FishinJC wrote:
You are right. Bitching about it does nothing and it is each boats
responsibility to remain safe no matter what the situation. I wasn't
concerned with safety until the boats bunched up and people started to
get ****ed off. ****ed off people late in the afternoon can cause
unsafe waters.

Especially if there had been any drinking going on.


... My focus was safely getting around the yakers' and
getting the hell out of there.


Sounds right, but it's a shame you couldn't talk to them at
least a little bit as you went by. Maybe leaning over and
saying conversationally, "You know, there's a lot of traffic
thru here, those guys have to stay in the channel (point at
other boats), and a lot of 'em could PO'd at you being in
their way." It honestly might not have occured to them (that
still makes them morons).

Last year, I tried to avert a situation where some bone
heads in a small CC fishing boat blocked a channel with
current. They were anchored right in the middle, at a bend,
in a place where the water is really shallow anywhere
outside the dradged channel. A bridge had just opened a mile
or so south and there was a big tug & barge as well as the
parade of ICW traffic.

I slowed considerably to go past these guys, since we could
not miss them by more than about 10'. They gave me angry
looks as I leaned out our pilothouse to speak to them. I
said "There is a BIG barge coming around that corner in
about 3 minutes, it would be a good idea to haul anchor and
get out of his way." Since they made no effort to move, I
put out a 'securite' call on channel 16 to warn the boats
coming behind us.

It would probably have been justified if that barge had run
them down, but instead he ran aground himself, including
probable damage to his running gear since we saw his prop
slinging sand & mud in the air as he hit. We listend to the
salvage effort on the VHF for many hours that afternoon,
felt sorry for that barge skipper.

Fair Skies
Doug King