I Just Don't Beleive it?

[TheBoatman]

I Just Don\'t Beleive it?

After all the talk in the past couple of weeks about short tacking in narrow channels and I have to get involved in a near collision with one.

This w/end I've been doing safety coverage on a wayfarer open dinghy event. I don't know what the weather was like where you were, but on the Medway there was enough wind to blow a tinker off his missus.

The racing area we were using was only a couple 100 yards wide.

I'm in an open displacement boat (22' and 7 knts flat out with the pump wired up).

I'm going down wind about 40 yards out from the moorings when I see a cruiser tacking up the channel, at this point we’re at least 400 yds apart. I calculate that we're going to meet so I mentioned to my crew that this poor guy is struggling/short tacking and we’d better give him room to manoeuvre so I change direction and start crossing towards the middle of the river. Matey throws in a quick tack and starts heading for the same piece of water that 2 secs ago I thought would be empty. I now turn more to stb bringing my total change of direction to 90 degs. Where upon matey frees off and starts closing me again. Right I thought time for a course change, swing helm over and do a 180. B*****r me if he doesn't tack again half way across the fairway.

Now I'm getting ready to spit feathers. WHAT IS HE PLAYING AT?

Engine hard backwards, came to a stop and wind promptly starts to blow the bows off. By this time my 2 crew, who are experienced cruiser racers, start to comment on this guys sailing ability. We are pushed right up against all the moored boats and this guy is still closing me. At the last moment I dived inside the moored boats to get out of his way. As we passed the helm launched into an absolute tirade of abuse about power giving way to sail and could we not see that he was short tacking.

Before I could utter a word, my crew God bless them, verbally retaliated in spades, so I did no more than turned and followed him until I thought the poor guy had suffered enough in front of his crew, I then turned away and we resumed our duties leaving a mobo, who had also joined in, to continue the verbal education of short tacking etiquette.

From a currently running thread, members know my thoughts on short tacking but this guy left me no options. Instead of tacking from one side of the fairway to the other he kept throwing in the odd short one, thus giving me no chance to calculate were he would likely be when we came to pass. He was totally oblivious to any other water user, not once did I see him look over his shoulder at the mobo coming up astern in just the same predicament as us. Both of us had no idea what this guy was going to do next, his actions turned the whole sorry event into a lottery!

I started out by trying to give him as much sea room as possible, I intended to be submissive, never mind port/stb or colregs, I WAS going to give him right of way come what may, but he ended up through his erratic actions continually closing me to a point where I had to take drastic action to avoid him!

Conclusions:
1. If you insist on short tacking in a narrow channel/fairway, which is your right, make the tacks as regular as possible, don’t throw short ones in unless you have to!
2. Most Mobo’s, me included (although I sail as well) want to avoid you.
3. As well as looking ahead, also look over your shoulder to see what’s coming up behind you (ColRegs – All round look out).
4. Don’t “stand on” or “pin” another vessel up against an obstruction i.e. moored boats, shallow water etc, because they don’t have anywhere else to go.
5. Finally, lets agree to be submissive, I’ll give way to you, if you give way to me and let us all go on our way with a friendly wave rather than verbal abuse, life’s to short for any other way.



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[Lizzie_B]

Re: I Just Don\'t Beleive it?

Hear hear. On the Norfolk Broads where short tacking in the presence of motorboats is inevitable, vessels under sail are required to indicate clearly to appraching mobo's when and which side to pass them and to cause them the minimum or inconvenience. The mobos are requested to slow down and watch for the signal, usually a simple wave through with the arm. Perhaps such etiquette should be practiced in all confined waterways.

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[Bejasus]

Re: I Just Don\'t Beleive it?

re: the Broads. I have to agree with LizzieB. On the Broads, at least on most of the rivers, most yachts will use the full navigable width when tacking, except when racing when it can be rather chaotic, Hamble/Chich style. The hire craft generally soon sort that out though./forums/images/icons/wink.gif.
Having a Mobo on the Broads, I have only had one real instance where I was stuck behind a yacht who insisted on sailing upwind in a rapidly narrowing channel on an ebb tide on the river Bure. He totally ignored the fact that we right behind him and made it more or less impossible to pass. At times he was almost stationary across the narrow channel. Oh and he did have an outboard hanging of the transom, just seemed determined not to use it.
On the whole though, as Lizzie B said, we just slow to take stock of the situation and often as not we get a wave to say which side they would like us to pass.

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[StugeronSteve]

Re: I Just Don\'t Beleive it?

Hooray. Despite all accounts of the untimely demise of common sense here it is alive and kicking.

On the roads we are taught to drive defensively, be ready for the unexpected and and be prepared to concede right of way, as and when necessary. Funny, but somehow many people forget this as soon as they get behind the wheel of a boat.

It has been pointed out many, many times that the lawyers might be able to sort out an inquest using the col regs, but common sense would have avoided the funeral. No I'm not saying bin the col regs, what I am saying is let's put ourselves in each other's shoes, analyze a situation from both perspectives and take clear action that will least inconvenience and endanger the other party. In close quarters it is usually quite easy to yell / gesticulate an indication of one's intent to another vessel.

Chicken raggies, like myself, will usually have the engine ticking away in neutral when things get tight and a push of a level saves a lot of trouble. If your engine is sh****d, let the inconvenienced party know and I bet you get a sympathetic wave rather than a torrent of abuse.

<hr width=100% size=1>Think I'll draw some little rabbits on my head, from a distance they might be mistaken for hairs.

 

[Evadne]

Re: I Just Don\'t Beleive it?

I've come to the conclusion that the problem isn't in the colregs themselves, it's people thinking that they are there to establish who has "right of way". If you start by thinking that nobody has right of way, and that the colregs are there to guide you in order to avoid a close quarters situation developing, then there won't be a problem.

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[Birdseye]

Re: I Just Don\'t Beleive it?

The colregs do not give anybody the "right of way" under any circs. They simply indicate in a given situation who is the give way boat. The stand on boat still has responsibilities to prevent collision by altering course if necessary.

trouble is most people do not seem to realise this, including your short tacking sailor who was obliged by colregs to alter course before you had to risk collision with moored boats.

Personally, I dont think these problems are much to do with the rules as such. In my lifetime (in old man mode now!) I have seen the levels of courtesy and consideration by one citizen for the other decline lamentably. The worst problem is on the roads, where aggression reigns supreme, but it also affects other areas of life. Its reflected in foul language, and almost illustrated as a role model in trash TV like Eastenders. So its hardly any surprise when the same people can afford boats that they drive them in the same "f**k you mate" style.

We're becoming a nation of lager louts.



<hr width=100% size=1>this post is a personal opinion, and you should not base your actions on it.

 

[TheBoatman]

Re: I Just Don\'t Beleive it?

Steve
Rare praise indeed from you <s>.

Just a couple of points, during the exchange of views between my crew and the skipper of the yacht an enquiry was made regarding his engine i.e. did he have one and was it working, the answer was yes to both questions, he also commented on the fact that it was his right to sail wherever he wanted to. I won't say exactly what was said save he was encouraged to use it. Secondly, the wind was seriously strong that day, the fairway narrow and flanked on both sides by moored boats, if this guy had a jam up on a winch or block by the time he'd realised it he would have been into the moored boats.

I don't want to take away anyones right to sail a boat wherever they want, but at sometime common sense has to prevail under certain conditions.
I wonder in todays society if he had hit someones boat it could have been claimed that he was acting recklessly in not using the equipment available to him (engine) to safely navigate the vessel on that water in those conditions?

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