When I was in St. John's
Newfoundland a few months ago, I met a sailor who had just sailed to
Newfoundland from
New England on his own
boat with his daughter, wife, and another. He told us he had literally run into a bouy like this ("T-boned it") a few miles
offshore on his approach to Newfoundland. He was not watching forward at the time, obviously. He told us his boat hit with a loud bang and jolt.
Later, I was on a boat that sailed past the same buoy, which was bright yellow and similar to what is shown here.
I am
posting this comment simply to state my belief that it is always a good idea to have enough crew on passages to have a crew person on
deck, watching forward and scanning the horizon, as there may be things in the
water that are not on the chart, or
chartplotter screen. While the chances may be small that it will happen to you, it DOES happen to some, and as this example shows, even to very experienced sailors.