Denis Marier wrote:
In 1982 (as a beginner) I was going upstream with no wind on the Saint
Laurent river toward Montreal in my brand new 27 foot sailboat when I lost
the diesel engine. I went down to investigate the diesel engine while the
wife was hosting the sales. Suddenly I raised my head to see the bow of a
huge container ship coming at me. Then with the sails up with no wind and
no engine I said this is the end of my family. I had no time to pray. The
bow of the container ship was right on my stern. As I saw the bulbous of
the ship the wake pushed my little sailboat aside and the 6 - 7 current took
me away from the freeboard of the ship. I still thing it was a miracle.
The lesson I learned is when your engine breakdown in heavy current on a
dead calm sea
is to broadcast your position and situation. Today I have a radar and I use
the range guard alarm and I plan my course within a safe distance from the
ship lane. When the location permits I like to contact Maritime traffic and
make my intentions known. The other thing is I always leave the VHF on
scanning. When entering heavy commercially fished and whales watching areas
I broadcast my course and speed.
Last year a 44 foot sailboat was hit by a container ship in the same zone.
The sailboat sunk and everyone on board drowned.

"Meye5" wrote in message
oups.com...

What I go by, 1- Dont expect the big boats to see you, often there is
no watch and if they actually hit you, they will NOT stop. Even if they
know there was a collision. This is a universal reality. Cold but true.
If you don't believe this your living in fantasy land.
2-Radar with an alarm is a must if your in
shipping lanes Headed to the Bahamas at night on a well travelled
route? A watch and radar, a must.
3- Lots of navigation lights beyond the usual,
4-Dont **** your pants if they get within 500
yards, to actually have a collision requires actual contact. Thats
where that boat hits yours????? Their big and scarie looking when
they get close but dont panic if they get real close as long as you
take evasive action you can avoid the problem just fine. Closer they
get the easier it is to calculate your desired course of steer. Just
use your brain and dont freak out like your wife. And give her a shot
of thorazine or prozac what ever you have on hand. Keep the boat crew
calm.




We have to be careful here also, although the ships do slow down a bit
once in the harbour. (Halifax).
I bought my Sandpiper 565 from a guy in Cap de la Madeleine, Que and he
told me he found the wake from the passing freighters very high out in
the St. Lawrence River traffic lanes. He also had a scare trying to
re-start my Evinrude Yachtwin 6hp outboard to avoid a ship. He warned me
not to tilt the motor. I'll have to find out what that problem might be.
BTW, even when sailing on my friends Mirage 33, I always brought my
handheld VHF along and tried to monitor traffic, over his stereo and
boisterous crew.