Confession....road rage on the water...

"I can}t tell you how many times I have wanted to overtake a boat and coordinate with said boat(usually a sailboat) and they are not listening. WHen they do and you ask them to slow to idle while you go around them they get a little offended that you are asking them how to operate their boat. When they finally see how it all takes place(they slow down, you go past at 6kts with absolutely no wake, and the whole maneuver takes about 2 minutes) you can see the little light bulb go on in their heads. "

While this works it slows BOTH boats down for no reason.

In over a dozen trips on the ICW , I have seen a "proper" method of passing only a few times.

Scares the pants off the slo boat , but they are pleasantly suprised!

For a PLAINING passing boat , the technique does require familiarity with your boat.

Simply stay on the plane till within about a boat length , fairly close to the transom of the snail.
Chop the throttle so as to be off plane and down to a K or so above the snails speed as you pull alongside.

Your wake , and the transition off plane should all be aft of the snail, as he too is going forward.

Only a touch of throttle will keep the passer at 1 K or so above the snails speed ., and that is only needed for 50 or 60 ft the snails loa.

When the planers transom is 10 ft beyond the bow of the snail, wide open will get back to plane with least distance.

Sounds risky , buy believe me I have been the SLUG every time and prefer this far smoother method to the you slow down we slow down crap.

Sadly Go Fast Motorists with the skills to do this can be counted on one hand.

FF

FF, I don't think the risk is worth the 30 seconds saved....especially when I am the passee and I have no clue as to the skills of the passer. My scenario takes about a minute. You could actually decrease that by the passe not only slowing down but turning around and going the opposite direction against the passer and his wake.

Although I could be considered (due to my 15kn potential) the offender, I am quite aware of my obnoxious wake, and try to minimize my effect on others. I also cruise slow a lot of the time, and don't have the advantage of a displacement boats weight, and then add in my soft chine, and it can get pretty rolly (new word). The bottom line is that those who throw obnoxious wakes will continue to do so. They either aren't aware, or don't care. My solution is simply to maintain situational awareness as to oncoming wake and waves, and alter my course and speed briefly to allow the best ride. It's really not that big a deal. Wake me if you will, I like the challenge.

-- Edited by Carey at 11:23, 2007-12-07

FF--- Have a question regarding the slow-down-at-the-last-second method. Correct me if I'm wrong, but won't the wake generated by the overtaking boat continue to move ahead after the boat slows? Once a wave is generated it keeps moving at its speed regardless of what the object that generated the wave does afterwards.

So wouldn't the wake generated by the overtaking boat continue forward and hit the boat being passed if the overtaking boat generates that wake right up to a point just behind the boat being overtaken?

I don't know that it would as I've never seen this technque used. But I know we've stopped our boat for some reason and the wake we had been generating moved passed us.

Marin
*** I see what you are saying, and I have also experienced my own wake catching me, but I recall hearing that by stopping, or nearly stopping, prior to entering a moorage that it does diminish, or eliminate your wake effect. That may occur sometime after the stopping point. Just a thought. I have never tested the theory.

"So wouldn't the wake generated by the overtaking boat continue forward and hit the boat being passed if the overtaking boat generates that wake right up to a point just behind the boat being overtaken?"

SURE , but a wake that is catching up with a boat , esp one moving in the same direction does not roll the hell out of the snail , which is what most folks object to.

Time , is a concern as on many crowded waterways the ability of the snail not to slow down is a great help. ICW in season will have 20 passes in a bunch , caused by bridge obstructions.

I (in our 33ft MS) have been hailed by trawler folks !!, that want to give us a "nice" pass from 1/2 mile behind !

To slow to steerage , wait for their 7.5K boat to get to my usually 6.75K boat is a HUGE waste of time.

WE almost always tell the disp folks to carry on , and actually prefer a 20K 50 ft'er to pass on the plane , with enough room so we can turn bow into the wake.

No loss for anyone.

The WORST wakers are the uninformed plane boats that will slow from 20K to 10K , and leave a HUGE steep wake for their efforts.

FF

I agree with FF

One thought to consider about the boat that is passing seemingly coming close for the pass is that the resultant wake thrown off is usually less close to the boat and when in the ship channel,* the deeper water some what dampens the wake versus being in the shallower water where the wake is magnified.* Professionals usually will come very close aboard and then cut the throttles for an instant for the pass and then go again.* This is mostly in the ICW.

FF--- A agree with your assessment of it being better to have a fast boat pass fast with enough room for the slow boat to turn into the wake, as opposed to the fast boat slowing down to what HE thinks is slow but in fact puts out a worse wake than he was generating going fast.

The problem we have encountered frequently enough for it to seem like a "rule" is for faster boats, particularly the big "plowing" boats like the aforementioned Bayliners, etc. to pass so close that there is barely time to quarter or head into their high, steep wakes before they hit us.

In confined waters like the ICW (which I have never been on), I can see where close-aboard passing is required. But where we boat, we're talking about a four-mile diameter bay that everyone crosses on their way to or from the marina. There's plenty of room to move over and give the boat being passed more time to position themselves for the oncoming wake.

Dealing with a big wake is no big deal in a boat like ours. We can turn pretty fast and even it it hits us broadside it's not going to flip us over. But these guys do the same thing when passing little 16-foot open fishing skiffs and the like. That's where it can get dangerous, but the skippers of the "go faster" boats seem oblivious to the effects of their wakes when they start tossing the little guys around like corks.