OzOne wrote:


True, but still worth considering.

All things are worth considering ....after consideration, some are
discarded some are not.


I don't necessarily agree that the "fiberglass" boat is the
main culprit. When I've normally been apt to miss a fiberglass boat, it
was due to sea conditions, the range scale I was concentrating on, sea
return, rain .... in other words a combination of problems/conditions,
not just the construction.


Yep, making steaming on at 25kts dangerous in poor viz

From your perspective I don't doubt you believe this. From mine, it
depends on conditions and equipment.
Where I am, I have no problem picking up all sizes and construction
types in most conditions where fog is present ..... this includes jet
skies (sp?) and kayaks.


In most conditions.
How do you know if you haven't picked up that kayak? Can you hear the
screams over the engine noise?

That could apply to any day or night, good visibility or bad .....
wouldn't have a clue that he'd been there.


I've also seen conditions, not only on ships, but, probably more so on
smaller boats, where a pure fiberglass boat, was visible on all ranges
at good distances.


Uh huh, relatively calm and flat.

Not always


But usually

no, not necessarily. There are many conditions and very few absolutes.


Never expect to be seen ....be happy when you are.


Yep, survival requires that you treat all ships as being a threat.
I've gybed to make sure I would stay out of harms way only to find the
ship changing course to place us directly in their path.
They had very obviously not seen us in light rain at night.


G Survival of license requires that you treat all recreational boaters
as being a threat. I've made turns to avoid some sailboat, only to have
it gybe and try to cut back across my bow .... at least there's no way
they could say they hadn't seen this 90,000 ton 900' long tanker coming
their way.


True, There are many who cannot read a collision course.
The freighter that changed course toward us did so quite a few minutes
after we had gybed,

I can't comment as I don't know enough of the particulars of what you
and the ship were doing.

I treat all ships with a great deal of respect mainly because I do
believe the stories of unmanned or sleeping watches
AND have lost friends without trace when there was no weather in the
area.

I believe few if any of those stories, but consider it a possibility on
rare occasions .... as to your lost friends, there can be many
possibilities ... getting run over by a ship is one of them, but in most
cases I'd be inclined to an alert watch that never saw them. I've had
too many near misses at sea to not believe otherwise.

otn