Was I in the wrong?

[Ned L]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

Lazycruiser : I should have asked for more detail first off. The detail you gave (him approaching at 4:00 = approach at 30? aft of abeam) does completely change the situation. You have now described an overtaking situation (an approach from 22.5? or more aft of abeam), and in an overtaking situation, the vessel coming up from behind has to yield to the vessel it is overtaking (regardless whether it is a power boat or a sail boat). You did the correct thing and the sailboat was completely wrong. My apologies for carrying this topic in a direction that was not correct for your specific situation.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

Lazycruiser, you did NOTHING wrong.....none of the COLREGS stuff applies to small pleasure boats on inland waters..... It is for ships on the ocean and maybe the bays and inlets to the ocean. Your daylight signal requirements are the same for anchoring motoring or drifting..... At night you need a white light for anchoring and the usual red green white combo for drifting or motoring...... Also while it's completely off topic you might like to know that the speed limit in most places is 10 mph after dusk and before dawn

Sorry ned but you are still wrong this was not an overtaking or passing or meeting or crossing.... the power boat was not traffic but was an obstacle...... the power boat did not move into the path of an aproaching sailboat but rather the sailboat took on a course that put it too close to a stationary boat.....

It does not matter at all what angle the sailboat aproached from. The sailboat has preference in meetings where the two boats are travelling toward each other but in no circumstance does he have the right to chase stationary boats around.

I originally misread the post tho and I thought it was 12".... 12' is still too close but is maybe not the near miss we all thought but rather just a jerk at the wheel 'buzzing' the little power boat for fun

 

[Captain Caveman]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

Still too many opinions and details.

The sailboat captain was a jerk. If he could tell that LazyCruiser's soon-to-be-boat was drifting/anchored/not moving then he wasn't paying attention. If it took all that time until 12 feet away to change course, then he/she is a terrible captain.

This shouldn't even be a discussion. The only thing that I hope that LazyCruiser has learned is that there are lots of opinions, lots of ways to interpret situations on the water, and that there is a lot that all of us can learn from each other, both good and bad.

 

[Ned L]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

Accept the power boat was not anchored, in distress, or not under command, and therefore is considered 'underway'. A sailboat that is overtaking a power boat (or just about any type of vessel) that is underway (by definition, not by whether it is moving through the water or not) is to give way to the other vessel.

http://www.boat-ed.com/wa/course/p3-3_encounteringothers.htm
"Underway: Not anchored, tied to shore, or aground"

 

[Ned L]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

Yes, on checking, Lake Champlain falls under the Inland Rules for Navigation. The USCG has a site that compares the International rules (COLREGS) to the inland rules http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=Rule13 I have been able to find no difference on this point between the two sets of rules. The overtaking vessel is the burdened vessel (in this case the sail boat). If this had been a crossing situation the power boat would have been the burdened vessel regardless of the direction the sail boat was coming from.

I might suggest you check up on this. "none of the COLREGS stuff applies to small pleasure boats on inland waters..... It is for ships on the ocean and maybe the bays and inlets to the ocean".

 

[QC]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

The angle of the dangle is almost everything in the final analysis. The only area left for clarification for me is the application of day signals on Inland Waterways. In every other respect I agree with Ned's assessment now.

Again, I personally (and Modulationally) see these things as something we need to get right if this Forum is to be considered a source of good information . . .

 

[ajgraz]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

The only area left for clarification for me is the application of day signals on Inland Waterways.

Well as I linked earlier, Inland Rules DO require day signals (two balls, though on Inland rules the color black is NOT specifically stated); but as we both noticed, under 12 meter vessel is exempted...which seems dumb to me; why have a safety rule that the vast majority of boaters are allowed to completely ignore?

Anyway, that re-opens the question, how is the sailboat captain to know what "state" the exempted under 12-meter powerboat is in? (I'm assuming OP is under 12m; in any case, he had no day signals showing) The only assumption the sailboat could make based on the (lack of) signals is that the powerboat was underway. Of course, whether overtaking, crossing, whatever, 12' is too close.

My take-away learning from all this is that even though my boat is under 12 meters (hell, it's barely over 12 feet ) and legally exempt from the Inland Rules regarding day signals, I'm getting some black balls for when I drift fish. I'm dying of curiosity now to see if that keeps the sailboats from buzzing me.

 

[QC]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

Ahhh . . . forgot the 12M connection. Yup. I wouldn't hold my breath on anyone understanding the day signals other than the Coast Guard.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Was I in the wrong?

A couple of non-technical non-legal points:

Sailboats are designed to travel listing to one side (heeling) and the crew typically sits on the high (windward) side. So that part is OK. It's the same as a power boat on a plane.

His cutting that close by your bow is a good way to get his keel fouled by your anchor line. Then you all would have had a lot of time to discuss the legalities and technicalities.

The sailboat captain took a big risk if he intentionally cut close to you; fast-moving and heeling sailboats don't always travel "straight" like a level motorboat will; there is naturally slipping, and loss of some direction when you let off (slow down by releasing wind). An experienced captain who knows his boat compensates for this. If your captain was doing this on purpose he may not have had the experience and his little stunt could have been deadly. Like a water skiier spraying someone on a pier, and mis-judging. Ouch.

OTOH a big part of racing is to cut as close to a mark (the place you turn) as possible. So he may have been using your boat as a mark, consciously or subconsciously, and that's why he did that. Not an excuse, just an explanation. Like a recreational snow skiier cutting close to a tree or stake on a slope. i have often seen sailors head straight for a fixed object and turn at the last minute--it's a thrill thing. If it's a pier, no one else is at risk!

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

again this vessel was not "not under command" so the black balls would be incorrect. I STILL say that while in a crossing situation a sailboat has right of way the law specifically says to hold speed and course untill it becomes apparrant that the other boat is not yeilding. Even if the sailboat captain rightly considered the powerboat as under way, It would have been apparrant that it was not motoring out of the path of the sailboat MUCH MUCH sooner than the point that he had to come wiithin that distance.... again the OP was not in the wrong

 

[grego]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

I like simple! the sailboat captain misjudged his tack and "there must have been wind" SO!!!! the drifting boat must have overtaken him faster that he thought it would. I would like to say that, anyone sitting around, watching a boat "bear down on you" should, "DO SOMETHING"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[LazyCruiser]

Re: Was I in the wrong?

I like simple! the sailboat captain misjudged his tack and "there must have been wind" SO!!!! the drifting boat must have overtaken him faster that he thought it would. I would like to say that, anyone sitting around, watching a boat "bear down on you" should, "DO SOMETHING"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We did - we started grabbing life jackets!
Start to finish, over in less than 25 secs from awareness to near miss.....