In article ,
"John Reimer" wrote:

"Sal's Dad" wrote in message
...
You should read the full report
http://www.maib.gov.uk/publications/.../2007/ouzo.cfm -
it's very sobering, with good information on night vision and
ship-to-yacht interactions.

Thanks for the link, it's a very educational read, but also sad, would much
rather have them be telling their cautionary story themselves..

A personally carried EPIRB, check, but didn't realize a crotch strap could
be that important, and will never look at a radar reflector the same way
again. And hydrostatically launched life raft, hmm, looks more appealing
now.

BUT, what I still don't get, is why couldn't the three gents onboard the
Ouzo just avoid the Bilbao altogether?

I mean the question is literal, what would cause them to NOT be able to
avoid her, I'm not blaming the victim here.

Assuming they were on watch and not below, in clear conditions (though
night), would it have been that difficult to see the hugely larger Bilbao
before getting so close? Even if all her running lights were off, there
were thousands of passengers on her (or a lot) so there would have been at
least the common area lighting on. Why couldn't the Ouzo see her?

Of course, if they did see her, I guess I can understand if they had lost
steerage, but that doesn't seem likely given the scenario outlined. Or does
it?

Those three gents had way, way more experience than me, so I'm trying to
understand the missing piece: I know the factors that contributed to
Bilbao's actions (or lack thereof before and after).

Why did Ouzo allow her to get so close in the first place?

As I recall, they were in Southampton water, which is a (relatively)
small area with lots of shipping/cruisers etc. Makes it even more of a
puzzle in that they didn't seem to have a lookout despite their
experience.

Molesworth

SV Captive
39' NDMorgan