Thread: Fly bridge?
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Old 10-25-2012, 07:41 AM   #79
Peter B
TF Site Team
 
City: Ex-Brisbane, (Australia), now Bribie Island, Qld
Vessel Name: Now boatless - sold 6/2018
Vessel Model: Had a Clipper (CHB) 34
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 10,101
Sorry guys, but I think Marin is actually right to some extent here, as I have also observed a similar phenomenon. Of course there are many good operators who drive from up above, but having done so on occasion myself when in a tight spot, thinking it would give me better visibility of my surroundings, I also admit I felt disconnected from the boat. It is almost a surreal feeling driving from so high, that even though you have good visibility, one's sense of the closeness of those around you is somehow altered/distorted a bit. In one case, forced to move anchor at night, I nearly clobbered another boat with the outboard on the dinghy, because from up there I misjudged how much the stern would swing when I did a tight turn. It is also a bit more tricky estimating your speed compared to other fixtures or vessels from on high. So the point Marin makes is perhaps a bit more 'scientific' than at first appears I think. I suspect that is why so many who scream past, semi-planing or planing, too close to other boats seem so oblivious to the effect it has on others. It just seems soooo smooth...how could it not be smooth to everyone else?...and they are so above it all, they almost feel like they are not physically part of the space they are traveling through. Just a thought...?
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