ColRegs and solo sailors

parsifal said:
More laws = more busybodies meddling in our lives. No thanks! There is no necessity for it.
Click to expand...

I could not agree more.

Please tell the IMO, the US Coastguard and the European Maritime Safety Agency.

I am just taking a break from filling in a form to certify, amongst 1001 other things, that the type of grease used on our wire ropes will not hurt fish should a rope accidentally fall in the water.
 
oldbilbo said:
There are those who fail to recognise when there is a problem. There are those who recognise when there is a problem, but cannot be bothered to consider it. And there are those who recognise when a problem exists, and are given to considering how best to address it.

Consider, for example, the problem and practices of civil aviation - light and heavy commercial..... Similar admonitions to keeping a good lookout at all times. However, aviators are aided by the use of attention-getting strobe lights on wingtips. In the vicinity of an airfield and on the approach, most aircraft will also switch on a powerful landing (search)light, the better to be seen. Look up at night and in reduced visibility and notice how much more readily your attention is caught by such 'technical aids'....

In a crowded Solent ( or similar ) at night, notice how the small vessels with strobing orange or blue lights - as well as ordinary 'steaming lights' - immediately stand out from the huge array of shore and other lights and catch your eye immediately.

I've never understood the IMO proscription on the use of strobe lights. Lots of recreational boats around the US use masthead strobes for occasional use when deemed necessary. I myself carry a handheld MilSpec strobe as an 'attention getter' which I've used to very good effect twice in decades.

Are rules for the 'guidance of wise men and the obedience of fules'.....?
Click to expand...

I believe the Vendee globe boats have a mast head strobe light in addition to the normal nav lights. Since a white strobe light has no mention in the colregs I think that you're free to use them as you see fit. Just don't expect everyone to get the message that you're trying to convey.
 
oldbilbo said:
In a crowded Solent ( or similar ) at night, notice how the small vessels with strobing orange or blue lights - as well as ordinary 'steaming lights' - immediately stand out from the huge array of shore and other lights and catch your eye immediately.

I've never understood the IMO proscription on the use of strobe lights. Lots of recreational boats around the US use masthead strobes for occasional use when deemed necessary. I myself carry a handheld MilSpec strobe as an 'attention getter' which I've used to very good effect twice in decades.
Click to expand...

I noticed this year that a lot of fishing boats around the Biscay coast were using orange strobes (like tractors use).
 
Malcb said:
Having sailed single handed from Brixham to Chichester, entailing 20 hours single handed on the helm, I was able to keep a good watch.

I have, in the past. competed in 24 hour competition hikes and have found that between 0100 and 0300 I have to concentrate on keeping awake. During that period I tend to operate in 'autopilot mode' after 0300 I seem to wake up.

I've found the same when sailing.

So I ensure that I find plenty of routine things to do. Just sailing there is ample opportunity, when solo, to nip below to put the kettle on or go for a pee without jeopardising your watch-keeping abilities. Have a good look around, nip below, keep glancing through any ports below, do what needs doing and come back up.

A lot of it is establishing a routine.

At night I tend to keep the radar on, with a guard set.
Click to expand...

When I did a driving points recovery (awareness?) course, the psychologist said that everybody without exceptionhas a drowsy period in that time-frame. One should be particularly aware of it when driving.
 
Malcb said:
Having sailed single handed from Brixham to Chichester, entailing 20 hours single handed on the helm, I was able to keep a good watch.

I have, in the past. competed in 24 hour competition hikes and have found that between 0100 and 0300 I have to concentrate on keeping awake. During that period I tend to operate in 'autopilot mode' after 0300 I seem to wake up.

I've found the same when sailing.

So I ensure that I find plenty of routine things to do. Just sailing there is ample opportunity, when solo, to nip below to put the kettle on or go for a pee without jeopardising your watch-keeping abilities. Have a good look around, nip below, keep glancing through any ports below, do what needs doing and come back up.

A lot of it is establishing a routine.

At night I tend to keep the radar on, with a guard set.
Click to expand...

When I did a driving points recovery (awareness?) course, the psychologist said that everybody without exceptionhas a drowsy period in that time-frame. One should be particularly aware of it when driving.
 
And overload the system to such an extent that it becomes worthless. Brilliant.
Click to expand...

When was the last time you were in danger of colliding with 2000 vessels within the next minute? If it's frequency saturation you're worried about that's not a problem with class B due to power output.
 
Buck Turgidson said:
When was the last time you were in danger of colliding with 2000 vessels within the next minute? If it's frequency saturation you're worried about that's not a problem with class B due to power output.
Click to expand...

Start of the RTIR perhaps. Certainly the oil tanker a mile away bearing down on you is not going to be noticeable amongst all the other AIS systems transmitting, which'll make AIS useless as an aid the keeping a lookout.
 
Buck Turgidson said:
When was the last time you were in danger of colliding with 2000 vessels within the next minute? If it's frequency saturation you're worried about that's not a problem with class B due to power output.
Click to expand...

Any sunny day in the Solent perhaps? If you go to one of the AIS websites and see just how cluttered it already is, imagine what it would be like if everyone was transmitting. AIS is a useful aid, but it's no substitute for radar and the Mk1 eyeball.
 
I confess that this year , whilst single handing in the Black Deep I was missed by a large container ship by about 40-60 feet
The ship did not see me & I cannot understand how I could not see an object of thousands of tonnes.
They must have had a look out in such a narrow channel but made no sound. In fact I did not hear a thing untill the bow suddenly appeared over my left shoulder

Thing is, if I had had my wife or another crew aboard it does not mean they would not have been down below reading a book
If I am single handing, radar or AIS would be useless as there is no way ( being a serious seas sick sufferer) I could go below to look at it
Some times in rough weather, when I am with a crew or not, they or I cannot get below to read instruments or turn off that damned DSC alarm
So the real issue is not so much single handing ,but the duty of those assigned the task to keep a proper lookout.

That near miss is not the first time. 40 years ago I was so close to collision with a large unloaded ship ( The prop was partly out of the water) that the water spray from the prop went into the cockpit. We had 3 on board & once again it was carelessness that almost cost us our lives.
 
oldbilbo said:
So, what could or should the 21st Century yachtsman do to enhance his ( her? ) chances of meeting the primary objective of the ColRegs - avoidance of a collision at sea - with especial regard to Rule 5, harnessing today's technology? How can we, in our own best interests, do better in terms of 'see and be seen' or otherwise be adequately observed?
Click to expand...
Singlehanding around the Atlantic I've ended up running the boat like this...
(bearing in mind we're dealing with probabilities here, no way are you going to control what happens at sea, just get the odds in your favour.)

Until you're off the continental shelf you can't get any proper sleep. too high a risk of small boat traffic, fishing boats possibly being the worst from a snoozing sailors point of view but also smaller coastal commercial traffic, smaller the boat the more unpredictable it is. but in general, want to sleep - get off the shelf.

AIS reciever pick up close to everything you'll meet off the shelf. That plus radar with a guard zone , which is good at picking up squalls when you're snoozing as well. Though in rough weather radar looses a bit as you need to turn it down a bit or get no sleep as the alarm goes off consistantly.

having a steel boat and knowing I get seen so well i would put more time into a getting a solid radar return before looking at ais transmitter, both is the way to go but a good radar return seems to work. Midatlantic ships will pick me up and change course to allow more sea room if they need to usually before they appear over the horizon.

away from technology keeping out of the elements is a good idea, if there's bout then staying down below out of the blazing with horizon scan every 5 mins or so makes a lot of difference, sun and weather saps your energy.
 
Daydream believer said:
I confess that this year , whilst single handing in the Black Deep I was missed by a large container ship by about 40-60 feet
The ship did not see me & I cannot understand how I could not see an object of thousands of tonnes.
They must have had a look out in such a narrow channel but made no sound. In fact I did not hear a thing untill the bow suddenly appeared over my left shoulder

Thing is, if I had had my wife or another crew aboard it does not mean they would not have been down below reading a book
If I am single handing, radar or AIS would be useless as there is no way ( being a serious seas sick sufferer) I could go below to look at it
Some times in rough weather, when I am with a crew or not, they or I cannot get below to read instruments or turn off that damned DSC alarm
So the real issue is not so much single handing ,but the duty of those assigned the task to keep a proper lookout.

That near miss is not the first time. 40 years ago I was so close to collision with a large unloaded ship ( The prop was partly out of the water) that the water spray from the prop went into the cockpit. We had 3 on board & once again it was carelessness that almost cost us our lives.
Click to expand...

Years ago, running down the Irish Sea, crossing the mouth of the Bristol Channel, on fine clear night, I found myself looking UP at a tanker's green sidelight as she overtook us to port.
 
Buck Turgidson said:
No range control on your display?
Click to expand...

How would that work then? It would be a pretty impressive control that could filter out those RTIR targets close to you to indentify the one of interest further away.

Of course you can always filter out Class B transmissions, but it would be a terrible waste of other people's money to make them compulsory just so you can clutter up your screen with them then filter them out to de-clutter it.
 
Buck Turgidson said:
They are not all threats. You just need to set TCPA thresholds to appropriate levels.
Click to expand...

I think you simply haven't understood the consequences of your demand that AIS be made compulsory and its impact in crowded coastal waters where overloading AIS will nullify its usefulness.

On the start line of a race with a fleet of experienced racers who fully understand the RRS and can helm and manage their boats competently I would be quite comfortable with another boat three or four feet away. With the RTIR with cruising sailors who don't normally race going mad for the day, I'd really like them a bit further away. With a bloody great big oil tanker, 100 yds is damn close.

You are advocating that they all have compulsory AIS and you reckon identifying them by CPA and TCPA would help identify the risk. How on earth does that identify that the port tacker passing 20' in front of the bow isn't a risk and the tanker coming up from astern yet still a mile away is?

Things work fine now. Big ships have AIS. Private boats have voluntary fit and if they have it they can turn it on in open waters and turn it off in crowded coastal waters.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Other threads that may be of interest

T
Notices to Mariners - Week 50
Replies
2
Views
757
tillergirl
T

Share this page

Top