"Rosalie B." wrote

I would [go after her license] anyway. Or at least file a
complaint.

Well, I'm sure she (and I only say "she" because it was a female head
that stuck out the window to look back at me, could have been a
girlfirend, crew, or trainee) didn't get this far in her career
without understanding the rules well enough to have been saying to
herself, "Yikes, if that idiot had hit me, I wouldn't have a leg to
stand on." The caliber of the ferry district crews seems high enough
to me (a former consultant to them) that I don't think a complaint and
the flurry of paper surrounding it is needed to drive the point home.
I may feel different if I see more of this.

As a former pilot (well, still one officially but self grounded), I
know that we all screw up occasionally, even when the consequences are
more endangering to ourselves than a slap on the wrist from the Coast
Guard.

Since this incident though I've been watching the behavior of other
vessels more analytically; also myself. I think there is some basis
the idea mentioned here somewhere that electronics have put a lot of
people on the water who haven't gotta clue. Loss of the expectation
that others will follow the rules changes behavior.

The ferry captain may well have been thinking, "This bozo will tack
like all the others do." I, in fact, give way to the CBIT vessels with
early, clear, course changes 99% of the time because they have a job
to do, are on schedules, and I like to handle my boat. Just as I type
this, a very plausible explanation occurs to me.

I sail a lot and my boat and behaviour could easily be as well known
to the ferry captains as they are to me. "She" may well have been
thinking, "Oh, it's that guy, he'll tack." Meanwhile, I'm thinking,
"There's a professional in that pilothouse, I can count on them to do
the right thing." If it had been a 50 foot seaway or a dragger, you
can be sure I would have tacked. This is all pointing to something a
lot more subtle and complex than knowledge of the rules of the road.

--

Roger Long