Some mothers do have 'em..

[Norman_E]

.. But how do they get blue ensigns?

Just before 1PM today I was sailing on a port tack beam reach out of Yesilova Korfesi on course to pass south and west of the Atabol Reef marker, and saw a motorboat fine on my port bow about three or four miles off, probably coming from Simi. I kept watch on it as it was on a steady bearing. I was making about 6.5 knots and the motorboat considerably more. At about a mile range it was clearly on or very close to collision course with me, but never showed any deviation in course. I fetched my flare gun and when it was about two cables away I fired a white flare. I then had to luff up hard to port to avoid collision, as any turn to starboard would then have just had me rammed broadside on. Had I held course he would have hit my port bow. I fired a second flare just before the boat passed about a boat length behind me (as I had turned onto a close hauled course to maintain way). As the boat passed someone emerged from the cabin and waved to me! I was too dumbfounded to shout at him. A tender hung on the stern obscured any boat name, but the idiot was wearing a blue ensign!

 

[Searush]

They join clubs & buy a warrant. There is no boating qualification or exam to pass. Why would you think otherwise?

However, Our club does stress that whenever we wear the club burgee &, where authorised, the defaced Blue Ensign, we should remember that we represent the good name of the club which is the oldest in Wales (patron HRH, the Duke of Edinburgh) and should behave accordingly.

Basically, I think it means taking the empties ashore rather than throwing them at the other boats.

 

[Norman_E]

I knew they just bought the right to the blue ensign but if I see that boat again and find out which club it is I will be writing to the club commodore suggesting withdrawal of the warrant before someone who motors for about 10 to 15 minutes at speed without keeping lookout does their reputation any further damage. As it passed I noticed a woman sunbathing on the foredeck, so its not as if the driver of the thing was singlehanded and could not get anyone to keep lookout whilst he was below. In fact I think I saw a second man on board.

I learned three lessons.
1) My little flare gun works very well, chucking a bright flare high in the air, with a satisfying bang as it is ejected.
2) It is useless if nobody is keeping watch. Sound signals are also useless against the noise of motor boat engines unless you have a powerful horn, which I do not.
3) A motorboat that appeared for a long time to be closing with me slowly was actually coming up bloody fast, and I only just avoided a collision.

A Turkish Coastguard launch passed me about ten minutes later, and may indeed have seen my flares. Had I reported the incident to them the skipper of the mobo might have been in trouble as I think he had been to Simi for diesel, most probably without checking out of Turkey.

 

[ProDave]

What is this ensign thing? Are you supposed to pass an exam to use a certain one? I don't have one. and don't feel a need for one.

Irrespective of what flag he might be flying, he was failing to keep a watch. That's all there is to it. He's a poor seaman irrespective of what qualifications he may or may not have.

Shame his near miss was not with the coastguard launch.

 

[Searush]

If you are in the Med Norman, the chances are that it isn't even a British boat, never mind entitled to wear a Blue Ensign.

 

[Norman_E]

I know that the British ensigns are widely abused, though Delaware US registration and flag is more common on Turkish owned boats. I have however the distinct impression that the people on board were fair skinned Brits.

 

[rich]

I fly a RCIYC blue defaced ensign, but you can't stop Idiots, from joining your club. I used to skipper a boat for a lord he had a white ensign, but i was not allowed to fly it when he was not on board, but i had fun with it, when some stuck up snob started shouting his mouth off,

 

[Sandy Bottom]

Sorry but I just cannot see the relevance of the ensign - if he had been flying a red duster, a burgee of The Wheeltappers & Shunters Club, and had been singing 'Keep the Red Flag flying here' at the top of his voice, would that have made his boat handling skills any better / worse?

 

[johnalison]

I think the OP has a point. Wearing a blue ensign (to which I am not entitled) suggests a certain pretension to status among mariners. I would expect someone with this kind of pretension to carry a sense of responsibility, which the craft referred to clearly didn't, hence the disappointment. We all have responsibilities, but if we make our presence more public, then the responsibility is so much the greater.

 

[ShinyShoe]

Regularly bemused by people who feel the need to rant on here food this guy I saw from 10 miles away didn't avoid me and came within an inch of hitting me.

So 400m away you fire a white flare in daylight. Ok there is is a loud bang. You see it light up the sky but if someone wasnt seeing you are they going to see white flare. Always thought they'd be only any good of it was dark.

400m. You are doing 6.5kts. He is doing let's assume 10kts so effectively 16.5kts. So 30 kph or 1k every 2mins. So you set of a flare about 50 second before impact.

Under the IRPCS you are required to take avoiding action if the other boat falls to do so... Is 45 seconds enough time for you to SAFELY do so...?

While VHF is not to be used for collision avoidance you could have tried calling after the fact to check if they were OK as they hasn't avoided you so you were concerned for their well being. Gets the message across without any agro.

Next time consider adjusting your course earlier.

 

[ShinyShoe]

Oh... And did you assume that you could avoid adjusting your course because the vessel had a blue ensign?

 

[ytd]

you saw him. you worked out you were on a collision course. would it have killed you to change your course a few degrees. you had to fire a flare which could have been interpreted as distress situation by someone ashore and generated a search. i'm liking the other guy more all the time.

 

[oldbilbo]

In my book, the OP did all the right things expected of him. Then he had to go spoil it by telling the tale and inviting sympathy on here....

Mistake!

 

[TQA]

In my book, the OP did all the right things expected of him. Then he had to go spoil it by telling the tale and inviting sympathy on here....

Mistake!

I am sorry but the OP did not do the right things.

When the power boat was say 1/2 a mile away and showing no sign of taking avoiding action he should have made a substantial change of course to avoid the collision or near miss.

Allowing the situation to develop to the point where you make a last minute course change and pass within a boats length of a powerboat moving at speed and probably not maintaining a lookout is just poor seamanship.

 

[Uricanejack]

I just don't,then get the whole flare gun thing.
What the heck was the point of that.
My memory is old and faulty I don't think shooting flares is the recommended action for a stand on vessel. I do recall some mentioned of the whistle. Even a light.

 

[ShinyShoe]

I do recall some mentioned of the whistle. Even a light.

I think he must have white flares... Used to illuminate the sky for an impending collision. Not sure how it's described in the law... But you would have to question if a boat wasn't keeping a lookout what the point is and also if the meaning is understood... In the middle of the night a bright white light and a boat suddenly visible.. Maybe. In day time.... ??

 

[Norman_E]

Yes they are white flares. When I fired one I just thought that I had been seen but that the driver of the thing did not realise he was on the give way vessel, a lot of motorboat owners seem to think everyone else is. Against a motorboat's noisy engines I had no chance of alerting him by sound.

I did what was required of me as the stand on vessel. I stood on until it was clear that the other vessel was paying no attention, then avoided him. I could have been further from him as we passed, but having luffed up and used my boat speed to get clear I returned to a course that refilled the genoa and allowed me to regain speed and keep sailing. Thinking about it now he must have been further away when I fired the flare because it dropped into the water well ahead of him. Fired upwards at an angle of about 45 degrees the flares travel quite a distance. I had returned to the wheel, switched the autopilot to standby and turned the boat to windward, and was returning to a course close to my original one in order to refill the sails when he passed me.

If I had seen his boat name I would have called him on the VHF, but the Greek station that makes a long winded 1PM announcement in English and Greek on channel 16 about weather reports came on and by the time they had finished he was out of sight, so I could not even call "White motorboat heading towards Sogut" or anything similar.

As for the blue ensign, there are fools sailing with all sorts of flags, but those that want to boast their membership of exclusive clubs should at least try to look as if they know what they are doing. From the way the man waved to me I don't think he even realised that I had changed course to avoid him.

 

[ShinyShoe]

Think you are missing the point. The col regs say that avoiding action must be positive. Obvious and in time.

You acted negatively at first. The flare gun was negative. In the time taken to get the flare gun you could have made the move you made earlier you just wanted to make a point.

Your manoeuvre was not sufficiently obvious if the other boat didn't know you'd taken it and it sounds like it was only just in time.

It's like driving through a green traffic light in a car. It doesn't mean you must go. It means you can go IF it is clear and safe to do so. While a car jumping a red light is clearly in the wrong you aren't in the right to hit him.

Not sure if the col regs specify anything about your horn but before spending money on replacement white pyros I'd want to replace my horn with one that can be heard over engine noise at a decent distance..

 

[Seajet]

I am sorry but the OP did not do the right things.

When the power boat was say 1/2 a mile away and showing no sign of taking avoiding action he should have made a substantial change of course to avoid the collision or near miss.

Allowing the situation to develop to the point where you make a last minute course change and pass within a boats length of a powerboat moving at speed and probably not maintaining a lookout is just poor seamanship.

+1, getting to the stage of firing flares means a cock-up on both sides.

Fancy ensigns are an indication of financial status, nothing to do with seamanship.

 

[jerrytug]

+1, getting to the stage of firing flares means a cock-up on both sides.

Fancy ensigns are an indication of financial status, nothing to do with seamanship.

I totally agree about the fancy ensigns, a good summing up!

Not a comment about the OP, but a white flare fired in good time, to avoid risk of collision, does NOT mean a cock-up!
It's a recognised and powerful way of getting attention IMO, cheers Jerry.