Grand Banks run over by a freighter

Originally Posted by manyboats

One of the reasons I like Willy. Very good visibility all around.


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Same here...Double sliding doors aft (open in warm weather) and glass all around provides great visibility in all directions from the lower helm. It only gets better from the flybridge.

psneeld said:

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When I am on autopilot at my lower station....I am totally relaxed...walking around, looking around 365 degrees, even walking outside to check weather, exhaust, overall condition of the boat and TRAFFIC.

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Agree. On the Coot, Otto is usually steering, and I'm on lookout duty.

manyboats said:

Interesting story.

But there's a very serious missing link.

Why didn't they see the freighter?

What did I miss?

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... You didnt miss anything mate

I agree with you and was wondering the same thing .

Like everything tho, there's two sides to every story and this is his time to have a about what he thinks had happend, all beit leaving out the part where he didnt see or hear a massive ship sailing up his arse! ... LOL ... ...

Im just taking it as it is mate and not looking into it to much or looking at it any more than a reminder to be vigilant

And what we were just talking about. Another one this morning on the Hudson!! I hope we didn't jinx them!!

Bride, Best Man Missing in Boat Crash




A bride and a man who was set to be the best man at her wedding in two weeks are missing after the boat they were on struck a barge on the Hudson River Friday night.
Four others, including the groom, were hurt in the crash near the Tappan Zee Bridge.
The Coast Guard said six people were on a 21-foot Stingray near Piermont when it hit the barge at around 10:40 p.m.
Police say the missing woman was set to get married on Aug. 10.

The four people who were injured were taken to the hospital and officials described their injuries as severe, including head trauma and broken bones.
Investigators say that while it would have been dark in the area at the time of the crash, the barge was lit up.
It was unclear how fast the boat was going.

I saw that story its sad for the victims and their families at a time when happiness should be front and center.

Things usually go bad when one or more wrongs is happening at the same time either, weather, speed, inattentiveness, alcohol, vessel malfunction, joking around, etc.

If only one wrong is going on you can usually save it.

What a senseless waste of those young lives. And how horrible for those who survived.

Six young people in a 21' go-fast at 10:30 at night. Although "It was unclear how fast the boat was going", I'm willing to take a guess. I'd also be willing to put some money on the outcome of the toxicology tests. But I'll withhold judgement until we know for sure.

To be fair, it's easy to miss a barge at night, especially if it's empty, especially from a small boat low to the water. Right now I'm looking at a 31' boat whose owner tells a story about almost running into one at night. Only the lack of city lights where he knew they should be clued him in that the barge was even there.

Just like the original topic of this thread, it comes down to maintaining a proper lookout. That means taking into account the conditions. Like slowing down at night so you can see things BEFORE you hit them.

CaptTom said:

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To be fair, it's easy to miss a barge at night, especially if it's empty, especially from a small boat low to the water. Right now I'm looking at a 31' boat whose owner tells a story about almost running into one at night. Only the lack of city lights where he knew they should be clued him in that the barge was even there....

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I agree, especially a barge at the end of a long tow such as this at night:

Perhaps knowing what the 2 or 3 vertical lights on the tugboat mean would help to some degree ...

I came under the Tappan zee bridge at around 1030 this morning pushing a load of scrap steel enroute from Albany. No boats around there on this transit, but many Kamikazi small boats further down near The Battery. Several Kayakers want a closer look and got in attack mode. 400' plus tow, several thousand tons of steel with a 1.5 knot fair tide does not make a good sight seeing attraction.

RickB said:

Perhaps knowing what the 2 or 3 vertical lights on the tugboat mean would help to some degree ...

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Yup. My thoughts exactly.

RickB said:

Perhaps knowing what the 2 or 3 vertical lights on the tugboat mean would help to some degree ...

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+1. Certainly helped us on a crossing from Newport to Bermuda in a 76-foot ketch on a pitch black night and radar not working. We only saw the tug's 3 vertical lights (indicating a long tow behind) and his running light. Absolutely nothing visible behind . . . or anywhere else for that matter. The tug was on constant bearing, coming closer and not responding to hails on the radio. We roused the crew and tacked off, which took us well behind him and gave us ample room to fall off even further. Finally, the captain answered our hail but sounded drunk. He confirmed that he was indeed towing a barge on some 400 meters of cable, but had no lights on the barge! We got a good look at it as we were passing after the tug captain finally agreed to our request to put his search light on the barge. It was a HUGE rusted hulk . . . still much too close for comfort . . . and looked absolutely lethal out there in very choppy, confused seas. Talking about it later, we decided it was the equivalent of navigating around an almost invisible, uncharted moving island (and, just to make it a challenge: piloted by a drunk).

In all fairness to the tug Captain, I've known a couple of men who sound drunk when they speak, but it's just the way they talk. One had a past medical problem and the other one...well...the older he gets, the more he mumbles. AFAIK, they each have all their mental faculties.

Just read a body matching the bride-to-be's description was found in the water. The boat's driver has been charged with vehicular manslaughter. DUI.

In an urban setting, it can get difficult picking out lights ... "be careful, there is danger out there."

One night in the 1960s we were sailing eastward on San Pablo Bay. Suddenly a tug with tow running westward about 300 yards to our beam showed its searchlight on us and hailed their presence/warning.

In 1999 I had a 50'fiberglass fishing boat slam into the stern of our tow. It was in Penobscot Bay (maine) at night, dead of winter. Repeated calls on the radio, spot light and horn brought no response as he kept closing on us. He hit the Cement barge we were towing at around 12 kts. His bow opened up and he ran to Owls head and got the boat ashore (on the rocks) before it sank.
The Coast Guard was called (by us) and video taped our running light display on the tug and on the barge. CG boat took our chief engineer back to the tow to inspect for damage. A surprisingly large dent in the stern of the barge, no breach of water tight integrity.
We were released to continue on, and stopped in Portsmouth, N.H for piss tests.
Crew of fishing vessel was treated at local hospital, and arrested for intoxication.
We never heard another word about it.

My own experience, with five years of living the cruising life, is that tugboat captains go out of their way to warn us when they have a tow. I feel sure that privately they all wish that pleasure boaters would just go away, but having one hit a tow line can probably lead to all sorts of undesirable complications. My wife and I were nicely warned several times that there was a tow, even though she was very good at picking up the vertical lights. Are there drunkards out there? Possibly. But most of them are very good at what they do.

Are recreational boating license required in NY, NJ, etc ?

sea hag said:

Are recreational boating license required in NY, NJ, etc ?

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Yes, NJ is one of the toughest in the nation...more and more are meeting that NASBLA standard...

I taught the course for 12 years...really don't think it helped much for true knuckleheaded boating accidents any more than driver safety courses have reduced DUIs. iT may have helped more with true boating experience type mishaps.

Today I witnessed a party barge anchored inside the Stockton deep water channel with 6 people enjoying an afternoon of fishing and drinking. A Stockton bound freighter had passed through a couple hours earlier.

When(unfortunately not if) I witness this in the future what is the proper protocol for reporting?

Sounds like a missed opportunity for a securite call.

As thought alcohol and stupidity

Hudson River Boating Accident: Manslaughter Charges Filed

Sounds like a missed opportunity for a securite call.

He didn't miss anything. The freighter passed through a couple of hours earlier. He is asking for future reference, and it's a good question.

Nsail said:

He didn't miss anything. The freighter passed through a couple of hours earlier. He is asking for future reference, and it's a good question.

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For future reference: If YOU spot something that might become a danger to others, YOU can issue a Navigational Warning call. Technically, it's "secure-it-tay" - I guess it's French.

Here's a Wikipedia article on in.

If you get on 16 with a legitimate Sécurité call about a drunken party barge presenting a hazard to navigation, you've done your job. You may also arouse the curiosity of the local LE folks.

The key is you shouldn't be relaxing when you are running a vessel, no matter what size. When one relaxes thats when mistakes happens. One need to keep a keen eye on what's going on all around you at all times. You are responsible for everyones safety, your crew and passengers, no different than a airline pilot. When running our vessel I take it very seriously, now when I finally arrive and anchor, that's a different story.

FlyWright said:

In all fairness to the tug Captain, I've known a couple of men who sound drunk when they speak, but it's just the way they talk. One had a past medical problem and the other one...well...the older he gets, the more he mumbles. AFAIK, they each have all their mental faculties.

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You're right, I know some guys like that, too. In this case, though, it wasn't only how he sounded, but how long it took him to respond to our transmissions after we'd established contact and how muddled and confused he was. If not plastered, then certainly impaired in some other way. To be clear, I have great respect for professional mariners, but alcohol can be a factor in accidents involving boats big or little.

angus99 said:

If not plastered, then certainly impaired in some other way. To be clear, I have great respect for professional mariners...

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In that case it might be best to leave the medical and legal diagnostics to those in a position to do so. Diagnosing legal impairment by radio is difficult at best.

It is difficult enough for working mariners to deal with boaters who have no knowledge of COLREGS and operating procedures or the characteristics of large vessels without having to worry about them making medical evaluations by VHF.

There is a solid foundation for the frequent observation that having enough money to buy a boat does not mean you know how to use it or have any business operating it at night and/or around commercial traffic.

The barges used on that job are out of the navigational channel. They have several moorings that are being used by the construction contractor on the North side of the bridge. We passed under the bridge Northbound in the early hours Thursday. Since I wasn't on watch, I can't say if the barges were lit, but each time in the past several months they were properly lit.

RickB said:

In that case it might be best to leave the medical and legal diagnostics to those in a position to do so. Diagnosing legal impairment by radio is difficult at best.

It is difficult enough for working mariners to deal with boaters who have no knowledge of COLREGS and operating procedures or the characteristics of large vessels without having to worry about them making medical evaluations by VHF.

There is a solid foundation for the frequent observation that having enough money to buy a boat does not mean you know how to use it or have any business operating it at night and/or around commercial traffic.

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Maybe it would be best to learn the difference between a diagnosis and an opinion.

We had a licensed captain aboard with many years of commercial experience. The crew, collectively had over 100 years of blue water experience.

Is there a subject you don't feel compelled to lecture on?

IntervaleII said:

The key is you shouldn't be relaxing when you are running a vessel, no matter what size. When one relaxes thats when mistakes happens. One need to keep a keen eye on what's going on all around you at all times. You are responsible for everyones safety, your crew and passengers, no different than a airline pilot. When running our vessel I take it very seriously, now when I finally arrive and anchor, that's a different story.

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Have to agree 100% we have a no alcohol rule until docked then as a Kiwi a beer is not too far away.

In my former job I saw too many fatalities and innocent lives changed forever caused by alcohol and driving.

I have a VHS of home movies shot by John Wayne and others. Here's a comment by the Duke on drinking.