Why not, if the traffic behind you is 100s meters away and the traffic coming in your direction is 10 minutes away why not use the river to your advantage, keeping a good lookout and having plenty of time to move to the right if required. All you have to be aware of is the "article" being a total nuisance , zig zagging down the channel. I must admit that many times I wish they would leave their tack too late and run aground.
That’s quite a strange attitude. Many many small sailing craft have no engines. Did you not learn to sail in one? If not, there’s your problem. I’m not going to spill your coffee tacking a Dragonfly 920 up the Beaulieu river, that, I agree, would inconsiderate, and madness in fact. But as I say, I have a boat with no engine. Would you tow me in if I asked you? That would prevent the inconvenience of obeying the colregs. Though if there's a river finish, we’d be sailing in anyway.
Only necessary if using a long tow and probably also don't have saildrive.
Yep, brings me back to that thread couple yrs ago where certain patrons of the forum got extremely hot under the collar over this topic. In the end I think we all had to agree to disagree, tho I could have done without the personal insults.. I see a flippin grt ship I make a call, if the response is lacking or missing I go behind.
How about leaving more than a 20cm gap - that’s the bit that raised my eyebrows not the fact that you might be sailing up a channel. Broadly speaking if you are within a boat length of me I’d say you are too close - my wife would say even that is too close. Because that’s when:
Fails and either we think you should be going behind and push the throttle harder or decide you are going ahead and cut the throttle and you get a surprise. That’s without considering the possibility that boat engines themselves sometimes do weird things like stop! I certainly have no idea how competent or otherwise strangers are at helming and would not trust anyone I didn’t know to execute within 20cm. I don’t think anyone came within 20m at all last season except inside marinas or moorings and even there 20cm would likely have had raised voices! I wouldn’t even pass a moored boat in my dinghy that close!
No point in arguing with them
Generally it’s fine. They are, after all, trying to earn a living, and move stuff about that needs moving. I’m less favourable to those that kind of make themselves be in the way by barging though an area known for recreational water use at peak recreation times. All other occasions, I’m happy to give them half a mile, so they’re not in any doubt.
I understand your points. Though as I say, how else am I to make ground, maybe against the ebb. And 20cm is a normal margin for racers, we do it all the time. If I’m going to duck the stern of a motoring sailboat whilst trying to beat up channel, then that is my affair, not yours. In that circumstance, I’ll have given way to you even though I’m the stand on vessel, and will have made my intentions 1000% clear to you. Likewise if I expect you to avoid me. Again, such interactions are normal when racing, we haven’t had a scrape of the varnish even, we never touch. It’s a classic, you cannot afford it.
I am aware of that - but I’m not in a race (and neither are you at that point) so the acceptable risk is different. If we are both racing I can assume that you have insurance, we both have easy way to contact each other to sort out any damage and I’ve chosen to put my boat somewhat in harms way in the pursuit of glory. It’s like expecting racing drivers to drive normally on the way home from the track even though they might have been pushing the margins an hour before.
Unless I happen to be towing something which I am also legitimately allowed to do and you haven’t spotted!
But you are assuming that I, or my helm, understand your behaviour instructions/requests. You are assuming my helm doesn’t “panic”and do something you don’t expect. Bearing in mind we have an obligation to take avoiding action if you don’t seem to (and we believe you are stand on* vessel) that might be a late change.
At last..........a very wise, very experienced sailor who knows his apples from his pears. Hallelujah !!!!
Ang about, you didn't like people towing a minute ago!
If it’s around our sailing patch, we’ll have done the homework. We draw 1 metre, and make the most ground against the tide with the leel brushing the mud. We accept the margins because that is how accurately we can position the boat, we’ll likely be closer still to bouys, out in the tide when rounding them. A shout of ‘stand on, we’ll duck you’ clear enough for you?
Well said. He is talking about missing a moored or moving boat by 8inches.
I can guess what that means but “we’ll duck you” is not a phrase I’ve ever heard used before. I doubt it would be clear to my crew (or indeed foreign skippers). It may be racing terminology which you are assuming everyone else uses? If I heard you shouting “stand on” from a distance it wouldn’t be obvious from the words (but it might from the tone) be clear if you were asserting that you were the stand on vessel or that I was, I don’t know if you’ve considered how “duck you” might be misheard over wind/waves/engine. This is why the Col Regs ask for clear and obvious movements rather than just enough to clear. Realistically I’ve probably taken avoiding action before you are close enough to hear!
Haha! Yes I would probably panic if a bloke is sailing right at me shouting *UCK YOU