jimbaerselman
New member
Have yotties ever sat down to consider why most of the nasty situations with big ships occur when the vessel is coming from starboard? It's because, on radar watch, they may not know you're under sail. Also, when visibility is moderate or poor, they may not know you're under sail until too late. How often do they visually scan to identify the return?
Moderate vis, 2 to 5nm - 5 to 12 minutes for a 24kt vessel, give or take an inch. Let's not even think of poor visbility, down to 1000m.
So what's the safe thing to do if you're a vessel under sail aiming to cross a busy shipping lane (I'm not talking TSS, though the answer may be valid for that too) with traffic coming from starboard in moderate or poor visibility? And don't suggest it's to make a dramatic alteration of course to keep out of the way - since you may not be able to see the real threats until too late.
Moderate vis, 2 to 5nm - 5 to 12 minutes for a 24kt vessel, give or take an inch. Let's not even think of poor visbility, down to 1000m.
So what's the safe thing to do if you're a vessel under sail aiming to cross a busy shipping lane (I'm not talking TSS, though the answer may be valid for that too) with traffic coming from starboard in moderate or poor visibility? And don't suggest it's to make a dramatic alteration of course to keep out of the way - since you may not be able to see the real threats until too late.