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Old 11-02-2021, 09:14   #1
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Yet another COLREGS situation

I have joined in the discussion of the 2 most recent threads on this subject, but would like some input on another situation that recently happened to me.

Facts:

Channel Islands Harbor in California has a "T" shaped harbor mouth. You can only exit from the harbor to the north or south because there is a breakwater across the mouth of the harbor.

There are currently dredging operations going on with some sort of large discharge outlet occupying the north entrance to the harbor. Some traffic can/does go through but most traffic is currently using the south entrance to avoid the discharge apparatus.

There are piled rock jetty's on each side of the harbor leading toward the breakwater which limit visibility for smaller craft to the right/left as they leave the harbor.



Situation:

I'm a new sailor taking lessons in a Catalina 22. We were motoring with the main up toward the harbor exit with plans on taking the south exit as usual. I had an overtaking sailboat behind, also motoring with the main up. The tide was out making the channel narrower than at any other water level so I was staying toward the center of the channel for both keel clearance and to avoid the discharge thingy to my starboard that was noisily spraying water.

A non commercial motor vessel, approx 1/8 mile outside the harbor, was approaching the harbor entrance at a fairly fast speed. I estimate maybe 15 knots or so but I'm not positive of that, just that it was a lot faster than I was going. He was to my port side. His boat was between 30 and 40 feet long.


What happened:

The motor vessel to my port passed across my bow, went between me and the breakwater then turned to pass between me and the discharge unit, and then threaded the needle between me and the overtaking sailboat behind.

I enjoyed the thrill ride of his wake as we bounced through it.


Analysis:

This turned out to be a "2 motor vessels crossing" situation but should have been a "2 vessels approaching head on" situation. I was to his starboard and was, under the rules for either situation, the stand on vessel. Giving way would have required that I either turn to starboard, potentially cutting off the overtaking sailboat behind me and/or grounding on the side of the channel or hitting the discharge thingy. Turning to port, into the crossing motor vessel would have potentially resulted in a head on collision.

My status as a motor vessel would have been unable to have been determined by the power boat early on because of the jetty blocking his view. However my main was up and that was above the height of the jetty and should have been visible to the power boat as I approached the harbor mouth. The sailboat behind me was also motoring with his main up and that boat was at least 30 feet or so long with a taller mast. Both of our sails should have been visible over the top of the jetty. Our propulsion status from his point of view would at that time have been either sail powered or undetermined.

There was sufficient depth and room for the powerboat to pass on my port side as he entered the harbor. It might have been tight, but I'm absolutely positive he could have done it with several feet to spare between his boat and mine. We were, at minimum, 30 - 40 feet away from the jetty on his side. I would like to say there was 40 - 50 feet between us and the jetty but can't be sure of that after the fact. The jetty slope is fairly steep and there would be 3 - 4 feet of clear depth as close as 10 feet away even at low tide.

All I could do at the moment the power boat decided to cross my bow was stand on until I had enough room to steer to port and pass behind his stern. I have no idea if the sailboat behind me said unkind words out loud or not.


The dilemma and need for advice:

I'm not really concerned about who was right, and who was wrong, I was the stand-on vessel and doing my part under the rules although I only know this after reflection - I did not know this at the moment. Yet I keep thinking about it and wondering if I did the right thing. As a noob I don't have the automatic reaction speed to act quickly when things get crazy. What actually happened was that I froze for about a minute, and then turned to port after he was out of my way.

Which now raises the dilemma; can I trust that other mariners will act according to the COLREGS or is it total anarchy out there? And, if it's anarchy, then is the only real purpose of the COLREGS nothing more than a device used to assign blame after the fact?
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Old 11-02-2021, 11:40   #2
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Re: Yet another COLREGS situation

You cannot trust that ALL other mariners will act according to the COLREGS, but that does not mean that it is TOTAL anarchy.

Professional mariners know the rules and almost always follow them. It is the non-professionals that you can never be quite sure about. Some of them have absolutely no clue about the rules. Others know them well. Most are probably somewhere in between.

Knowing the rules and following them is the best approach. But the reality is that you must always be prepared for the possibility that the other guy does NOT know the rules.
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Old 11-02-2021, 12:33   #3
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Re: Yet another COLREGS situation

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob_P View Post
can I trust that other mariners will act according to the COLREGS or is it total anarchy out there? And, if it's anarchy, then is the only real purpose of the COLREGS nothing more than a device used to assign blame after the fact?
Your description is confusing. North and South is irrelevant. Sails up is irrelevant, you were all motor vessels in this scenario. The tide and the dredging is irrelevant.

It sounds as though you had an oncoming vessel decide to cross your path and pass Stbd to Stb. While it is usually more common for oncoming vessels to pass Port to Port in a channel (in the US at least) there isn't a rule against passing Stbb to Stbd to my knowledge. I assume the other vessel overtaking, was probably overtaking on your port. That might have forced the oncoming vessel to choose a Stbd to Stbd pass.

That would have made you the stand-on vessel. If you took no action, you did the right thing.
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Old 11-02-2021, 12:40   #4
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Re: Yet another COLREGS situation

What would have been nice is if the oncoming powerboat gave you 2 short horn blasts indicating he was passing on his Stbd. The overtaking vessel could have given you2 short horn blasts indicating he was passing on his Stbd.

Unfortunately horn blasts are more commonly met with a waving hand, or a middle finger.
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Old 11-02-2021, 15:36   #5
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Re: Yet another COLREGS situation

Quote:
But the reality is that you must always be prepared for the possibility that the other guy does NOT know the rules.
This is how I do it. If you expect them to not know the rules, you tend to give yourself lots more options. It helps when you are familiar with the widths and depths of the channels, sometimes there is depth outside the markers, and I have, whilst under sail, been forced by a big power yacht outside of a channel. You really cannot expect motor vessels to understand the sailing part of the factors: it's outside their experience, sometimes entirely so.

The guy who was overtaking you could have matched your speed, and got in line behind you till the motor vessel was past. That's not a huge harbour, it might have lost him 3 minutes to wait to pass you. It was well done of you to keep aware of what was going on behind you.

I think one thing that is hard is to know how early you leave standing on mode and move to collision avoidance mode. It is up to the judgment of the skipper, and subject to varying.

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Old 11-02-2021, 16:51   #6
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Re: Yet another COLREGS situation

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shrew View Post
Your description is confusing. North and South is irrelevant. Sails up is irrelevant, you were all motor vessels in this scenario. The tide and the dredging is irrelevant.

It sounds as though you had an oncoming vessel decide to cross your path and pass Stbd to Stb. While it is usually more common for oncoming vessels to pass Port to Port in a channel (in the US at least) there isn't a rule against passing Stbb to Stbd to my knowledge. I assume the other vessel overtaking, was probably overtaking on your port. That might have forced the oncoming vessel to choose a Stbd to Stbd pass.

That would have made you the stand-on vessel. If you took no action, you did the right thing.
I don't think it's confusing. I mentioned the limited directional choices because there are only 2 options to choose from and that means I didn't have any other places to go. I mentioned the dredging because that limited my options even more.

The sail being hoisted on both boats was included because that should have informed the power boat that the harbor had outbound traffic and potentially that traffic was under sail rather than power.

Low tide was stated because that means that the harbor channel is narrower than at high tide.


And, again, I'm not looking to point fingers. In my mind the guy was crazy to come flying into the harbor mouth knowing all that was going on regardless of who was stand on or not, but that's not the issue. The issue is as I stated; are the COLREGS just something to use to assign blame after the debris and bodies are cleared from the water or are they actually rules that we're supposed to know and follow?

My instructor informed me today that you don't have to have a license or pass a test to own and use a boat. Which means that a lot of people have no idea what the rules are and a few of them don't even care.

For me it was a lesson learned that it can get dicey really fast and it might not always turn out with no harm done. Plus I need to get better at assessing what's happening around me and do more to keep myself safe.

Maybe a big orange sticker plastered across the stern saying "CAUTION! Student Sailor at the helm!" might be a good idea.
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Old 11-02-2021, 18:01   #7
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Re: Yet another COLREGS situation

How fast were you going? How fast was the overtaking sailboat going? It is unwise to overtake in the congested environs of a harbor entrance. Based on your description the sailboat overtaking was foolish to do so and part of the problem.


Rule 14 applies with the inbound power boat: "When two power-driven vessels are meeting on reciprocal or nearly reciprocal courses so as to involve risk of collision each shall alter her course to starboard so that each shall pass on the port side of the other."


If you were proceeding at an uncommonly slow speed compared to typical departures from the harbor, that may have contributed to the situation. When entering or leaving a harbor, I try to choose a speed that is slow enough for safety, slow enough to remain in compliance with posted speed limits or harbor regulations, high enough to maintain good control, and high enough as not to encourage other vessels to overtake. I do not, in situations like that, encourage overtaking by proactively making room or by waving vessels past etc.


You state that the incoming power boat was entering the harbor at 15 knots which would have meant they were up on plane. Ordinarily harbor entrances are no-wake areas and such a speed would be inappropriate.
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Old 11-02-2021, 18:01   #8
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Re: Yet another COLREGS situation

And, again, I'm not looking to point fingers. In my mind the guy was crazy to come flying into the harbor mouth knowing all that was going on regardless of who was stand on or not, but that's not the issue. The issue is as I stated; are the COLREGS just something to use to assign blame after the debris and bodies are cleared from the water or are they actually rules that we're supposed to know and follow?

.[/QUOTE]

Trying to describe a real life situation clearly without a picture is very difficult. Or Unfortunately to difficult for me to figure out without a picture.

You might be a bit frustrated with it all.

The rules are supposed to be a guide to help you make sense of the actions. Of other vessels.
The rules also provide the other vessels with a guide to the actions your vessel will take.

Theoretically everything goes smoothly and everyone is happy.

Reality sometimes doesn’t work quite so well.
Even so the rules give you guidance on how to respond when other don’t respond as the rules intend.

Once the lawyers get involved it’s already to late, there just going to get well paid to argue about what already happened.

Once you become familiar with the rules it starts to make sense,
A rough working knowledge is all you need to get by.
Along with a little bit of common sense.

Common sense is not very common.

Rules are there to guide the wise. Rules are adhered to by fools.
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Old 11-02-2021, 18:21   #9
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Re: Yet another COLREGS situation

As we all know, high speeds in close quarters always complicates the circumstances at hand, this is very typical of power boat operators, the lack of general seamanship and normal courtesies that would be afforded another vessel in the circumstances you have described happens all to often.

Fair winds,
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Old 12-02-2021, 03:27   #10
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Re: Yet another COLREGS situation

Quote:
Originally Posted by Uricanejack View Post
And, again, I'm not looking to point fingers. In my mind the guy was crazy to come flying into the harbor mouth knowing all that was going on regardless of who was stand on or not, but that's not the issue. The issue is as I stated; are the COLREGS just something to use to assign blame after the debris and bodies are cleared from the water or are they actually rules that we're supposed to know and follow?
COLREGS are NOT "just something to use... ". If observed they prevent collisions in the first place. They are actually rules that we should all know and follow in order to be safe at sea.

In this case, especially Rule 6 and Rule 2 which the "guy" failed to follow.

Unfortuantely not everyone knows or observes the rules and they frequently cause problems for those who do. As long as we follow the rules, we may get in some frustrating situations and have to take rapid actions where the other vessel is controlled by an ignoramus, but we WILL generally avoid collisions - which is the purpose of the rules.

FWIW, in my experience I see MUCH more bad behaviour and ignorance of the rules amongst sports fishers and leisure power boats than amongst leisure sailors. This thread just illustrates this all too common problem.
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Old 12-02-2021, 09:34   #11
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Re: Yet another COLREGS situation

COLREGS means collision regulations, not "good manners"

I always assume the other guy doesn't have a clue and will give way in any uncertain situations.

I also am a firm believer in "size matters" and stay out of the way of "big guys" no matter who has ROW.

The most important regulation is Rule 5 "Lookout". Radar and AIS are great aids, but nothing beats a sharp lookout.

One of my favorite regulations is regarding responsibility for one's wake. While tied to the cement side of the small commercial harbor in St. Nazaire, France, an ocean-going tug decided to do some training maneuvers and caused a wake in the small basin that was .5-1 meter high. I had six fenders on the shore side, but due to the extreme pitching from the tug's wake, one of my 15mm docklines snapped, bent the well-attached cleat, bent my heavy duty anchor roller and caused deep scratches in my hull from the anchor.

My Dutch insurer was unable to get any response from the Spanish tugboat company, the Captainerie of St. Nazaire said I was moored at my own risk, but regardless, the tugboat was responsible for the damage caused by their own wake.

The tugboat was registered with MarineTraffic.com and a court could have accessed the track of Beluga that day and shown the excessive speed and erratic behavior of their maneuver.

Happily, my Dutch insurer paid for the repairs and replacement of damaged parts and didn't charge a deductible.
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Old 12-02-2021, 09:39   #12
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Re: Yet another COLREGS situation

in my view this isn't a COLREGS or rules of the road situation, what it is is a common courtesy situation.
Power boaters know how big their wakes are, unfortunately many don't care and others purposefully pass close to sailboats without regard for the damage they may cause.
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Old 12-02-2021, 09:41   #13
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Re: Yet another COLREGS situation

Sounds to me like the incoming vessel was traveling too fast.

Overtaking at that location of the T junction especially when the north side was impaired by the dredge is ill advised and where the jetties impair visibility of small craft, i.e. vessels with low air draft, such as without mast and sails. Just go as slow as the slowest boat ahead of you, geez, it is only a short distance to get to open water outside that harbor. And do not encourage boats behind you to attempt an overtaking, tell them to back the F' off.

There is nothing wrong with just stopping to avoid collision.

—INTERNATIONAL—
Steering and Sailing Rules
RULE 6
Safe Speed
Every vessel shall at all times proceed at a safe speed so that she can
take proper and effective action to avoid collision and be stopped within a
distance appropriate to the prevailing circumstances and conditions.


In determining a safe speed the following factors shall be among those
taken into account:
(a) By all vessels:
(i) the state of visibility;
(ii) the traffic density including concentrations of fishing vessels or any
other vessels;
(iii) the maneuverability of the vessel with special reference to stopping
distance and turning ability in the prevailing conditions;
(iv) at night, the presence of background light such as from shore lights
or from back scatter of her own lights;
(v) the state of wind, sea and current, and the proximity of navigational
hazards;
(vi) the draft in relation to the available depth of water.
(b) Additionally, by vessels with operational radar:
(i) the characteristics, efficiency and limitations of the radar equipment;
(ii) any constraints imposed by the radar range scale in use;
(iii) the effect on radar detection of the sea state, weather and other
sources of interference;
(iv) the possibility that small vessels, ice and other floating objects may
not be detected by radar at an adequate range;
(v) the number, location and movement of vessels detected by radar;
(vi) the more exact assessment of the visibility that may be possible
when radar is used to determine the range of vessels or other objects
in the vicinity.

—INTERNATIONAL—
Steering and Sailing Rules
RULE 8
Action to Avoid Collision
(a) Any action taken to avoid collision shall be taken in accordance with
the Rules of this Part and shall, if the circumstances of the case admit, be
positive, made in ample time and with due regard to the observance of good
seamanship.
(b) Any alteration of course and/or speed to avoid collision shall, if the
circumstances of the case admit, be large enough to be readily apparent to
another vessel observing visually or by radar; a succession of small
alterations of course and/or speed should be avoided.
(c) If there is sufficient sea room, alteration of course alone may be the
most effective action to avoid a close-quarters situation provided that it is
made in good time, is substantial and does not result in another closequarters situation.
(d) Action taken to avoid collision with another vessel shall be such as to
result in passing at a safe distance. The effectiveness of the action shall be
carefully checked until the other vessel is finally past and clear.
(e) If necessary to avoid collision or allow more time to assess the
situation, a vessel shall slacken her speed or take all way off by stopping or
reversing her means of propulsion.

(f)
(i) A vessel which, by any of these rules, is required not to impede the
passage or safe passage of another vessel shall, when required by the
circumstances of the case, take early action to allow sufficient sea
room for the safe passage of the other vessel.
(ii) A vessel required not to impede the passage or safe passage of
another vessel is not relieved of this obligation if approaching the other
vessel so as to involve risk of collision and shall, when taking action,
have full regard to the action which may be required by the rules of this
part.
(iii) A vessel, the passage of which is not to be impeded remains fully
obliged to comply with the rules of this part when the two vessels are
approaching one another so as to involve risk of collision
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Old 12-02-2021, 09:42   #14
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Re: Yet another COLREGS situation

Normally, I am against nanny state regulations and excessive licensing requirements, but too many people buy high-powered vessels and don't know much more about boating than where to put the key.

So many times, I have seen large sportfishermen or other overpowered vessels leaving the entrance of the harbor where the speed limit is 5 mph and then put the hammer down once outside the harbor entrance with no regard to small boats on the edge of or just outside the channel.

No regard for their wake, no clue about much of anything else.
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Old 12-02-2021, 09:44   #15
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Re: Yet another COLREGS situation

I have often considered carrying a loaded paintball gun and decorating boats being operated by clowns.
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