Scared myself silly at sea last night

johnalison said:
We could have a spot-the-ball competition on this one! I'll go for the small round one 45 degrees SW of the aft masthead.

I am often surprised by how badly fishing boats show up on radar, for their size. Presumably their hull shape causes this.
Click to expand...


It's tricky! Re fishing boat radar vis: non-steel vessels don't reflect well and pre-digital analogue 'leisure radars' aren't that sensitive. Rain is obviously also an issue.

Then there is the problem of sea clutter, which can obscure the 3x (or whatever) number of consecutive sweeps required before the system displays a target.

Take a look at this link; quite surprising really:
https://www.echomax.co.uk/radar-reflectors-explained.html
 
I carry, and twice have used, an ACR military spec handheld strobe when I have doubted that I'm seen - despite proper navlights, radar reflectors, big torch shone on sails. One one occasion, a Spanish trawler doing ~20knots ( which sheared off immediately ) and on another, the Lizard lifeboat. We were in VHF contact, agreed the use of the strobe, and that had immediate effect.

'Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools' ( attributed both to Harry Day and Douglas Bader.... and to Richard Branson )
 
zoidberg said:
I carry, and twice have used, an ACR military spec handheld strobe when I have doubted that I'm seen - despite proper navlights, radar reflectors, big torch shone on sails. One one occasion, a Spanish trawler doing ~20knots ( which sheared off immediately ) and on another, the Lizard lifeboat. We were in VHF contact, agreed the use of the strobe, and that had immediate effect.

'Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools' ( attributed both to Harry Day and Douglas Bader.... and to Richard Branson )
Click to expand...
Crossing Bay of Cadiz last month at night, a big freighter, no ais till I put my "steamer scarer" on him then all of a sudden he popped up. I called him then. His bows were pointed straight at me. His ident then came up "not under command" he was stooging about at 1.5kts. Suspect waiting to load oil or to enter Cadiz
 
The thing is chaps... I don’t think I could have done much more. That’s the worrying thing here...
We are talking a small deck level nav light in 2 to 3m seas on a very dark very rolly drizzly night.
It’s actually a miracle I spotted it once alongside.
For interest sake I am on a 14m IP445. We have deck level Aqua Signal S43 LED lights ( the big ones rated 2nm) but also class B AIS and See Me active radar and I also run the steaming light which lights up the staysail like a giant albino Christmas tree.

If you have ever sailed off shore you will get that there is not a great deal more you can do... or is there?

I can’t think of much.
 
I was in much the same location as the OP once, luckily in daylight when a small coaster went past the other way, heading north across the shipping lanes.

Both wheelhouse doors were open so we could see straight through, there was no-one on the bridge .
 
Seajet said:
I was in much the same location as the OP once, luckily in daylight when a small coaster went past the other way, heading north across the shipping lanes.

Both wheelhouse doors were open so we could see straight through, there was no-one on the bridge .
Click to expand...
My relative short time on home trade coasters they where under manned and in many cases by incompetent crews.On occasions I came on watch and found the skipperfast asleep !
 
Been there, done that. Woke up about 100 miles off the Portuguese coast after a 20 minute nap. I thought I had been diligent between naps in looking around for lights, but I guess I got lazy and didn't check under the genoa. Anyway, woke up, looked to leeward and there was a big something or other a mile or less abeam. Scared the heck out of me. As best I could make out it looked like a tug and tow of some kind, but there was nothing on AIS.

Took me a while to get back to sleep. :D
 
Marine traffic can give a hint as to where the worst of the traffic is with density maps >

JVbxer1.png
 
Thames 4 Blood said:
I’m writing this 20 miles nth Cascais still on passage. Want to share... don’t want to tell wife / 1st mate.
So... last night while 15 miles off shore heading south Baiona to Cascais. Wind 25 knots from due west making about 7 knots. Weather is drizzly. Pitch dark. I’m wide awake about 3am keeping watch for shipping, dodging odd fishing boats using eyeball, AIS and radar ( radar not helping much due to rain and rough sea ).
As I look around the boat I see a green starboard nav light pass me in the opposite direction at a range ( and I am educated guessing ) of less than 50 meters. Whoever it was was alongside and passed before I had any idea they were even there... No radar signal at all even after I knew they were there. No AIS. I will never know if they even saw me.
No harm done but really put the willies up me.
Click to expand...

So you passed another small sailing vessel offshore at night. Didn't see it until it was quite close.
There is not much you can do about another vessels lights, reflectors or actions.
All you can do is make sure your vessel is well and correctly lite with a RADAR reflector. Possibly AIS, doesn't do much if the other guy doesn't have one.
Keep a good look out and hope the other vessel does as well.

I never like a RADAR with no clutter. Particularly sea clutter showing. If using manual turn the sea clutter down until some is showing. If using auto tune and clutter. Turn the gain up until some sea clutter is showing.
Do the same with rain clutter don't eliminate it all. if the auto clutter does turn up the gain or go to manual.

Fortunately whenever I have failed the other vessel has not.
 
Last edited:
Uricanejack said:
So you passed another small sailing vessel offshore at night. Didn't see it until it was quite close.
There is not much you can do about another vessels lights, reflectors or actions.
All you can do is make sure your vessel is well and correctly lite with a RADAR reflector. Possibly AIS, doesn't do much if the other guy doesn't have one.
Keep a good look out and hope the other vessel does as well.

I never like a RADAR with no clutter. Particularly sea clutter showing. If using manual turn the sea clutter down until some is showing. If using auto tune and clutter. Turn the gain up until some sea clutter is showing.
Do the same with rain clutter don't eliminate it all. if the auto clutter does turn up the gain or go to manual.

Fortunately whenever I have failed the other vessel has not.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Yes, thats exactly my take. I cannot be sure it was a small sail vessel but the height of light from the water and the speed and the lack of other visual or audible input suggests this + the location ( 15 miles offshore in atlantic at night ) all suggest small SV.
 
Thread count 1889 and rising! I’d expect a frying pan flying in my direction if I told that many people about a critical safety failure before telling the Admiral.

One would of course expect her to light it under full FAA protocol ;)
 
In some ways, equally frightening to being ' run over' is the event of being the boat doing the running over. In short I nearly ran over a small yacht in the Clyde because they had their dinghy hung up on their transom and covering the stern light. A blink of a white light suddenly appearing 30' ahead as this small plastic yacht swung broadside on to me would have stood no chance of surviving the 'T' impact of an 11.5 ton steel boat doing 7 knots, if I had not managed to swerve in time. Scary!
 
We all feck it up sometimes I guess. Was hooning happily down the Orwell the other day at a good 6 knots when a nice red PHB appeared from behing the Genoa and slid by my boat about 2 metres away. There but for the grace of god eh!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top