Was I in the wrong?

[mphy98]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

I believe you were in the right, but that said if the sheethead was bigger than you, you could be dead right!

 

[QC]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

One more pet peeve, many folks here refer to their engine as a motor. (I am guilty of this to sometimes). The fact is, a motor is an piece of electrical equipment (not fossil fuel driven), and engine is powered by fossil fuel i.e. gas, diesel, bio-diesel etc.

Also, not true, and I wish it was. I was taught a motor is driven and an engine drives, and that's not true either. But let's leave that to another thread.

 

[JoLin]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

<deleted>

 

[NYBo]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

However, you are NOT underway if you are drifting. Sorry, but that's plain wrong.

Nope. See Rule 3, section (h).
http://www.boats.com/reeds/jsp/rn_ch_1_l_a.jsp

 

[JoLin]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

Nope. See Rule 3, section (h).
http://www.boats.com/reeds/jsp/rn_ch_1_l_a.jsp

I deleted my response when I realized it was out of context to the original post. Sorry.

 

[Splat]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

I didn't feel like reading all the posts, but heres my opinion. At 1.5 miles out, there's while lot of water around. What was the sail boat doing in even the same vicinity as the other vessel. Regardless of if they were underway, undercommand, anchored, drifting, broke down or any other classification.

Bill

 

[cribber]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

I do my best to give enough room when we encounter sailboats out on our lakes. If you tack in front of me I'll do my best to avoid you but ya might get waked in the process. Nothing personal...

 

[rascal_rascal_99]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

My displaying two red vertical lights would serve to inform most boaters that I am a railroad crossing, and a black ball, an invitation to join my bowling league.

Oh boy, now we're going to have to also figure in the right of way for trains on the water. Just for the record though, if I see a train coming across the water I'm going to give it all the right of way he needs and more than enough space. Then again, if I see a train running across the water, that might possibly be the last time I ever visit that river or lake....

 

[Valv]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

Oh boy, now we're going to have to also figure in the right of way for trains on the water. Just for the record though, if I see a train coming across the water I'm going to give it all the right of way he needs and more than enough space. Then again, if I see a train running across the water, that might possibly be the last time I ever visit that river or lake....

If you see a train on the water you should immediately follow the next 3 steps:

1- Immediately cease the consumption of anything you are drinking
2- Immediately cease the usage (smoke, snort, etc) of any substance you are using
3- Surrender any of the 2 above to me so I can witness that you were actually seeing trains on water.

 

[LazyCruiser]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

What may be lost here are a few simple premises.
1. LOTS of open water, and few boats
2. Moving, but at a snail's pace, Drifting is very slow
3. Sailboats can be very fast and they make some radical turns kwikly

Put your head down for a few minutes and a sailboat that was going obliquely at one angle and far away can now be headed almost 180 degrees to his original course and much closer to you. This was the case.

Now we spend a lot of time in the open water, drifting, sunning, listening to music. And sometimes we even semi-snooze a little bit if we're waaay out & alone. And I'm willing to display black balls, red flags, or even fuzzy dice if it will be meaningful and correct.

But if we can't just sit back and chill a little bit without being in a cove with dozens of other boats, like in an RV park,,,,,,,,,well then that is going to take lots of fun out of our new pasttime.

IMHO - It is very hard to plan for a sailboats endless, varied tacks. They should know that they're all over the water, they should know that we cannot predict their moves, and they should be the one's being extra cautious.

And true, being right is no comfort if you're dead. I ride a motorcycle too, same rules apply there and I practice them.

Thanks everyone for so much to consider on this.......

 

[Ned L]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

Geez, a lot of people just aren't getting it here. It's not that the sailboat is 'allowed' to, or 'permitted' to continue on his course, and 'has the right of way'. ------ I'll try to make it more clear. The law says the sailboat is required to, has to, and musthold course and speed until such point that if he does not take evasive action there will be a collision. If the sailboat changes course earlier than that point to go around the power boat, and there is a collision, then he may be found at fault. Under the law he doesn't have a choice in the matter.

 

[LazyCruiser]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

All I can say if thats Lazycruiser in the pic I can see why they never saw the boat.

:redface: This one made me blush :redface:

Thanks, but if anything they were looking at my sister, Rachel - She's gorgeous

 

[1kruzer1]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

Geez, a lot of people just aren't getting it here. It's not that the sailboat is 'allowed' to, or 'permitted' to continue on his course, and 'has the right of way'. ------ I'll try to make it more clear. The law says the sailboat is required to, has to, and musthold course and speed until such point that if he does not take evasive action there will be a collision. If the sailboat changes course earlier than that point to go around the power boat, and there is a collision, then he may be found at fault. Under the law he doesn't have a choice in the matter.

But, at what point in navigation does this law apply? at 1000' range? 500'? 100'? The argument you make as to the letter of the law would seem to imply that as soon as a sailboat sights another vessel in or near its path, that the sailboat operator is required to maintain course until colision is immenent. In the extreme (and I know this is not what you are arguing), if I'm piloting a saiolboat and see a boat half a mile in front of me, I am not allowed to change course until colision is upon us? Makes no sense, and I suspect the law you are quoting is referring to navigation situations where both vessels are in limited navigation space, like a channel or buoyed navigation lane, and a colision course is deemed possible. In that situation, I suspect the sailboat is required to maintain course. What do you think?

 

[Ned L]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

I just realized that we really didn't have all the information we needed for this thread. I re-read all his posts and couldn't find if/where Lazycruiser indicated the direction the sailboat was comming from in relation to his powerboat. This clarification needs to be made. IF this was a crossing situation (sailboat coming in anywhere from 22.5? abaft the beam on one side, around the bow to 22.5? abaft the beam on the other side), then all my comments hold true. However,IF this was an overtaking situation (sailboat coming in from 22.5? abaft the beam on one side, aft around the transom, to 22.5? abaft the beam on hte other side), then this whole situation is different and you were correct (required to hold course & speed), and the sailboat was in the wrong, and was obligated to yield to you.
Most importantly, don't get discouraged, some basic understanding will get you through most of the situations you come across, and once you learn them & are comfortable it is easy to relax and have fun.

 

[Ned L]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

1Kruzer1 : Good question, and honestly I would need to do a bit of checking in order to make certain I am replying correctly regarding clear delineations of choices when it comes to distances. In open water it can be a judgement call to decide am I far enough away so as not to cause confussion for another boat if I were to change course and speed. You want your interaction with another vessel to be clear and predictable so that they are able to take planned action and not be confused by your actions.

 

[spikeitaudi]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

I'm just pooped on this thread. My eyes hurt.

 

[25thmustang]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

I had a sailboat cut me off in a narrow river channel. They made a near 90 degree turn in front of me. I actually had to drop off plane, to idle and hit it into reverse... Then I got the evil eye. No idea what I did wrong but if you ask them I'm quite the jerk I bet.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

Do we care what the Canucks think?

BAWHAHAHA!

Geez, a lot of people just aren't getting it here. It's not that the sailboat is 'allowed' to, or 'permitted' to continue on his course, and 'has the right of way'. ------ I'll try to make it more clear. The law says the sailboat is required to, has to, and musthold course and speed until such point that if he does not take evasive action there will be a collision. If the sailboat changes course earlier than that point to go around the power boat, and there is a collision, then he may be found at fault. Under the law he doesn't have a choice in the matter.

You are just plain wrong.... You describe a case where one vessel crosses the path of another... In this case the sailboat chose to travel directly toward another vessel. Also the law says apparant not immenant.... At the very first second that it looked like the power boat might not be moving out of the way which should be within a few seconds of seeing them the sailboat captain should have adjusted course just slightly and missed the powerboat by several hundred feet

But, at what point in navigation does this law apply? at 1000' range? 500'? 100'? The argument you make as to the letter of the law would seem to imply that as soon as a sailboat sights another vessel in or near its path, that the sailboat operator is required to maintain course until colision is immenent. In the extreme (and I know this is not what you are arguing), if I'm piloting a saiolboat and see a boat half a mile in front of me, I am not allowed to change course until colision is upon us? Makes no sense, and I suspect the law you are quoting is referring to navigation situations where both vessels are in limited navigation space, like a channel or buoyed navigation lane, and a colision course is deemed possible. In that situation, I suspect the sailboat is required to maintain course. What do you think?

Right on

 

[QC]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

COLREGS Demarcation Lines

Have we decided to blow this issue off?

And what about that 12 Meter exemption deal? Seems relevant . . .

 

[LazyCruiser]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

Let me try to define the "angle of attack"

If our bow was 12 o'clock, the sailboat came in at about 4 o'clock - not quite broadside. It then passed very closely by the bow, surely no more than 12-15 feet away from us.

One thing to offer about his maneuvering: the boat was really leaning, tipped far over on its side w/about 4 or 5 ppl on the opposite side seemingly trying to counter-balance the list.

So, do I need to get 2 black balls or is it some other signal for drifting & not "under command"?