passing astern

[fisherman]

I had an uncomfortable time with a fishing boat passing from Liverpool to Conwy, off the Great Orme. The fishing boat was well off my starboard bow and crossing in front of me and seemed to be moving pretty quick and had nets out and on a closing course to me so I altered course about 1 miles away to pass a long way behind him. He then did a 360 degree turn and put us on a closing course again and I turned back. He carried on turning 360's in front of me continuously each run being about 600 yards, presumably following fish. Unable to work out what to do safely I stopped, had a cup of tea until he took off.
During this time with nets down he was travelling much faster than my 5 knots probably 8-10 knots which is at odds with others statement regarding only 3 knots when trawling?

I suspect he was midwatering, following fish on the sonar, you need more speed for pelagic fish

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Why not simply try to pass CLEAR ahead? The trawler maybe hauling or shooting their nets, even towing them on the surface to clean them or moving to another area. In these cases the net may well be on the surface or just below it several hundred metres astern.

Green over white - trawling, including mid water trawling.
Red over white - other fishing (netting/pots/drifting/long lining/seining). Some of these have additional lights.

W.

I tend to be wary of passing ahead of a trawler, for the following reasons:

1) Their speed and direction is a bit unpredictable, at least in the Clyde it is - possibly because of the deep water.

2) I have seen them suddenly speed up and change direction; presumably because they have lifted the nets off the bottom and are moving to a different bit of the ocean.

3) The crew is busy handling nets etc; I get the impression that their look out is minimal.

4) I am not moving a LOT faster than they are; passing ahead could lead to a close-quarters encounter.

I usually pass a few hundred metres behind them, once I am sure we are getting too close to each other. That way I am absolutely certain that there will be no conflict, and is also a courtesy to people who, after all, are earning their living.

 

[prv]

In which case no MCA cert will be issued, it must be on a hoist.

I've definitely seen metal "cones" welded to a pole on the wheelhouse roof before, though come to think of it it may have been on a French vessel.

Pete

 

[GrahamM376]

Sometimes you can spot when a net's being hauled

 

[Halo]

Main problem on the Northumberland and Tyneside coast is the small salmon cobbles in summer. They have about 500 meters of drift net laying on the surface across the tide. They seem to position them just about the same distance off shore that pleasure craft tend to run up the coast. They do look out for yachts and call up on channel 16 if they can see you are likely foul the nets. They are nice chaps generally but it does get amusing if foreigners/Scots/Southerners cannot understand a heavy Geordie dialect or people dont keep watch on 16.
If come up this coast in summer fog then you need keep a sharp lookout for these nets especially around the Tyne.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Main problem on the Northumberland and Tyneside coast is the small salmon cobbles in summer. They have about 500 meters of drift net laying on the surface across the tide. They seem to position them just about the same distance off shore that pleasure craft tend to run up the coast. They do look out for yachts and call up on channel 16 if they can see you are likely foul the nets. They are nice chaps generally but it does get amusing if foreigners/Scots/Southerners cannot understand a heavy Geordie dialect or people dont keep watch on 16.
If come up this coast in summer fog then you need keep a sharp lookout for these nets especially around the Tyne.

Local accents can be a serious problem! I am a Yorkshireman, my Dad was from Northumberland. But even so, I find a heavy Geordie accent difficult! Worth remembering that Geordie isn't just the accent; it uses a LOT of dialect words that aren't familiar to non-Geordies. I remember once hearing a group of people in a Motorway cafe speaking what I (at a tender age) thought was a foreign language. I asked what language it was, and my Dad (who insisted he WASN'T a Geordie!) said it was Geordie.

Incidentally, Geordies come only from Newcastle - and that doesn't mean Gateshead. The fishermen probably aren't Geordies, but the dialect is much the same!

On a serious note, I think that we all need to remember when on the VHF or other voice communications that strong regional accents can make it very difficult for the person at the other end. Without the visual clues that we get from a person's presence, it can be very difficult.

 

[PilotWolf]

Local accents can be a serious problem! I am a Yorkshireman, my Dad was from Northumberland. But even so, I find a heavy Geordie accent difficult! Worth remembering that Geordie isn't just the accent; it uses a LOT of dialect words that aren't familiar to non-Geordies. I remember once hearing a group of people in a Motorway cafe speaking what I (at a tender age) thought was a foreign language. I asked what language it was, and my Dad (who insisted he WASN'T a Geordie!) said it was Geordie.

Incidentally, Geordies come only from Newcastle - and that doesn't mean Gateshead. The fishermen probably aren't Geordies, but the dialect is much the same!

On a serious note, I think that we all need to remember when on the VHF or other voice communications that strong regional accents can make it very difficult for the person at the other end. Without the visual clues that we get from a person's presence, it can be very difficult.

We were working off Blyth for a while and the fish rep was a local guy. Most of his communications with the fishermen were unintelligible but he always got the details or assistance we needed!

W.