Sailboat encounters

[scott craven]

Oak bay/ Victoria thread getting derailed so....
From what I see most sailboater's are a peaceful lot.
That said I had a bad experience a couple years back.
Fishing with a buddy, we were the only boat in the area.
From far away, a sail boat appears and begins bearing down on us.
I'm not sure why, as he had the whole ocean. My buddy starts getting nervous as I tell him not to worry and that the sailboat would change course. That didn't happen, in fact he cut across our bow so close I had to crank the wheel and shift to reverse with 2 riggers down. If that wasn't enough the ******* started yelling he had the right of way as he passed us.
It was a clear case of intentional endangerment.

 

[wildmanyeah]

we were out in may a few years back only 2 boats on the ocean and a sail boat (under power) almost ran us over while we were trolling.

our conclusion was no one was at the helm

To be fair we had a similar instance with a person that was solo trolling and was sitting at the back steering the kicker, I dont think they could see that well over their bow. It was windy and their bow was sticking up in the air, every time a gust of wind would come there bow would kick over to one side or the other and made it difficult to tell what way they were going.

Frustrating tho, should never happen when your the only boats out on the water

 

[Ringo]

Has happened to me a few times when we were the only boat in the nomans land and they almost ran us over. Recent incident was a few weeks ago on the east side of Texada. Guy had the whole ocean to himself, under power and wasn't the only person on the boat but decided to get tight to our bow and almost hit us on the port side. He was so effing friendly that he even waved to my kids as he passed! I guess there are a few jackasses in any user group and age class.
Time to install dashcams, "sterncams" and jack up that insured value.

 

[Gong Show]

Regardless of right away, every mariner must do what is necessary to avoid a collision.
I assume all other craft are completely clueless, usually works out.

 

[Aquaholic]

Regardless of right away, every mariner must do what is necessary to avoid a collision.

Rule #1.

 

[pescador]

Some sailers think they are cyclists in the cycle lane and nothing is allowed to impede their course. Green warriors out to save mankind and rid the earth of gas guzzling boaters pillaging the sea of its bounty. Believe me, they exist.

 

[noluck]

Some sailers think they are cyclists in the cycle lane and nothing is allowed to impede their course. Green warriors out to save mankind and rid the earth of gas guzzling boaters pillaging the sea of its bounty. Believe me, they exist.

even worse is they think they have the right of way when motor sailing,

 

[easydoesit]

Similar thing happened to me this week, south end of Gabriola Passage. 40 foot sailboat approaching from port side at 90 degrees, under motor propulsion. Sailboat was the give way vessel under the rules. We were trolling, gear was down. My AIS plotted a pending collision. Two men visible at the stern. Tried hailing on channel 16, no response . I cut power. They continued on course and speed. Waved at us as they went past. I waved back only using one finger.

Sometimes it’s hard to believe what you are seeing with your own eyes.

 

[ziggy]

Even worse is the high speed vessels full of tourists, with supposed professional captains,that feel it necessary to blast through the fishing fleet. Nothing like being On anchor and having some clown roar by trolling a 3 ft wake. No consideration for others!

 

[Salmon Seeker]

Years ago when i first got my boat i took my girlfriend out for a cruise around howe sound. After a few hours of boating we decided to stop, shut off the motor and enjoy the lovely weather, somewhere between passage island and bowen. after a nice quiet drift, i attempted to restart the engine and it wouldnt fire. checked the usual suspects (kill switch, on off switch, in neutral) to no avail. finally i realized all that cruising had actually run me out of gas! well i grabbed the oars and started paddling toward shore. about 45 mins into paddling, i noticed a bunch of sailboats heading towards me. turns out i had drifted into the coarse of a sailboat race! there was nothing i could do except paddle harder to try to get out of the way. luckily someone involved with the race rushed over to me in their zodiak to tell me to beat it. i explained that i was out of gas and i was paddling as fast as i could. they ended up towing me over to thunderbird marina where i managed to purchase some fuel and oil to mix. lesson learned, i carry an extra tank or jerry can now if im going for a long cruise.

 

[Aquaholic]

Yesterday on the ferry from Sidney heading towards Active Pass. The captain must’ve been in holiday happy mode as he could’ve blasted at least three in a five minute period. One did a 180 tack to try to get out of the way that looked to be the poorer choice than keeping his line. You can look towards the back of the ferry to see how much course correction they have to do, hard to tell a course correction while at the bow looking forward.


10. Non-commercial powerboats usually give way to sailboats, unless the sailboat is overtaking it. However, general sailing instructions are also that sailboats should try to stay out of the way of large vessels and ferryboats that may find it harder to slow or change direction—especially in narrow channels.