phatcat1
Well-Known Member
Last night SWMBO and myself were returning from Southwold and motoring up the Orwell at about 6 knots with a strong spring tide under us, so about 7-7.5 knots SOG. It was 11.30pm and pretty dark due to the rain squalls about. She was on the helm and I was on deck putting out the fenders.
As we turned onto the upriver leg from Pin Mill she called to me because she thought she saw something in front of us in the pitch black, directly in the middle of the channel, I looked but couldn't see anything till my eyes picked out a small (wooden?) sailing dinghy about 20 metres in front of us sailing right across our path with no lights, the hull was a dark colour, the mainsail was tan and the once white jib (very small) was mainly brown!
The dinghy was probably only 10 feet in length, but it was so dark we couldn't make out anyone in it, but they must have been for the boat to be sailing close hauled!
She spun the helm hard over, nearly throwing me off the bow, and managed to miss him(?)!
There were one or two other yachts making way in the Orwell last night and the usual freighter!
What sort of idiot sails a dark dinghy with no lights across a river with traffic moving at a fast(ish) pace along the flow! we were displaying the correct lights and they are of good intensity, so he must have seen us!
God help him if we had have been bigger or a freighter - it would have been very nasty!
If anyone has any idea who it is, then please tell them to fit lights or stick to daylight! He was very very lucky!
As we turned onto the upriver leg from Pin Mill she called to me because she thought she saw something in front of us in the pitch black, directly in the middle of the channel, I looked but couldn't see anything till my eyes picked out a small (wooden?) sailing dinghy about 20 metres in front of us sailing right across our path with no lights, the hull was a dark colour, the mainsail was tan and the once white jib (very small) was mainly brown!
The dinghy was probably only 10 feet in length, but it was so dark we couldn't make out anyone in it, but they must have been for the boat to be sailing close hauled!
She spun the helm hard over, nearly throwing me off the bow, and managed to miss him(?)!
There were one or two other yachts making way in the Orwell last night and the usual freighter!
What sort of idiot sails a dark dinghy with no lights across a river with traffic moving at a fast(ish) pace along the flow! we were displaying the correct lights and they are of good intensity, so he must have seen us!
God help him if we had have been bigger or a freighter - it would have been very nasty!
If anyone has any idea who it is, then please tell them to fit lights or stick to daylight! He was very very lucky!