"Gary" wrote

It's funny how these things always seem to happen to you. What was
it last time, a small ferry?

Gary

Twice in 36 years doesn't add up to "always" in my book and, while I
may be the only one reporting in this particular venue, I'm sure I'm
not the only one this happens to.

Twice in a summer may be a interesting statistical cluster. What I
think I'm really seeing here is a change in culture and expectations
of professionals on the water made more obvious by my having been a
pleasure boating Rip Van Winkle for 15 years. Far fewer people have a
clue about the right of way rules than they used to and I'm sure this
effects the thinking of commercial operators. Effectively, there are
no right of way rules for pleasure boats now or between pleasure boats
and commercial craft. Perhaps it's reasonable for the commercial
boats to just go in straight lines and keep the right of way rules
between them and their peers whose behavior can be predicted.

The responses about large vessels are off the mark. Both of these
were boats that could, and would, have diverted around a floating log
without a second thought to avoid possible damage to their props.
They held their courses either because of inattention or because they
assumed I would adopt the role of the burdened vessel in violation of
my duty to maintain a straight and predictable course. Neither
reflects well on them.

I would happily put the plots of my courses down an any USCG inquiry
table. I maintained a straight and consistent course as the stand on
vessel. When it became clear that the burdened vessel was not going
to respond appropriately, I diverted or slowed in time to avoid danger
of collision as well as danger that they would divert in the same
direction.

Regarding the radio, it is only a means of communication. The
handling of your vessel can be an excellent and even more convenient
method of indicating your intent. If you intend to depart your stand
on course, make a big and obvious change, show the other vessel the
whole side of your boat for a few moments and then come back to the
course that will clear. If they are watching, they'll get the
message. If they aren't watching, they probably aren't going to make
any sudden course changes before taking a look around.

--

Roger Long