Be wake aware

[Longbranch Louie]

Sometimes in heavy traffic it cant be avoided, but all Ranger Tug owners should be aware that their tugs throw out quite a wake. Passing a slow moving vessel such as a sailboat (or fellow tugger) with 40 or 50 ft between boats sends a wall of water their way. I know the cabin should be secure, but it can cause a hazard to pets, children, portable electronics and my bowl of jelly bellys on my dash.... Our radars don't always see early to the rear which gives little time to prepare. Passing close also allows little room for avoiding a collision should the boat being passed suddenly tack or change course towards the passing boat. Those of you with auto pilot can all attest to how boats can make a surprise hard right or left when the auto pilot is engaged. Remember that the boat passing has the responsibility to do so safely. Decreasing your speed while passing sometimes only increases the wake you are creating.
Ive been guilty of this myself and it cant be avoided sometimes in narrow channels but as distinctive as our tugs are we should all attempt to leave a good impression.

 

[kevinflanagan]

Good advice. We learned this during our first tug rendezvous at Cape Haze last February. We were all heading out for an overnight anchor and a lot of the group decided to pick up the speed and unfortunately I think rocked some other tugs pretty bad. 'We' being part of the speed group felt pretty bad about that, won't ever make that mistake again.

Again, great comment! Thanks for the reminder

 

[baz]

Yep.... been caught by this a couple of times during Ranger Tug meetings. All of a sudden there seems to be a dash back from some place to the marina and it's a rock & roll situation at best working behind of the tugs up front. When this happens I now stay well back from the crowd and cruise in calmer waters.

At my marina there are times when there are some 50 small boats fishing just outside the marina entrance. When I see this I always throttle back to around 4 to 5 kts to produce a no-wake and wave nicely to the small fishing boats. They usually wave back as I'm sure this is because they sense my courtesy. 🙂

 

[Irish Mist]

I am seldom the one passing but radioing ahead for a "slow pass" works great. I have had too few of these requests usually they blast past.. But we do stick out and would be nice to be remembered in a friendly way. Great advice

 

[pugtug613]

Coming from a sailboat, I am very aware of my wake. The thing that makes me angry is when I give a nice distance to a slow boat or a guy fishing, pass on the stern, all of a sudden a boat just scoots in between me and the slow guy! My second pet peeve is when a boat can't drop back and pass my stern will just continue on and pass right across my bow!

 

[Bruce Moore]

Coming from a sailboat, I am very aware of my wake. The thing that makes me angry is when I give a nice distance to a slow boat or a guy fishing, pass on the stern, all of a sudden a boat just scoots in between me and the slow guy! My second pet peeve is when a boat can't drop back and pass my stern will just continue on and pass right across my bow!

These discussions always prompt me to review the COLREGS. [USCG pdf] In this case, Part B - Section II (Conduct of vessels in sight of one another). There are cases when a vessel should cross your bow. If the vessel is crossing from your starboard side and you see their red running light (stop), they are the stand-on vessel. The stand-on vessel should maintain course and speed so you, the give-way vessel, can predict their path adjust speed and course appropriately. The stand-on vessel sees your green running light (go). (15. Crossing situations)

The saying is "If to starboard red appear, 'tis your duty to keep clear"." But, even if your are the stand-on vessel, the bottom line is "Act as judgement says is proper: port or starboard, back or stop her." As we learned in our USPS courses, many boaters likely don't know (or in some cases, care) about these regulations. The Power Squadron's strong advice was, if in doubt, show some side and give way. The sooner you make your intentions clear, the safer both boats will be.

Rules 16 and 17 give clear definitions of Give-way and Stand-on. Rule 18 spells out the hierarchy of responsibility. And a sailboat under power, even when motor sailing, is a power boat.