Next message: Rino van Dam: "Re: Avoiding collision."
George,
I think you're being overly rude to our large ship brethren here
(perhaps, in your way, to stir discussion).
First, we all know the custom is that small craft give way, and that
usually pleasure craft defer to commercial craft. I would hardly call
this custom of the sea "bullying." Yes, the Royal Navy, who wrote the
regs, more or less, and enforces them on occasion, more or less, will
adhere to them. And captains of government-owned ferries. In the case
of the Navy vessel, they also will have a team of at least 5 or 10
people, perhaps many more, keeping track of every vessel in sight; that
might not be possible on a merchant vessel in especially crowded
waters. But there can be differences between regulations imposed from
above and those observed in real life, and I think, in this instance,
the customs observed in real life are based on sound physical
principles, such as you can't turn a large vessel very far very fast.
It probably is good to leave the regulations the way they are and the
customs the way they are. And small-boat sailors will always complain
about the bullies, and officers on large vessels complain about the
lice infesting the waters. But only in the privacy of their own
cockpits or bridges, not when they meet ashore in the pub or the Nav-L
list!
Second, I don't believe Doug Royer was referring to _predicted_
positions of vessels but rather to comparisons of _current_ positions
obtained by sextant and by gps. Yes, if one is advancing a series of
sights, then there might be an incentive not to change course, but Doug
gave no indication of that. Also, a prudent master would stop such
diversions before the ship entered coastal waters. Yes, an imprudent
master might not, but then he probably would be imprudent in other
matters also.
Fred
On Tuesday, Oct 7, 2003, at 11:14 US/Eastern, George Huxtable wrote:
> Doug Royer said recently, in another thread-
>
>> I had the opportunity to use both of these types of Russian(I should
>> say
>> Soviet)sextants.One was owned by a Polish ABS I served with and he
>> consistantly got outstanding LOPs useing his.He won an $1800.00 pool
>> on one
>> transit when his final position was less than 0.2nm from the ships
>> GPS pos.
>> when the evolution was stopped by the master.
>
> My, that is encouraging! To think that the art of celestial nav is
> still
> sufficiently alive-and-well on the brige of American merchant vessels,
> to
> the extent of that much hard cash riding on the accuracy of
> observations
> and predictions.
>
> Somehow, it brings to mind another topic which doesn't seem to feature
> much
> on this list, that of avoiding collision.
>
> My own cruising area is mostly the waters of the English Channel,
> frequented by many pleasure craft but also the busiest passage in the
> World
> for the through transit of ships.
>
> Some parts of the through passage are split into traffic schemes where
> special rules apply: I am not considering those areas, but other parts
> of
> the Channel, where it is in no way a "narrow channel", and in which
> vessel
> are not constrained by their draught.
>
> In such circumstances we are all aware that the Colregs give
> right-of-way
> to a sailing vessel (which as the stand-on vessel is expected to
> maintain
> her course and speed) over any power vessel (which is expected to give
> way). We are all equally aware that no such thing will happen, and that
> instead the rule "Small vessels give way to large ones" will be
> applied.
>
> To give credit where it's due, there are a few exceptions. Naval
> vessels,
> I've found, can be relied on to keep clear where the rules say they
> should.
> In general, the many passenger ferries will usually do the same
> (perhaps
> because there are so many witnesses on board). But as a general rule,
> merchant vessels, from coasters to supertankers, won't divert from
> their
> path by the slightest smidgeon. Might is right. The colregs are
> considered
> irrelevant. Nobody on the bridge will even consider changing course by
> 5 or
> 10 degrees for a few minutes, to avoid a small craft.
>
> We are forced to give in to this bullying, of course. Nobody could
> survive
> sailing English Channel waters for 40 years, as I have, by sticking to
> his
> rights. I imagine it's the same everywhere, but it would be
> interesting to
> learn if others on the list have the same experience. As far as
> interactions between large vessels and small ones is concerned, the
> colregs
> are a dead-letter.
>
> But now Doug's revelation, above, adds something to the picture.
> Imagine
> the scene on the bridge, when everyone knows that there's $1800 riding
> on
> exactly where the ship will be, within a small fraction of a mile, at
> the
> moment the master gives the word. Which one among them is going to be
> brave
> enough to order a course change to avoid me in my pesky little sailing
> craft, a few miles ahead on the port bow?
>
> George.
>
>
>
>
> ================================================================
> contact George Huxtable by email at , by
> phone at
> 01865 820222 (from outside UK, +44 1865 820222), or by mail at 1 Sandy
> Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5HX, UK.
> ================================================================
>
>
