The importance of having a 'lookout' and Radar Guard Zone

And here I thought our steering systems were open bath/self bleeding...
 
At about 1:00 PM today (9-13) a Washington State ferry ran over and sank a 27 foot sailboat in Harney Channel just off Orcas landing. Word has it that the skipper of the sailboat was alone and was rescued by a nearby fishing boat. The sailboat sank.
 
Auklet":11w243f7 said:
At about 1:00 PM today (9-13) a Washington State ferry ran over and sank a 27 foot sailboat in Harney Channel just off Orcas landing. Word has it that the skipper of the sailboat was alone and was rescued by a nearby fishing boat. The sailboat sank.

Thanks for that report. We were at the ferry landing on Orcas. We had driven a rental car over from Rosario and were at the store when the ferry arrived. It was quite foggy most of the day, not sure if visibility was a factor though as 10 miles was reported. I guess in time we will hear the details. News reports say the skipper of the sailboat was not injured.
 
A ferry passenger on the news last night stated that the motoring sailboat's skipper was below decks. No horns were sounded by either the ferry or the sailboat. The sailboat sunk, the ferry did not appear to have been damaged.

Be careful out there TugNuts.

http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/state-f ... nds/nZwxY/
 
This incident should make all of us even more diligent for maintaining a 'lookout' -- especially when near ferry routes in tight channels and poor visibility. Thank goodness there were no fatalities. I hope the sailboat captain makes a full report of what his circumstances were when this happened. Is it mandatory for both reports (Ferry and Sailboat) to be given and made public ?

I must admit, the Ferry boat not sounding its horn puzzles me.

I've travelled through Harney Channel when returning south from Roche Harbor at times and it is very narrow just east of Blind Bay. I much prefer going south of Shaw Island when fog or the chance of fog is around. Even in foggy conditions in the San Juans I've noticed the Ferries don't slow down but I've always heard the fog horns being sounded frequently.

Question: Do all Charts (paper and/or electronic) show the Ferry designated routes in/around the San Juan Islands ? My 5212 Chart Plotter does not but does for the Clinton and Kingston ferries much further south. Commercial shipping lanes are always shown on my charts.

Thanks for posting
 
I heard both were at fault...
Ferry was the give-way vessel,
but the sailboat skipper was not on deck!
 
From what I've read so far it appears from people's reports who were on the Ferry that there was no fog -- although other reports say there was fog. If it's correct about there not being fog it's very hard to understand that the Ferry captain did not see the sailboat or if (s)he did it was at the last moment and the collision wasn't avoidable.
 
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