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Rick is very correct on his observations and I have personally seen further
changes in the navigating habits of even the commercial skippers.
While I know that these days the commercial fishing business is extremely
hard to make any money in, and obviously the skippers are trying every way
they can to keep costs down, it is quite un-nerving to realize that many
times the fishing boat coming towards you may not have a very alert person
at the helm. These guys are working by themselves and all hours of the day
so by the time they are running along the coast in transit they are very
tired. In the last two years I have personally seen 3 examples of commercial
skippers, operating by themselves, obviously setting the autopilot on a
waypoint and falling asleep. The result in all 3 cases was the vessel
running aground at the lighthouse (waypoint) they were heading for (good
autopilot) but thankfully without any injury, except to the skippers pride.
So much for the safety alarms as well !!
For this reason I give these guys a wide berth whenever possible, well in
advance, as you don't know for certain who is at the helm, maybe its just
"Otto".
The other observation is the pleasure boaters reaction -"damn you - get out
of my way 'cause I have had my autopilot on this course for the last hour so
move !!"
Know what ? I do because they usually are just as ignorant of all the other
maritime rules as well and I would sooner slide over a bit and not get too
close just in case!
John Tones, Sidney BC
MV Penta.
