Please delete

That boat you were in has to weigh at lease 10 or 12 thousand pounds and doesn’t seem to be altering the attitude of the sailboat very much.

I find most sail boaters take their right of way thing to an extreme that can be a bit unsafe in that they interpret it as something that means that they can do whatever they like and we’re supposed to get out of the way while they do it.

Glad you’re safe and I think you’ll settle down in time.

I boat in sail infested waters and no matter how hard I try to avoid them often still have a hard time staying clear.
 
Not going to look to good in that skipper’s log book. I find whenever I’m a passenger on another’s boat I’m as alert if not more than when I’m skippering my own boat. There can never be enough eyes on the water. I’m always amazed by most folks attitude that there is no care on the world and everything is under control. I seem to always be expecting the worse and pleasantly
suprised when all ends well. That’s the airplane pilot/ AP mechanic in me I guess.
 
Winch, thanks for sharing....It's rare you get a glimpse into the actual event. Far too often it's an image or meme with no context.

I studied that image carefully and actually reversed image searched it yesterday to see if I could learn more and verify the event. I wasn't 100% sure it was real since the sailboat wasn't listing at all...

The fact that you all had life vests made me think that was a responsible captains orders after the event and it wasn't that you all were wearing them during your whole trip.

Then, it was had to comprehend how an operator so responsible after the event missed visual avoidance with a SV under sail.

Perhaps you can shed some light. I'd also like to hear from the SV crew as to their reasoning for not avoiding the accident.

As I travel the bay waters, I know firsthand how busy certain areas can be and how alert you have to be.

Thankful no one was seriously hurt and the USCG response was quick.
 
[QUOTE="Boat Guy, post: 1008624, member: ]

I studied that image carefully and actually reversed image searched it yesterday to see if I could learn more and verify the event. I wasn't 100% sure it was real since the sailboat wasn't listing at all....[/QUOTE]

I had the same reaction. Googled the story to see if it really happened. The pic looks like it could be a photoshopped hoax. There is another pic online of the sailboat that shows a fair amount of damage to the side of the sailboat. They are lucky it ended as well as it did. Hard to believe no one was looking out the window.
 
Winch, thanks for the insight....

I did a little research and the SV was owned by a group called the Chesapeake Boating Club. While clearly the MV has some explaining to do, the fact that the SV was a club boat, I wonder what experience the operator had. Further, I wonder if the Jboat had a radio to hail and attempted hail. Also, since this was a club boat, it's possible it had GPS tracking that might show the course of the SV....It would be interesting to see if it had tacked or jibed back into the MV course.

In any event, I'm not pointing fingers. I'm trying to make sense of something that seems so illogical....

FYI - More that the pfd wearing, I would advise always scanning yourself. I seem to always being apart of the lookout even if I'm not the operator. One time I was on a fast SV Trimaran doing close to 24knts in 24knt winds....We were getting perilously close to a marker straight off our nose...I mentioned to the captain that he might want to alter course giving him just enough time to react and tack...He still mentions it to this day how I saved his boat from splitting in two (not to mention the potential injuries). Never hurts to have another set of eyes and opinions.
 
Looks like sail boat engine is running in that case it is not a sail boat and based on it is a Starboard hit it is the sail boats fault?
Hope CG picked up on that.
Lots of people out there that assume a boat has breaks and drives like a car.
 
28DF60A7-A095-40A5-B644-696EC5ADECB9.jpeg
77A2A3FC-76F6-45F7-9046-B2FA22797B88.jpeg
A few other pics from various articles and sites. Winch, its been stated that this was the charter boats maiden trip, did Capt mention that?
 
Glad all are safe.
Winch, I'm curious, while you were instructing all to don life jackets, sending out a Mayday and pumping the bilge, WHAT was the actual captain of the vessel doing all that time?
I know you said he was dazed, but it sounds like you did more to deal with the incident than he did. Just wondering.
 
If the sail boat was not running his motors at the time, then the charter captain was at fault. Not being a sailor, I don't understand why a vessel under sail would be running the motors at the same time. Perhaps there is some reason I don't know. If the sailing vessel was under power, then the charter captain had right of way. Either way, this could have been avoided easily by either captain.

Right of Way Rules
Whenever two boats try to occupy the same water at the same time, a right of way situation exists. When this happens, one boat is obligated to give way to the other. The boat that is supposed to give way is Called the give way vessel and the other one is called the stand on vessel The stand on vessel should keep to its course so the skipper of the give way vessel can get out of the way without collision. There are specific rules to use in determining which vessel is which.

Motor vs. Sail: A motor boat is any vessel using an engine regardless of whether it is a sailboat or a motorboat. A sailboat is considered to be a motorboat even if the sails are up as long as the engine is running. A sailboat that is sailing generally has the right of way over motorboats. But there are some exceptions.

  1. Large motor vessels are given the right of way in channels where it is difficult for them to maneuver. In the case of ships, the whole San Francisco Bay is considered to be channeled so that ships always have right of way in the Bay.
  2. In narrow channels such as Redwood Creek, motor vessels as small as 65 feet may be limited in maneuverability enough to make them the "stand on" vessel.
  3. Motor vessels that are restricted in maneuverability due to the special job they are doing are "stand on" This could be anything from towing nets to dredging, pile driving, or tending buoys.
  4. Motor vessels don't have to give way to sail boats that are motoring when the rules for motorboats give the motor vessel right of way. (When motoring, a sailboat is treated like any other motorboat.
  5. If a motor vessel is experiencing some kind of difficulty restricting its maneuverability, it is given right of way.
  6. If a sailboat is overtaking a power boat, the power boat has the right of way.
Passing - When any boat is passing another boat, the passing boat is tile give way boat and tile boat being passed is the stand on boat.
Head On - When two motor boats approach each other head on, both boats turn to the right and pass each other port to port.
Crossing - When motor boats paths cross, the boat on the other's right is stand on and the one on the other's left is the give way boat This is like two cars coming to a 4-way stop except that a give way boat would alter course to go behind the other boat
Sailboats When encountering sailboats that are sailing, motorboats generally should give way. If you are motoring in a sailboat, you should give way to sailboats that are sailing
 
If the sailing vessel was under power, then the charter captain had right of way
Im no blow-boater, but it the sails are up, wouldnt an approaching power boat have to assume its under sail, and treat it as under sail? Who had right of way AFTER the collision means little.
 
I see a lot of sail boats with their engine on. They call it motor sailing. Most sail boats still feel they are a sail boat with their engine on. If you look at the back of the sail boat you can see rippled water in the area on the port side and it streaks across to the starboard side. Darker area at the exhaust and white foam running past starboard.
Just looks to me like engine is on. Could be wrong. It would be CG call.
 
I dunno. I know if I'm driving down the road and approach a green light and see a car coming the other way and not stopping then I will take action to avoid a collision. I'm not going to say, 'well I have the right of way so I'll keep going'. Not pointing fingers here but all the talk about who has the right of way? My first thought is do whatever it takes to avoid it, regardless of who has the right of way.
 
I have been on the water for over 60 years with a power boat. I always and mean always
try and stay up wind of any sail boat. Figure it's safer there. So far so good.
 

Wow! Glad to hear that you are alright. I was at the marina yesterday and someone told me about this. I had no idea that you were on it.

You need to give me a call. I had an err...... interesting evening last night as well. My season is done.
 
I dunno. I know if I'm driving down the road and approach a green light and see a car coming the other way and not stopping then I will take action to avoid a collision. I'm not going to say, 'well I have the right of way so I'll keep going'. Not pointing fingers here but all the talk about who has the right of way? My first thought is do whatever it takes to avoid it, regardless of who has the right of way.
Correct!
It's clearly in the CG's rules that regardless of right of way as the captain you have the obligation to avoid a collision "in extremis'. It's also the captain's obligation to always have someone 'on watch'. Also running at 30 mph he should not have been even close to the sailboat. .

Thank god no one was in the cabin when the charter boat mounted the sailboat.
 

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