then I head right into the wake. The pounding I take is preferred to rolling side to side wildly.Another observation. Them big fast sport fisherman or cruisers often slow down when passing me. I think they are actually trying to be curtious. In reality if they stayed on a plane, they would have reduced the mayhem they create. I still wave at them... after all it is the thought that counts.My 2 cents.

 

[GEP]

Fire!

Fire a warning shot across his bow!!!

 

[Bruce & Jackie]

proactive

Of course there are many different but good comments listed below on how to manage the impending wake once its upon your boat and yes there is merit in statements that if you are traveling in heavy traffic waters then be prepared to deal with those kind of situations, and read # 25 comment to make sure you let the potentially oblivious captain know over the radio of what condition he/she has just created. The best advice though comes from # 21 of applying basic common in-control sense that if you see traffic bearing down on you then start making your own proactive move early, I would only add that you also use your radio early if it appears that the incoming vessel does not notice your craft, don’t be afraid to radio call and ask there intention.