Danny Jo
Active member
Seeing as Scuttlebutt seems to have a started a new line in searingly honest confessions, from consumption of intoxicants to flouting of colregs, perhaps the team would care to comment on this one.
The occasion was Freestyle's passage last week from Ardglass in Northern Ireland to Menai Bridge, a distance of 85nm. The wind was southwesterly, force 3-4, and to ensure a daylight passage we started early and motorsailed (sin 1, unnecessary contribution to global warming). To avoid crossing the TSS around the northwest corner of Anglesey, I set a course that took us just outside the northeastern entry to the TSS. (An attempt to cross the TSS at that time would have involved being swept by the tide back almost as far as Carmel Head.) About 6 nm northwest of Point Lynas, the visibility fell to around half a mile, but because of around 1.5-2 knots of contrary tide, I maintained our cruising speed of 7 knots or so through the water (sin 2, failure to reduce speed in poor visibility). The radar transponder was switched on. So was the radar, but it cannot be seen from the cockpit (sin 3, poorly-founded vessel) and with only two persons on board I felt it better that both of us should maintain a lookout in the cockpit (sin 4, failure to keep a lookout by all available means). Alan went below to put a fix on the chart, glanced at the radar and said "We've two targets on the port side." Swopping places with him, I noted that one was about 1.5 nm astern, while the other appeared to be dead ahead, and closing fast (not timed precisely, but the gap closed by 0.5 nm in about a minute). From its speed, I felt sure that it must be a ferry, and therefore presumably had Freestyle on her radar, but how can you be sure? (Q1). I was considering making an abrupt 180 and slowing down, when Alan called "There she is, she's passing to port." Not so much looming as rocketing out of the fog was indeed a ferry, proceeding as if to enter the TSS, and passing about 3 cables astern of us. It seems to me that on this occasion the main "benefit" of our radar was to scare the shxt out of me.
It's not over yet. As we had achieved our objective of clearing the northeastern corner of the TSS and the tide was slackening, I altered course ten degrees to starboard, without checking the radar or looking behind (sin 5, bloody sloppy seamanship). The visibility had improved and Alan asked if I had seen the container ship on our port quarter. I hadn't, but noted that our course change had converted an overtaking situation to a potential collision situation. By the time I had established this, the ship was around 0.75 nm away, so I bore away and jibed around onto a northerly course to make it clear that I was giving way. I was not, to my shame, flying an inverted cone (sin 6, failure to display day signals specified in colregs). Blow me if I don't then find a small open MOBO bobbing around on the ocean, fishing rods out, 3 cables away on my bow. OK, so it wasn't in the TSS, and it was between the east-going and the west-going traffic, but would you be happy fishing in fog in a small, radar-lucent boat in an area of relatively heavy shipping traffic? (Q2). We turned again, setting a new course for Puffin sound once we were clear of the stern of the container ship.
My question 3 is this - suppose that before the fog had lifted I had spotted the container ship on the radar coming up astern. It would have been easy to determine that she was the "overtaking vessel", but less easy to determine whether she was intending to pass to port or to starboard. What is the appropriate action for the yacht in these circumstances?
The occasion was Freestyle's passage last week from Ardglass in Northern Ireland to Menai Bridge, a distance of 85nm. The wind was southwesterly, force 3-4, and to ensure a daylight passage we started early and motorsailed (sin 1, unnecessary contribution to global warming). To avoid crossing the TSS around the northwest corner of Anglesey, I set a course that took us just outside the northeastern entry to the TSS. (An attempt to cross the TSS at that time would have involved being swept by the tide back almost as far as Carmel Head.) About 6 nm northwest of Point Lynas, the visibility fell to around half a mile, but because of around 1.5-2 knots of contrary tide, I maintained our cruising speed of 7 knots or so through the water (sin 2, failure to reduce speed in poor visibility). The radar transponder was switched on. So was the radar, but it cannot be seen from the cockpit (sin 3, poorly-founded vessel) and with only two persons on board I felt it better that both of us should maintain a lookout in the cockpit (sin 4, failure to keep a lookout by all available means). Alan went below to put a fix on the chart, glanced at the radar and said "We've two targets on the port side." Swopping places with him, I noted that one was about 1.5 nm astern, while the other appeared to be dead ahead, and closing fast (not timed precisely, but the gap closed by 0.5 nm in about a minute). From its speed, I felt sure that it must be a ferry, and therefore presumably had Freestyle on her radar, but how can you be sure? (Q1). I was considering making an abrupt 180 and slowing down, when Alan called "There she is, she's passing to port." Not so much looming as rocketing out of the fog was indeed a ferry, proceeding as if to enter the TSS, and passing about 3 cables astern of us. It seems to me that on this occasion the main "benefit" of our radar was to scare the shxt out of me.
It's not over yet. As we had achieved our objective of clearing the northeastern corner of the TSS and the tide was slackening, I altered course ten degrees to starboard, without checking the radar or looking behind (sin 5, bloody sloppy seamanship). The visibility had improved and Alan asked if I had seen the container ship on our port quarter. I hadn't, but noted that our course change had converted an overtaking situation to a potential collision situation. By the time I had established this, the ship was around 0.75 nm away, so I bore away and jibed around onto a northerly course to make it clear that I was giving way. I was not, to my shame, flying an inverted cone (sin 6, failure to display day signals specified in colregs). Blow me if I don't then find a small open MOBO bobbing around on the ocean, fishing rods out, 3 cables away on my bow. OK, so it wasn't in the TSS, and it was between the east-going and the west-going traffic, but would you be happy fishing in fog in a small, radar-lucent boat in an area of relatively heavy shipping traffic? (Q2). We turned again, setting a new course for Puffin sound once we were clear of the stern of the container ship.
My question 3 is this - suppose that before the fog had lifted I had spotted the container ship on the radar coming up astern. It would have been easy to determine that she was the "overtaking vessel", but less easy to determine whether she was intending to pass to port or to starboard. What is the appropriate action for the yacht in these circumstances?
