On Thu, 16 Oct 2008 17:12:52 -0400, you wrote: >> A tug towing a barge with an 1,100 ft hawser was operating in the area. >> >> It is assumed the Bayliner hit the barge. >> >> I have been on a boat this time of year, headed for Catalina under >> similar conditions. >> >> It can be a little scary. >> >> I tend to be a little paranoid under those conditions, but I treat tug >> boats as if they were my sworn enemy whose sole purpose was to sink me >> and give them a VERY WIDE berth. >> >> Haven't been hit yet. >> >> Lew > >Lew, et al > >You are correct in giving a barge and tow a wide berth. >For over 35 yrs I have cruised the Gulf Intra coastal Canal and more >particularly the Houston to New Orleans reach. That is referred to as >the Interstate 10 of waterways. On a 3-4 day trip between Patterson, La >and Houston/Galveston we may see ONE or even two pleasure boats. Tugs >and tows are another animal. I have had as many as 18 in site at a given >time. That is unusual but you get the drift. >I always mention in talks that I give on transiting the Gulf ICW that we >really like being among the tug and tows as they will not surprise us >with some stupid maneuver------like many pleasure boaters often do. > >We do keep in mind that they are out there earning a living and we are >PLAYING. > >Give them a wide berth and let them know what you would LIKE TO DO and >they will treat you with utmost courtesy and try to accommodate you. > >This is our experience and as you said YMMV
There was an SSCA couple on a Valiant 40 coming up the Chesapeake - the man at the helm saw something on the radar that he couldn't ID. So according to various accounts (this was reported in the SSCA Bulletin AND in our local paper), he went below to either look at the charts or get some coffee. His boat went between a tug and tow, and was sunk in about 5 minutes. The two of them got out into their raft/dinghy and were picked up by the Charles County marine patrol within about a half an hour IIRC suffering from exposure (this was early spring). They were really lucky IMHO because a) I don't think they should have been out there at night - there are plenty of places off the channel that they could have anchored. And b) the man couldn't have been thinking clearly if he ignored the radar. He was ill and was on his way back home to get medical treatment - they had been planning to sell their boat and move ashore. All the more reason to stop for the night. _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
