Container Ship and Saliboats

[garrobito]

I was on both bridge... up there, praying not touch any of that crazy sailors in front of me and below, running away from huge tankers and containers.. not funny at all...
Keep your distance from this big guys.. there are no way they can see what happened in front of that floating steel mountain...

[newhaul]

Interesting no one has yet actually stated the obvious answer " colreg chapter 10 section j ) A vessel of less than 20 meters in length or a sailing vessel shall not impede the safe passage of a power-driven vessel following a traffic lane.

[tbeargladd]

Very important thread. Sailors need to re-adjust their comfort zones. Some think they have right of way because they are on a starboard tack and being under sail against a motoring boat they have right of way. Their is no comfort zone or right of way with a huge ship bearing down upon you. What they don't understand is in that comfort zone anything can happen. Your sails could lose the wind in the sails and the boat could stall. One big rule to keep in mind ( Any Thing Could Happen ) and more than likely not in your advantage.

RE-ADJUST YOUR COMFORT ZONE, ALWAYS TACK AWAY AND NEVER CROSS THEIR PATHS, KEEP CLEAR OF SHIPS!

Ted Gladden
1969 Columbia 26 Mark II

[EmeraldCoastSailor]

Great post. I agree it doesn't much matter as the ship isn't going to stop on a dime. Gotta stay clear.

[mstrebe]

In bays and inland waterways, commercial freighters are usually traveling in demarcated restricted maneuvering channels where they always have the legal right of way. It's only outside of restricted maneuvering areas that sailboats have stand-on precedence. So it's generally not a question of giving way because size matters, but because you have to.


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[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by tbeargladd

Very important thread. Sailors need to re-adjust their comfort zones. Some think they have right of way because they are on a starboard tack and being under sail against a motoring boat they have right of way. Their is no comfort zone or right of way with a huge ship bearing down upon you. What they don't understand is in that comfort zone anything can happen. Your sails could lose the wind in the sails and the boat could stall. One big rule to keep in mind ( Any Thing Could Happen ) and more than likely not in your advantage.

RE-ADJUST YOUR COMFORT ZONE, ALWAYS TACK AWAY AND NEVER CROSS THEIR PATHS, KEEP CLEAR OF SHIPS!

Ted Gladden
1969 Columbia 26 Mark II

Tacking away is easy-peasy. Sometimes, gybeing away is difficult to effect in a timely fashion. Not that it shouldn't be done, --we're more maneuverable than they--, just that at zero dark thiry, it will not happen as fast as on a racing boat with full crew.

Ann

[TomLewis]

Having sailed SD bay and Mission bay, it's obvious these pleasure sailors are sailing on the beam reach. Its easy and the wind is ever present. It is also obvious that they don't understand the laws of big boats vs small boats. This never seemed to be a problem until Coronado built up its bayside where the old army barracks used to be. I believe Chula Vista also built up its bayside shore. I never saw that much traffic back in the 80s and 90s. I personally get as far away from these big boys as possible.

[captain58sailin]

Thank you captmikem, for articulating the point I have been trying to get across. I used to be in your situation, recently retired. You are much more eloquent than I will ever be.

[Blackwater]

I remember my introduction to container ships like it was yesterday. I was on my trusty 14 foot Oday sailing from Baltimore to Annapolis in a fog bank. Suddenly, I broke out of the fog bank just above the Bay bridge. I thought the loud Shsss noise was a container ship wake, but unfortunately, it was a container ship. I found myself in the middle of the lane with a rust red hull blanketing the sky. Nothing is more frighting than the bulb cutting through the water in front of it. Knowing he couldn't see me, I trimmed my sail started my kicker motor and held my breath. It seemed like the harder I sailed and motored the slower I got from the ships suction. As the bow of the ship passed I began to wonder what I was going to do once it sucked me under as if I had some kind of plan. About a quarter of the way down the side of the ship the dreaded suction began and as my little boat continued to sail at full speed and then zero when it robbed my wind, I came to a full stop with my little Ted Williams kicker screaming and my small boat began to travel backwards directly towards the side of this huge moving wall of steel. As I braced for the inevitable, suddenly, out of nowhere, the pressure underneath the ship changed and I was spit out like a watermelon seed. As I made distance between me and the ship I looked back and could barely see the wheel house. From that day forward I learned simply "Shipping lanes are well named and to be aware of them is not enough, you have to stay out of and away from them".

[wcrosby]

I was sailing just north of the Newport Bridge yesterday. There were races going on all over the place. On the radio, we heard a barge operator berating the sailors for "racing in the main channel". The Coast Guard came on and requested he maintain radio decorum. He came back on again and said that the CG was "stupid" for allowing racing in the main channel. They asked him if he needed assistance. When he went by us, the Tugboat said he was from Tampa. Looked like he had some kind of equipment for the subs that General Dynamics are now building at Quonset. Clearly, he had no idea what Newport was all about...

[Greenhand]

When a carrier reports that they are coming into San Diego, someone (usually Harbor Patrol, but I have heard it from other sources, including Navy) always responds "You might want to slow down, there are a lot of sailboats here who don't know the rules." That's the polite version, at least.

[TOT]

Simple logic to sail by ....

Steel is stronger than fibreglass so keep out of the way at all times.


SV TOT
Wayne 😃

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by captmikem

At six miles a ship is quite visible to a small boat, and people aboard them seem to think they are just as visible to the watch on the ship. They are not, they are nearly invisible.

If you are going to make an assumption, assume that ship on the horizon does not see you, and that she is going to maintain her course and speed. This will most likely turn out to be true.

Relax, enjoy the trip, altering course toward a ships stern is only going to add a few moments of time to your pleasurable voyage.

Mike, I assumed your comments were specifically about large ship's manoeuvrability in confined waters, but there is some ambiguity. What do you say about situations in open waters (assuming good vis, no complicating factors) - are you saying that pleasure boats should not stand on when the rules require them to?

[Cadence]

Anyone that wishes to stand by the book as being the privileged vessel, even in open water, verses a large ship is looking for trouble. Given the extent of visibility, maneuverability and radar
from both vessels a slight course change well in advance of the question of who is privileged or burdened would be prudent by anyone wishing to call themselves a yachtsman. And there are no ties.

[captain58sailin]

The only thing the rules require, is that you avoid a collision. It identifies the vessels which are stand on and give way, and what their given actions should be under particular circumstances. The rules were written by lawyers and the results of court cases and they always give themselves an out.