Sailboat-Tugboat Right of Way
 

On Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:56:12 -0400, "Ernest Scribbler"
wrote:

"Richard Casady" wrote
Actually ocean going tugs sometimes push. They have special barges
with a notch that matches the bow of the tug.

Interesting. I've never seen that. I'm on an inland river, and all our
towboats look like this: http://blizzard.zmm.com/tug/capned3.jpg
And they always push, never pull.

I live in Iowa. The state is between two big rivers with barge
traffic. I call them pushboats.

Casady

Sailboat-Tugboat Right of Way
 

Richard Casady wrote:
On Sun, 27 Apr 2008 19:14:49 -0400, "Ernest Scribbler"
wrote:

"Bob" wrote
I’m not going to play chicken with a tug.”
Words to live by.

Out of curiosity, does anybody know why a boat that tows barges behind it is
called a tugboat, while one that pushes them in front is called a towboat?

Actually ocean going tugs sometimes push. They have special barges
with a notch that matches the bow of the tug.

These are a regular sight on the Seaway, Seaway Control refers to them
as "tugboats" on the radio... This configuration is used for obvious
reasons, think "locks".

Cheers
Marty

Sailboat-Tugboat Right of Way
 

Sailboat-Tugboat Right of Way
 

On 27 Apr, 11:49, wrote:
On Sun, 27 Apr 2008 05:54:22 -0400, "Roger Long" wrote:
"Capt. JG" wrote

The sailboat clearly was in the wrong. The only quibble is that perhaps
the tow/barge could have acted sooner.

I am surprised that neither David Taylor, you, nor Bob spotted the elephant
in the room. The "sailboat" was proceeding against the tide.
The New London buoy was evidently out of commission at the time but the mid
sound buoy shows:

YYYY MM DD hh mm WD WSPD GST WVHT DPD APD MWD BAR ATMP WTMP
DEWP VIS TIDE

2007 09 09 13 15 280 4.1 5.7 0.40 4.00 99.00 999 1018.3 22.6 21.5
20.2 99.0 99.00

Possibly, a high performance boat could have made it through the bridge
against that current on a broad reach but winds were probably lighter down
in the wind shadow and he certainly would have had a problem when he hit the
wind shadow of the bridge just upstream. If this goes to court, I think the
operator will have to fight a strong presumption that he was actually a
powerboat at the time.

The article certainly should have clarified this out and done something to
help dispel the widely held misconception that guys who operate boats with
big sticks on them always have the right of way.

The article states that the sailboat was under power at the time, and the
wealthy, snobbish, asshole captain of the tug tried the radio repeatedly and
blasted his horn, while waving his arms frantically. What a buffoon. He
apparently thought it was more important to avoid the collision than to insist
it was the other guys fault, and he shouldn't HAVE TO use his radio and other
signals to try and clarify the situation. :')

Rule 9 (a) is surprisingly limited in regard to the common sense idea that
traffic moving with the current has right of way in a narrow channel. It's
always true on the Great Lake and Western Rivers but otherwise only on
waters specified by the Secretary. Whether that bit of water is "specified
by the secretary" I don't know. Why 9 (a) doesn't apply to all waters, and
what is different about Eastern Rivers is a mystery.

where a vessel has reduced manoeuvrability i.e towing or trawling
they have right of way, other boats are duty bound to avoid them. The
primary duty of any skipper is to preserve the life of himself and his
crew If the other guy is a lot bigger and he hits you it is going to
hurt the barge tow was alert to the problem and took what steps he
could to avoid collision the sail boat was lucky that there was not a
"Bow Bell and Marchioness" incident.

Sailboat-Tugboat Right of Way
 

back to the boats wrote:
where a vessel has reduced manoeuvrability i.e towing or trawling
they have right of way, other boats are duty bound to avoid them.

While such common sense is useful, one should also be aware that there
are rules that cover most situations, and that under the International
Rules no one has Right of Way. For example, tows do not appear on the
"pecking order" unless they declare themselves as RAM. Of course, its
nice to give large tows a wide berth, but if you're involved in a tow,
especially involving recreational boats, remember that you have no extra
"rights" and many boaters might not even realize what's going on. I say
this as someone who has been involved in hundreds of such tows while
working in collegiate sailing programs.

Sailboat-Tugboat Right of Way
 

On 2008-04-27 05:54:22 -0400, "Roger Long" said:

Rule 9 (a) is surprisingly limited in regard to the common sense idea that
traffic moving with the current has right of way in a narrow channel. It's
always true on the Great Lake and Western Rivers but otherwise only on
waters specified by the Secretary. Whether that bit of water is "specified
by the secretary" I don't know. Why 9 (a) doesn't apply to all waters, and
what is different about Eastern Rivers is a mystery.

Around the Chesapeake, it's fairly usual for someone waiting to inquire
the state of the current and usually people are courteous about it.

....then there was the time I was station-keeping a few lengths away
from the bridge, right on the centerline, chatting with the tender....
Got a compliment on our boat-handling from my backing against the
couple-knot current. (no emergency as we were already in reverse and
only needed to slide sidewards a few feet.)

--
Jere Lull
Xan-à-Deux -- Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/