On Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:47:37 -0400, "Ernest Scribbler"
wrote:

It was the Mako captain whose understanding I was casting aspersions upon. I
read another account of the incident which said that in addition to horn
signals, the tug was shining a spotlight on the cable to try to warn the guy
off.

Quite likely, I've often seen them do that, light up the cable and the
barge. We've even had tug captains call us on the radio from two
miles away to give us a heads up, even though there was no imminent
danger. Running around NY harbor at night without radar and good
skills is an accident waiting to happen, negligence in my opinion.