Helming from down below

[iangrant]

Don't even mention that

Ian.
Nice to see you posting that nothing has fallen off. broke, busted, malfunctioning etc etc etc

No tempting providence PLEASE, dare I say all seems to be well, for now,


Ian

 

[iangrant]

Saw that once

Tip of the day.



Take the windscreen sun shade off before you have to go down stairs. taking it down while unway and pissing with rain is not a dry occupation.

Saw a guy on a Halberg Rassy start the engine, untie the ropes, cast off then realise the screen covers were still on, still makes me smile the speed at which he scuttled around getting it off.

Ian

 

[DAKA]

This is an age old argument. For me there's a big difference between a small boat fishing or whatever near a busy navigational channel and a small boat in sheltered water like a river or harbour. I would certainly minimise my wake for the latter but IMHO, any small boat that puts itself near a busy navigational channel shouldn't be there if a mobo wake is going to put it in danger for the simple reason that the wake from commercial vessels like ferries, pilot boats, fishing boats etc is going to be far worse than any mobo and, for sure, no commercial vessel is going to bother about slowing down because it's passing close to a small boat

Not so sure on this Mike, things are changing rapidly.

The seacat has never really bothered us much in our boat but it is years since we were buzzed by one even offshore they deviate miles around us .

I came across one last weekend leaving portsmouth, he was on my starboard side and I stood on expecting him to open up and pass well in front of me but he didnt, he held 10 knots until there were no more small boats around.

It is a concern as the Solent is filling up with sea kayaks , loan kayaks fishing in the middle of no where, you cant really see them until 1/2 nm off and it is too late to make much of a detour.

 

[MapisM]

the wake from commercial vessels like ferries, pilot boats, fishing boats etc is going to be far worse than any mobo

Not necessarily. As you might have noticed, in the Trieste gulf (which is very shallow, also miles far from the coast), there are often small boats fishing adrift, also near the center channel used by the huge RoRo ferries and other ships.
Their wake was fantastic to jump over it at 40kts, when I cruised those waters with an express cruiser. But it did close to nothing to those small fishing boats: they just went up and down.
Otoh, I've also seen a very sensible Pershing helmsman going pretty fast at less than a quarter of NM from one of these boats. The way she rolled afterwards was bad enough to make me instinctively detour toward her, because I was sure she was going to capsize, or eject someone onboard...
I can still see her as if it happened yesterday, after quite some years.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Not so sure on this Mike, things are changing rapidly.

The seacat has never really bothered us much in our boat but it is years since we were buzzed by one even offshore they deviate miles around us .

I came across one last weekend leaving portsmouth, he was on my starboard side and I stood on expecting him to open up and pass well in front of me but he didnt, he held 10 knots until there were no more small boats around.

It is a concern as the Solent is filling up with sea kayaks , loan kayaks fishing in the middle of no where, you cant really see them until 1/2 nm off and it is too late to make much of a detour.

I've never seen the RedJet slow for anybody and the same goes for the pilot boats, harbourmaster launches and tugs which ply up and down Southampton Water. None of them ever take any prisoners. In fact, I think I've seen the Red Jet deliberately run close to a small yacht which was trundling along in the deep water channel near Calshot, presumably to let him know he shouldn't have been there. My point has always been that if a small boat out in open water is endangered by the wake from one of our mobos, then it sure as hell is going to be swamped by the wake from a commercial boat so it shouldn't be there. Personally I try to steer away from small boats in open water but sometimes with all the traffic around, it is impossible to pass them at such a distance that your wake is minimal

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Not necessarily. As you might have noticed, in the Trieste gulf (which is very shallow, also miles far from the coast), there are often small boats fishing adrift, also near the center channel used by the huge RoRo ferries and other ships.
Their wake was fantastic to jump over it at 40kts, when I cruised those waters with an express cruiser. But it did close to nothing to those small fishing boats: they just went up and down.
Otoh, I've also seen a very sensible Pershing helmsman going pretty fast at less than a quarter of NM from one of these boats. The way she rolled afterwards was bad enough to make me instinctively detour toward her, because I was sure she was going to capsize, or eject someone onboard...
I can still see her as if it happened yesterday, after quite some years.

Mapism, Southampton Water and the Solent is much smaller and busier than the Gulf of Trieste and you get 40knot ferries and 20knot oil tankers producing huge wakes passing within metres of small boats. Actually where Southampton Water meets the Solent is about the busiest stretch of waterway I've ever seen and at the weekend, it's bedlam. In fact I'm quite surprised there hasn't been a serious collision there. I guess if it were in Italy rather than the UK, there would be multiple pile ups there every weekend

 

[DAKA]

I've never seen the RedJet slow for anybody
In fact, I think I've seen the Red Jet deliberately run close to a small yacht which was trundling along in the deep water channel near Calshot, presumably to let him know he shouldn't have been there.

Where I agree with your observations with the redjet , in general I have noticed a greater tolerance towards pleasure boats in recent years, the odd sinking and MIA brings greater awareness to the shipping companies and the professional skippers who realize their occupations and freedom are on the line.
You will never stop an individual from having a bad day, a few years ago a bus driver drove through a crowd of holiday makers at speed as they dawdled in front of his double decker !

I believe attitudes in general are softening towards pleasure boats.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Where I agree with your observations with the redjet , in general I have noticed a greater tolerance towards pleasure boats in recent years, the odd sinking and MIA brings greater awareness to the shipping companies and the professional skippers who realize their occupations and freedom are on the line.
You will never stop an individual from having a bad day, a few years ago a bus driver drove through a crowd of holiday makers at speed as they dawdled in front of his double decker !

I believe attitudes in general are softening towards pleasure boats.

Yeah, could be. I've only done the odd bit of Solent boating since I moved to the Med in 2003. Maybe since that ferry mowed down the yacht a couple of years back south of IoW, ferry skippers have been told to take more care?

 

[Major Catastrophe]

I only have a downstairs, so I try to keep an eye out of the patio doors, as I am concious that I have a responsibility to avoid suddenly pulling into the path of an overtaking vessel.

I have thought about installing a rear view mirror, so I am always aware of what is about to thunder past me.