Freighters are the Big Boys and They Can Smash You Up

Correction: I said below that the sailboat was not found to be at fault. That has not been decided yet. The decision reported here was made by the Washington State Department of Transportation. They looked only at what their ferry captain and crew did. The Coast Guard will look at both boats' actions, and probably assign fault to both, since the sailor acknowledged paying too much attention to his radar at the time.

Some time ago I put up a short-term entry about how I was booted off of Cruisers and Sailing Forum because I said things others didn’t agree with. Those other posters got rude and snarky,

Over and over since then it’s turned out that the things I said that were sneered at – turned out to be true.

When the incident linked a little below (second link), that of a Washington State Ferry sinking a sailboat, was first reported, I suggested that the ferry captain might be at fault. Well, there are several professional ship’s captains on that forum, all of whom took my comment personally. I was told what excellent watches all commercial ships always keep.

Well, maybe not, because then there’s the example below. I could be wrong, but I don’t believe this particular freighter kept an adequate watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-RIM...e_gdata_player

(I hope there were no live-aboards in that marina, and no pets aboard ...)

Then I had the temerity to say that no matter what the COLREGS say, sailboats would be smart to steer clear of big freighters and cruise ships. Then EVERYONE got in an uproar. It was yet another deliberately provoking poke at commercial captains (in their view), and it gave horrible advice to sailors (in their view). Nothing but chaos would follow (in their view).

Well, now the Washington ferry/sailboat collision has been investigated, and the ferry captain and crew have been found to be at fault. They must all go through retraining on keeping a good watch. I didn't see any mention of attributing any blame to the sailboat, which almost always happens -- almost always, both boats are found to be at fault to one degree or another.

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/News/2013/11/Hyak_111313.htm

The powers that be on The Forum seemed to think I said the things I said in order to be confrontational, but the truth is that we are all responsible for our responses to what we perceive as provocations. We’re also responsible for our perceptions.

Your common sense, and that still small voice in the pit of your stomach hollering “Don’t do that!!!” are your FRIENDS. Meanwhile, strangers can give you really bad advice for all sorts of reasons. The more invested they are in being "the one who is right," the further they may go and the harder they may work to convince you that their misinformation is the best sailing advice you'll ever be given.

As for the sailor in the Washington collision, thankfully, he survived. He also apparently had the right of way, but his boat is at the bottom of the channel, and he didn’t have to survive that collision. He was very lucky.

Here’s a video of a collision I’ve put up before, one where the sailboat was at fault. I’m going to point out something I didn’t mention the last time I put this video up: pay close attention to the sails on the sailboat (it has a shocking pink spinnaker). You’ll see that they lose their shape. In all likelihood, that sailboat slowed down as it crossed the freighter’s path. Maybe the freighter blocked the wind, but an experienced racer would have spotted that coming. More likely, the freighter distorted wind flow in some way the helmsman on the sailboat didn’t anticipate. (This can happen under bridges, also.) Either way, the result was devastating for the sailboat. You can hear three of the five warning horn blasts the freighter gave:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tUoUxzt9sI

Give way to freighters. Just stay out of their way. Do it early, and make it as obvious as possible (in other words, make a big turn, not a small course correction). They move fast, and you’ll soon be on your intended course again.

Whether the stone hits the pitcher or the pitcher hits the stone, it’s going to be bad for the pitcher. Don’t play “chicken” with freighters.

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Learning the "Rules of the Road"

 

     Or, "A collision at sea can ruin your entire day.”

In a great practical joke aboard the USS Buck, that fictive quote appeared
 on a bulletin board, attributed to Thucydides, a writer from ancient Greece!

 I’ve kind of been avoiding this topic because it’s so complex, but newer sailors need to know what the rules are, where they came from and how they apply to them. I’ve found a great website that does an excellent job of explaining what these rules mean, and that’s what you need. Many of us read a law and think we know what it means when we don’t. Maritime rules are complex, and one rule affects another, and one has more prominence in one situation than another, so understanding what the rules mean can be tricky.

For instance, although you’ll hear “right of way” – as in, “I had the right of way!” all the time, that’s a driving concept that doesn’t work on water. On the water, instead of “right of way” you have the “stand on” vessel and the “give way” vessel. The “stand on” vessel is expected to hold its course, while the “give way” boat has to take certain actions specifically to avoid a collision.

All of these rules are designed to avoid collisions. But since there are no highways on the water, no lane markings, no traffic lights – and because boats don’t have brakes – it gets complicated.

The formal name of these rules is “The 1972 International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea," but mercifully that's been  reduced to “COLREGS.” The COLREGS cover virtually any situation you could face while sailing in the vicinity of other boats, but they are complicated, and written in legal style, which unfortunately means they are easily misinterpreted when people without a legal background read them.

Enter the “Handbook of the Nautical Rules of the Road,” which answers all the questions and translates the “leagalease” into everyday language that non-lawyers can understand and use to be a better and safer sailor. Written by Chris Llana and George Wisneskey, this book is online – for free – at this website:

http://navruleshandbook.com/index.html

For instance, there’s Rule 5, on keeping a lookout. Here’s what the rule says:

“International : Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper lookout by sight and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision.” (Sometimes the rules change slightly for inland sailing, but this book explains that too.)

What does that really mean to a sailor? In the online book I'm recommending, that one paragraph is followed by an extensive but very clear explanation of the practical meaning of the rule. By “extensive,” I mean just under 2,400 words just explaining what it means to be a "lookout."

Is that too much for you? Too bad – really. You’ve chosen to sail, and you need to know the rules. Llana and Wisneskey make it an easy read. That’s the good news. Mind you, the 2,400 words I just described only apply in open water. If the other vessel is a freighter in a narrow channel, such as we see in Tampa Bay, well .. that’s a different rule. But no worries, this book explains that, too. This book explains it all. For free!

The bad news is that there are seven rules just in that section of the COLREGS. But really – this book is so well written that you will know exactly what is expected from you.

It will take a while to read it all, and absorb it all, and I suggest you read this book twice. The first time is right now. Then after you’ve been sailing for another six months or so, read it again, and you’ll realize “Oh yeah, there was that time …” and you’ll begin to see how the COLREGS apply to your day-to-day sailing.

A word of caution, though: the word “COLREGS” brings a state of mind in some people that could quite fairly be labeled “obnoxious.” There are a good number of sailors out there who have read the COLREGS, are certain they know what they mean, and will not hesitate to give you a very hard time if you don’t agree with them. You know how your mother told you not to talk about religion, politics, or your personal finances at a party? I would add to that, don’t try to discuss COLREGS with another sailor unless you know him or her well. 

Self-appointed experts are everywhere, and they can be quite aggressive about pushing their point of view. In my most recent experience with this, several people tried to set me straight. As it turned out, they were wrong, because they didn't understand the nuances hidden in the rules. These self-appointed experts are often wrong and they will do you no good service. Be polite, nod your head, say something neutral and change the subject. Knowing and understanding COLREGS is important – important enough that you should find out for yourself.

One more thing about that “right of way” phrase: if the worst should happen and you are in a collision with another boat on the water, you will find that a maritime judge will give some measure of blame to both parties (even if it's 99% blame to one party and 1% to the other), because the overriding rule, the one that is the basis for all the others, is “Do everything possible to avoid a collision.” While the COLREGS don’t specifically state that you should, for instance, deliberately run your boat aground to avoid a collision, it might be the best choice at that moment.

You have to read these rules, digest them, get some experience and come back to them, then get more experience and come back to them again. But don’t just read the rules. Read the very clear explanations in Llana and Wisneskey’s book. There are other books out there, but this one is very good – and the price is right!

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IT'S A BIRD … IT’S A PLANE … IT’S A … FREIGHTER???

     Or, DANG – those things move fast! 

_______

May 2, 2013

     A loaded supertanker traveling at normal speeds takes 20 min. to stop.

Unless you sail only on smaller inland lakes, sooner or later you’re going to have to deal with narrow shipping channels. Shipping channels are dredged out to be deep enough to let freighters and cruise ships travel from port out to sea, or through the Great Lakes, or up and down major rivers, without risk of running aground. We have an important shipping channel in and outside of Tampa Bay.

You may not have yet taken a boating safety course. If you haven’t, you may not know it, but these very big ships always have the right of way in those channels. You, as the smaller boat, cross those shipping channels (and you do cross them, not use them) at your peril.

There may be a shipping channel near to where you typically sail. If so, you have probably seen large freighters, or perhaps cruise ships, from a distance. Here’s what you need to know about them:

They move very, very, fast, and

They stop very, very slowly.

As the quote above says above, it can take a freighter 20 minutes to come to a full stop. What’s more, if you’re close to them, they cannot see you. Even if they could, they couldn’t do anything to avoid you. They can’t leave that channel. If they hit you, they will not be considered at fault.

Many sailors have heard that boats under sail have the right of way, and that motorized vessels must give way. Up to a point, that’s true, but that rule is true because of the bigger rule – right of way is determined by how maneuverable each boat is – not how it is powered. Generally speaking, a sailboat is less maneuverable than a powerboat of comparable size. But freighters and cruise ships aren’t very maneuverable at all when they’re in a shipping channel.

I photographed this freighter as it was moving toward the Skyway Bridge and the Port of Tampa. As I approached the shipping channel, I could see it off in the distance. I did not use any zoom on this photo. Very rapidly, this freighter was not far from me at all. If I hadn’t been paying attention, I could have ended up in the shipping channel with a huge ship steaming down on me, unable to stop. Either I would get out of the way, or it would crunch me and my boat into little bitty pieces.

Any time you are anywhere near a shipping channel, scan early and often for those big babies. Shipping channels use the same markers as the channels used by pleasure craft (in other words, us), so they’re easy to spot. You do the same thing you do to make sure you’re in your channel: you spot two red or two green, and line them up. That will show you where the shipping channel is. It will also be clearly marked on your chart plotter.

As you approach the shipping channel, turn your engine on (make sure no lines are dragging in the water first). You can leave it in neutral, but if you should suddenly realize there’s a big ship near you, you can use that extra power to maneuver. Never try to beat a freighter or cruise ship: that’s like trying to beat a train at a railroad crossing. It’s just not worth it. Tack, or gybe, or use your engine, and just get out of the way until that ship has passed. And take a good look at how fast it’s really traveling.