Topcat47
Well-Known Member
I often have this problem crossing the Channel when encountering cruise ships and even freighters' and tankers where the deckhouse looks like a block of flats with no curtains at any of the windows.
Dazzling the COLREGS
- Thread starter Pirx
- Start date
RichardS
N/A
That's a great animation. It really brings home the need to use all the tools at one's disposal and not to take anything for granted.
Richard
Stemar
Well-Known Member
Absolutely.
Another instance of confirmation bias, as discussed in the Lounge - the OOW having decided that the Sola TS was a something on shore, didn't question that assumption until it was too late. On my first cross channel trip, my skipper had more experience than me, but neither of us was familiar with the eastern Solent and we made the same mistake. "That's funny, I didn't know there were any blocks of flats on that bit of the IOW" But there they were, obviously. Fortunately, the blocks of flats were at anchor, so we didn't get in their way.
capnsensible
Well-Known Member
Yeah, there are a number of mental adjustments to be made when sailing at night in busy waters. Mobile blocks of flats, anchored blocks of flats and....blocks of flats (!) being some of them.
Big fishing boat fleets too can keep you busy especially with bright deck lights on when setting or hauling nets. Plus the ones that use bright lights to attract the fish, common in the Med.
But what really doesn't help is some joker shining a spotlight at you. Occasionally someone on the bridge of a ship will do this. Daft but at least you can chat to them, generally, on VHF.
It's the Customs, Police and suchlike that can be a real pita and can actually cause unecessary danger. Not unusual in places like the Gibraltar Straits.
Big fishing boat fleets too can keep you busy especially with bright deck lights on when setting or hauling nets. Plus the ones that use bright lights to attract the fish, common in the Med.
But what really doesn't help is some joker shining a spotlight at you. Occasionally someone on the bridge of a ship will do this. Daft but at least you can chat to them, generally, on VHF.
It's the Customs, Police and suchlike that can be a real pita and can actually cause unecessary danger. Not unusual in places like the Gibraltar Straits.
ProMariner
Well-Known Member
I blame flipcards, people expect to see a power driven vessel over 50m, underway and making way, in reality they see blocks of flats.
Binoculars can be very useful at identifying the nav lights on blocks of flats, or seeing which lights on blocks are moving as a group. A fresh pair of eyes on those binoculars looking for the moving blocks of flats, or even the ones sitting on large lumps of stone, not responsible for navigation or tea making, is even more useful.
If it's any consolation, seeing the glowworm tricolour at streetlight level on an otherwise blacked out 'sailing vessel under 12m' with the sailor who insists on staying mid commercial channel, does not want to blight his craft with radar reflector, and does not take with all this newfangled AIS stuff, is no great joy for the commercial watch keeper either.
Even if you don't have AIS fitted, if you have phone signal, keeping a phone on marine traffic is better than nothing.
5. Look-out
Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper look-out by sight and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision.
Face it, you don't sail in busy coastal waters at night for an easy life, if you choose to be out there, better keep those eyes on stalks. It's often easiest to be offshore at night, and do the intricate near coast stuff in the daylight.
Binoculars can be very useful at identifying the nav lights on blocks of flats, or seeing which lights on blocks are moving as a group. A fresh pair of eyes on those binoculars looking for the moving blocks of flats, or even the ones sitting on large lumps of stone, not responsible for navigation or tea making, is even more useful.
If it's any consolation, seeing the glowworm tricolour at streetlight level on an otherwise blacked out 'sailing vessel under 12m' with the sailor who insists on staying mid commercial channel, does not want to blight his craft with radar reflector, and does not take with all this newfangled AIS stuff, is no great joy for the commercial watch keeper either.
Even if you don't have AIS fitted, if you have phone signal, keeping a phone on marine traffic is better than nothing.
5. Look-out
Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper look-out by sight and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision.
Face it, you don't sail in busy coastal waters at night for an easy life, if you choose to be out there, better keep those eyes on stalks. It's often easiest to be offshore at night, and do the intricate near coast stuff in the daylight.
PilotWolf
Well-Known Member
Seen Ro Ro ferries who forgot to change their lights around in certain locations.
Had an incident between Lymington and Yarmouth doing a survey where we were pretty much ferry gliding but one ship couldn't understand why we were moving COG the way we were because of our AIS heading
I was going sideways but they didn't understand why I was at 90 degrees to the AIS, this was a respected British company and English officers so dread to think what it would have been like with a foriegn crew who didn't have English as first language. No way trying to discredit then - they just weren't on my bridge and didn't see it from how it was for us.
W.
As a PS which I might have mentioned before the engineer told me he had bet the survey chief 50 p for each drop site I missed on the first pass. I didn't miss a single one out of around 30, it turned out that 50 p wasn't the real bet and the survey chief lost a lot of money that night as I didn't miss a single one! These were all 5 or 10 meter radius sites so actually not that impressive.
Had an incident between Lymington and Yarmouth doing a survey where we were pretty much ferry gliding but one ship couldn't understand why we were moving COG the way we were because of our AIS heading
I was going sideways but they didn't understand why I was at 90 degrees to the AIS, this was a respected British company and English officers so dread to think what it would have been like with a foriegn crew who didn't have English as first language. No way trying to discredit then - they just weren't on my bridge and didn't see it from how it was for us.W.
As a PS which I might have mentioned before the engineer told me he had bet the survey chief 50 p for each drop site I missed on the first pass. I didn't miss a single one out of around 30, it turned out that 50 p wasn't the real bet and the survey chief lost a lot of money that night as I didn't miss a single one! These were all 5 or 10 meter radius sites so actually not that impressive.
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