Slow down!

[JV II]

Well out of the harbor, between the harbor islands I was cruising at about 24 mph coming up on a slow moving 40' trawler and an oncoming 40' sailboat with plenty of room (100 yards) between them. This is not a speed regulated area. It is pretty open. In fact, the harbor islands fast ferry travels that route. So, I passed the trawler on the left. As I was passing, I note a woman on the sailboat waiving both arms up to down. Then I look to the right and see the captain of the trawler with his hands in the air. I'm thinking this is open water, if you don't like waves, go back to port. Both boats took my wake just fine. I actually slowed down 10 mph to pass, just to be polite. They wanted me to fall in line and run at no wake. Again, this was open water and a good 2 miles back to the no-wake zone in the harbor.

 

[Summer Fun II]

I would of told them to kiss my butt. :thumbsup:.
You were in open waters. So who are they to tell you to slow down ??.

 

[JV II]

I would of told them to kiss my butt. :thumbsup:.
You were in open waters. So who are they to tell you to slow down ??.

That's what I needed. I was hoping no ninny support for the slow boats.

 

[Summer Fun II]

If that happened out here ??. Someone might have gotten their a$$es kick. :smt001
I live out in cow / farm country and they don't take crap from anyone .
I see it all the time :smt101. The city slickers & sail boaters think they own the waters. :smt021

 

[Tonka Boater]

If it was open water why didn't you pass the trawler wide on his starboard side instead of between the sailboat and trawler?

 

[Turtlesboat]

it's customary to call the captain to ask them to throttle back to give them a slow pass. Rocking a boat with a 4' wake while underway with no warning pisses people off, especially trawlers and blow boats. cups fall over, dishes break, they could be taking a leak. Sure you can do it, but expect them to spit on your boat when you're at work.

 

[Henry Boyd]

I'd be careful using the Boston harbor ferries actions as a guideline for good conduct on the water. They are the most flagrant violators of the col regs around operating with a "get out of my way, or else" attitude. I've actually heard radio exchanges between the USCG and the Captain of Codzilla where the coasties actually threatened to yank his ticket if he wouldn't slow down.

The other thing to keep in mind is that a lack of speed regulation is not a free pass to overtake a slower moving vessel either too close, or with a large wake.

Something else to consider is whether one of the other boats was operating in a restricted manner. Between the islands there are a lot of stretches of open water, but in a lot of places most of it it is shallow - most of Dorchester Bay for example, is less than 8 feet at low tide. Trying to pilot a moderate sized sailboat with a 10 ft draft at low tide can be challenging enough without having to worry about being pushed around by a powerboat wake.

I'm not saying you necessarily did anything wrong, but it is possible there may have been extenuating reasons for the concern by the other boats over your action.

Henry

 

[Presentation]

.....40' trawler and an oncoming 40' sailboat with plenty of room (100 yards) between them.......

100 yards = 300’ between them, assuming you split the difference you had less than 150 between you and the sailboat and trawler in open water where you could have went around.

Mate, you may have been barely legal but you were boating very rude.

I think if you take some time and come at this with a fresh head after a bit you will come to the same conclusion.

For what it’s worth, I have made this error in the past. Its part of learning.

 

[Redhook98]

100 yards = 300’ between them, assuming you split the difference you had less than 150 between you and the sailboat and trawler in open water where you could have went around.

Mate, you may have been barely legal but you were boating very rude.

I think if you take some time and come at this with a fresh head after a bit you will come to the same conclusion.

For what it’s worth, I have made this error in the past. Its part of learning.

My thoughts as well. Plus if it was open water, why not give them a much larger berth???

 

[JV II]

If it was open water why didn't you pass the trawler wide on his starboard side instead of between the sailboat and trawler?

We were approaching an Island to the right. A heavy sport fisher was 2:00 to the trawler. If I passed on the right, I would have needed to pass too close to the trawler and then cut in front of him. Going to starboard of the Sport fisher would have had me too close to shore. There was much more room to port. We had a mile of water to port.

 

[Gofirstclass]

As you can see, several people think you passed too close when you went between them. If you had a mile of water to port why didn't you pass him on that side and give him wide berth?

I'm guessing at 10mph your boat was plowing water and you probably kicked up a much larger wake than if you'd slowed down just a bit more, dropped down to displacement speed, and took longer to go past the trawler.

That would have been a more polite thing to do. We're all out here sharing the same water. We need to learn to be courteous of everyone else out here.

 

[Aerobaticflyer]

Assuming the sailboat was under sail it would be prudent to slow and come off plane. If under power I'd treat them the same as any power vessel. Even with that said in the proximity you describe I think it would have been best to slow to displacement speed at the most but enough headway to make the pass.

I too have done what you did and got the same looks and while technically we may have been within legal vessel operations, it would be respectful to slow down.

 

[Skuza]

Well I guess your not getting the answers ya hoped for!
Seriously ya prob shoulda slowed down to pass or if it was open water passed further from them. I hate people that have the whole lake to enjoy but insist on passing within 100yards of ya just because they can. It's just inconsiderate. I hate the guys with the big boats that secretly love to throw big wake and use the excuse "I can't help it!". Also if your passing boats and especially ones moored in shallow waters slow down to avoid damaging them.
Bottom line is we all do things we probably shouldn't have BUT sometimes you still can't please everyone! GO BOATING!

 

[HUMPH]

You also need to be careful since when off plane the wake on my boat is larger. It makes it hard since if the other boats are going 12 knots and I pass them at 15 knots my wake is probably bigger. I tend to stay on plane and move as far away as possible. I navigate on rivers a lot so I have to be careful as the river will be between 30 yards and 200 yards wide only.

 

[Aerobaticflyer]

You also need to be careful since when off plane the wake on my boat is larger. It makes it hard since if the other boats are going 12 knots and I pass them at 15 knots my wake is probably bigger. I tend to stay on plane and move as far away as possible. I navigate on rivers a lot so I have to be careful as the river will be between 30 yards and 200 yards wide only.

It always amazes me how the boats doing 12 knots don't consider slowing so the passing can occur quicker with the overtaking vessel creating less wake. It's like they have in their head they are going to maintain speed and course (which they are entitled to do) and then get ticked off when you pass slightly faster, taking longer to do it and creating a larger wake than if they'd just slow slightly. Just seems it should be common sense.

 

[billnpat]

RODNEY KING

Cant we all get along??? :thumbsup:

 

[JV II]

If you had a mile of water to port why didn't you pass him on that side and give him wide berth?

I did. Passed the trawler on his port side. I did not see the point in veering to port 100 yards, across the path of the sailboat to pass him to his starboard. This is a highly traveled area connecting Hingham and Hull to Boston. It is plenty wide enough. It is not a channel or river. There are no moored boats anywhere near there.

I'm guessing at 10mph your boat was plowing water and you probably kicked up a much larger wake than if you'd slowed down just a bit more, dropped down to displacement speed, and took longer to go past the trawler.

I was on plane, going 35 mph, slowed to 24 mph to pass. My boat stays on plant to about 15 mph, but that will kick up a nice wake. Not quite a 4 foot wake, like Turtlesboat estimated, maybe more like 2'.

 

[JV II]

Assuming the sailboat was under sail it would be prudent to slow and come off plane. If under power I'd treat them the same as any power vessel. Even with that said in the proximity you describe I think it would have been best to slow to displacement speed at the most but enough headway to make the pass.

The sailboat was under power. All sails were down. Displacement speed for my boat is 6.5 mph.

 

[chumbley]

I think if you felt like you were a sufficient distance from them, and kept your wake under control, and made the best choice you could make in passing, then you are fine. If you feel like you would do it slightly different next time, then perhaps you made the wrong decision this time.

Our lake is fairly narrow most places, with a good amount of traffic on weekends, and meeting / passing / crossing is all a part of the game here. As long as you are a safe distance, don't cut in front or right behind, and don't have the boat in "plowing wake" mode, everybody is happy.

Some people get overly excited for some reason. The only thing that would cause me to question your choice is that BOTH boats wanted you to slow down. Odds are against you finding two weenie boaters at the same time...

 

[Presentation]

What JV II did not know is this entire thing was captured on hidden camera.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGD-tUsySPs[/youtube]