There are new rules about leaving clearances around ferries, since 9/11.

I think it might be two hundred yards, but it's been a little while since I
saw the notices. They were posted all around our marinas and in the
newspapers as well. Never saw them, out your way? Riding the Bainbridge
ferry to Seattle, I've even occasionally seen Coast Guard escorts in
high-speed inflatables, with mounted 50 caliber machine guns.

I'd leave them plenty of room if I were you. They might get a little twitchy
if you try to pull the old sail right-of-way flim-flam on them. Besides,
they're not very maneuverable and they might hit you even while they were
trying to avoid you.

Regards,
Tom Dacon

"Roger Long" wrote in message
...
Say, did the right of way rules for commercial passenger vessels change
when they became official terrorist targets under the protection of
homeland security?

The ferry crews in this part of the world have always seemed very
competent and courteous to me and I've had a number of professional
dealings with them. We were finishing up a day sail today in shifty and
increasing winds that shortly after turned into a squall. There is a large
anchorage that has a pair of red and greens in it that used to guide the
largest vessels up to a long abandoned navy oil depot. It isn't a channel
in the normal sense but marks the deepest area in the center.

We were close hauled and I was alone on deck with everyone below cleaning
and straightening up. One of the little 65 foot ferries was proceeding
down the bay through the buoys as if it were a channel. The ferry was
going slowly, we were converging, the bearing didn't change. There was
plenty of room for a minor correction that would take them astern and I
really didn't want to tack. I started looking for a head in the pilot
house and couldn't see any faces so I finally luffed up which took some
finessing in the shifty conditions as we slowed down and began to lose
rudder authority.

The ferry passed about 50 feet in front of us and a lady who looked a lot
like she might be the captain stuck her head out and studied us intently
without waving as if she was trying to read the numbers on the bow.

As I sailed on over the next half mile of 20 + foot deep and unobstructed
water, I found myself wondering if she could really think that the rule
about vessels in a channel and constrained by their draft really applied
to her.

No question that we would have hit if I hadn't luffed or taken some more
dramatic action. She proceeded like she was on autopilot. Just coming up
to normal speed or a 10 degree course change early on would have avoided
any possibility of contact. This was quite out of character for the
outfit. I wonder what she was thinking?


--

Roger Long