Practical Boat Owner - July 2018

SEAMANSHIP

Crossing paths
Commercial vessels usually take the
course which results in the shortest
possible distance between their port of
departure and their destination.
This means that you will be able to look
at your paper ocean chart and mark on it
the direct course between, say, The Mona
Passage in the Caribbean and Curacao.
If you are sailing from the north of the
Leeward Islands to Colon at the Panama
Canal, you will be able to estimate the
period during which you will be most likely
to cross the paths of ships on that
passage and take the necessary
precautions to avoid them.
The Admiralty Ocean Routing Charts
show the main routes, including the Great
Circle Routes, between the major ports in
the areas they cover, and provide a good
guide to assist you. On a smaller scale, it’s
just like making an English Channel
crossing. You know the main routes and
you know when to expect the main
concentrations of ships.
Communication
Don’t hesitate to call an approaching ship
on the VHF and talk through a developing
situation. They may not answer, but if they
do you will be able to establish whether or
not they have seen you and agree on a
course of action.
I have enjoyed many a mid-ocean
exchange of courtesies this way.

Crossings

In a crossing situation I occasionally use

my hand-bearing compass to check the

bearing of the other vessel, but given that

both your own boat and compass card

will be swinging around a bit, it’s easier to

check whether the bearing is changing by

sitting in the same position in the hatch

and marking the other ship’s location in

relation to a stanchion or other fi xed point

on your own boat. On the open sea, even

crossing ships which should give way,

rarely do. Don’t get dangerously close just

to prove a point!

Fishing boats

Fishing boats are a law unto themselves.

Other vessels have to give way to them

when they are fi shing, quite rightly, but it

sometimes seems to me that they consider

themselves to be fi shing from the time they

leave port until the time they get back.

They certainly have no interest in a yacht.

When they are working, they are working

and they will be concentrating on what

they are doing. At night they may have

very bright working deck lights on and

probably won’t be able to see outside the

circle of their own illumination, even if they

cared to look, which is unlikely.

Unless they are trawling, when they will

be making a fairly steady course at

moderate speed, they are also liable to

make sudden alterations of course

and/or speed.

In coastal waters, particularly in Europe,

you may come across small boats setting

or lifting lines of pots, often with only one

man on board. He will be working hard to

make a living and probably has to handle

his boat, operate the pot hauler and drag

pots around the deck, all at the same

time. For his own sake, he has to

concentrate. It’s hard work and dangerous

when there is a sea running, so stay well

away and let him get on with it.

The cardinal rule

When two vessels are approaching each

other, a developing close-quarters

situation can become a dangerous

situation very quickly. As the distance

between the two decreases, the options

for avoiding each other narrow and risk

rises exponentially. The earlier you react,

the safer you are likely to be.

Think ahead and try to avoid close-

quarters situations entirely, regardless of

your rights.

TRAFFIC

FREE

ZONE

10-15

miles

FRANCE

Bay of

Biscay

SPAIN

Stay off the main road

Stay off the main road
As an example of this technique, draw a
line between the inner separation zones at
Ushant off the French coast and Cape
Finisterre, in Spain, and think of it being
the eastern border of a motorway.
If you are heading south, or north,
across the Bay, get over about 10-15 miles
to the east of the line and you will be
unlikely to encounter many ships, greatly
reducing the chance of a close-quarters
situation. The slight extra distance is well
worth it.
I did the same when crossing the Pacifi c,
drawing a series of lines between the
Canal and the main ports in Polynesia,
New Guinea, the Philippines, Japan and
so on. I headed for the Marquesas staying
well clear of the main routes, and all the
way across I saw only one other vessel.
There may have been more, but I didn’t
see them.

Think ahead and try to avoid close-

quarters situations

If a ship is overtaking you, and passing

clear, maintain a steady course

David Harding

David Harding