Christmas Parade Dangers

[RedRascal]

Last night I was on a friends boat for a Christmas parade in Seattle's Lake Union. Lovely evening for a parade. After the parade we were headed back to the marina and were beginning to transit the ship canal which is about 250' feet wide. We noticed a tug coming up the canal towards us displaying 3 lights on their mast so we knew it had a tow. It's common in our area for tugs to bring 75 foot wide gravel barges through the canal so we were expecting to see a black barge behind the tug. We moved over to the side of the canal. There was a boat ahead of us with a ton of lights on it and a very noisy portable generator. It looked like a 24' aluminum sport fishing boat with a hardtop on it. The skipper was driving from inside the covered area of the boat and looking through all the lights they had on the bow sheer line, brow of hardtop and lighted display on the deck of the bow. They did not notice the barge and proceed center channel dead straight for the tug and tow. My friend looked at me and said what are they doing, I said they can't see because of their lights. We tried to get the attention of the people on board but didn't succeed. About 40-30 seconds to impact the tug shined his spot light through their windshield and that got their attention. I am guessing the spot light might have blinded the skipper because he didn't move out of the way very quickly. It was like watching a slow motion train wreck that thankfully didn't happen. It turned out the tug was towing about a 200' fishing trawler with a second tug assisting on the stern of the fishing boat.

So for those newer folks jumping into various Christmas parades be mindful you'll be operating with other boats with restricted visibility because of lights and decorations, in addition to skippers distracted by guests. Expect the unexpected.

 

[Comodave]

Good heads up. During Christmas Parades people can become distracted very easily. Also their night vision can be impaired due to all the lights on the boat. One issue we have seen is CO poisoning due to the portable generators running all the lights. We had a case where a couple of people ended up in the hospital due to CO. Thanks for bringing this issue up to remind people about maintaining a good lookout.

 

[Portage_Bay]

I've watched the Seattle Christmas ship parade both from shore and while onboard a working boat. Almost all of the time all goes well though I have seen that some of the boat operators appear to be confused and make what seem to be bad decisions. What you witnessed was a close call that fortunately came out OK. The search light shown in the windows of a boat headed into a dangerous situation is an almost universal signal that needs to be taken seriously.

Your telling of the close call reminds me of one that did not end so well. A bayliner crossed between a tug and her tow with the loss of 5 lives. If you take the time to read the Transportation Safety Board of Canada's investigation you'll find there was plenty of blame to go all around. This accident also happend at night with lots of distraction from a fireworks show.

https://tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-reports/marine/1999/m99w0133/m99w0133.html

Please everyone, when operating at night in areas used by commercial traffic, especially when there is lots of distraction around pay attention.

I know there are some experinced tow boaters among the TF membership. They can explain why it is difficult to stop or quickly change course when towing. in many circumstances it presents a danger to the tow boat and crew.

 

[High Wire]

Decorating boat for Christmas is nice but it it illegal to have those lights on outside of the escorted parade route while underway. Your post illustrates why. That’s why all the LE are milling around.

 

[twistedtree]

Yikes. Good thing the tug operator was paying close attention.

 

[dhays]

We watched the Gig Harbor lighted boat parade. We watched from inside our boat at our slip. it was lovely. The Gig Harbor police seemed to be the lead boat as the parade did two circuits of the Harbor. A nice event by the Gig Harbor Yacht Club that has always appeared to be well organized.

During events such as these, I much prefer to participate front he dock.

Good reminder about the problems of navigating at night with lots of extraneous light around.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Although not boat parade related, I have found any navigation, after dark, in a waterway, even if well known to be stressful. Lighting, both navigational and urban becomes merged and complete lack of lighting is just as bad IMO. Radar, GPS and two people in the pilothouse with an open chart book at hand is the standing order aboard. Substantially more butt puckering than daylight cruising. Again IMO.



That being said...Night cruising is a different world.

 

[Benthic2]

Does radar let you see the tug and the barge, or is like an eclipse, where you can't see anything in the tugs "radar shadow" ?

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. B. Can't remember and it's been 2 years+ since I've been out. Sorry.

 

[BruceK]

Might be worth checking quality of vision. I was astounded at the improvement in night vision after surgical lens replacements for cataract.

 

[Comodave]

Might be worth checking quality of vision. I was astounded at the improvement in night vision after surgical lens replacements for cataract.

Even during the day the improvement was astounding for me.

 

[RedRascal]

Does radar let you see the tug and the barge, or is like an eclipse, where you can't see anything in the tugs "radar shadow" ?

In this case the tug had the tow on a really short bridle and the fishing boat may have only been about 30 feet behind the tug. Head on I am not sure if even the new tech radars could pick out two boats because the fishing boats bow raked forward close to the tugs stern. Not sure if the fishing boat had their AIS on or not. If AIS was off you'd just get the tug and an radar image that looked like 1 vessel. However in this case the tugs lights told a half truth. It was displaying 3 lights on the mast which I understand to be a tow of over 200 meters. With the tug in front, fishing boat and tug in the rear their length was probably only 100 meters. So the lead tug should have only been showing 2 lights on the mast to indicate less than 200 meters. Prior to entering the canal he may have had the tow line stretch out and was longer than 200 meters.

For us we new it was a good size tug towing and had local knowledge to be on a sharp lookout flat black barge with no nav lights. They always seem to pick black over bright yellow for barges.

 

[RedRascal]

I think if the small boat would have collided with the tug it would have just brushed/skidded alongside the tug unless it got hung up on one the tugs rub rails. However there was a woman standing in the back of the boat against the gunnel without a life jacket on and the impact may have tossed her into the water.

The situation did make me think we didn't do anything to protect ourselves if they did collide. This played out pretty fast where we went from okay her comes a tug move over to the side of the canal. To hmmm...that small boat isn't moving over. To us engaging in trying to get the attention of he small boat. I think we should have went to neutral to at least bleed off a bit of speed and create a little bit of more distance between us the potential collision.

 

[RedRascal]

Your telling of the close call reminds me of one that did not end so well. A bayliner crossed between a tug and her tow with the loss of 5 lives. If you take the time to read the Transportation Safety Board of Canada's investigation you'll find there was plenty of blame to go all around. This accident also happend at night with lots of distraction from a fireworks show.

https://tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-reports/marine/1999/m99w0133/m99w0133.html

I remember this accident, it was chilling. At night, cold water and run over by a barge. Bad, bad, bad, bad. It's amazing there were not more deaths. Thanks for posting the link to the report, I only saw the newspaper reporting and never saw the full report. Man I feel for the "speed boat" in the report that was trying to get the attention of the bayliner. It's like watching someone drive off a cliff and they had to witness it actually happen when the bayliner just kept going.

 

[Sailor of Fortune]

In this case the tug had the tow on a really short bridle and the fishing boat may have only been about 30 feet behind the tug. Head on I am not sure if even the new tech radars could pick out two boats because the fishing boats bow raked forward close to the tugs stern. Not sure if the fishing boat had their AIS on or not. If AIS was off you'd just get the tug and an radar image that looked like 1 vessel. However in this case the tugs lights told a half truth. It was displaying 3 lights on the mast which I understand to be a tow of over 200 meters. With the tug in front, fishing boat and tug in the rear their length was probably only 100 meters. So the lead tug should have only been showing 2 lights on the mast to indicate less than 200 meters. Prior to entering the canal he may have had the tow line stretch out and was longer than 200 meters.

For us we new it was a good size tug towing and had local knowledge to be on a sharp lookout flat black barge with no nav lights. They always seem to pick black over bright yellow for barges.

No matter what color of the barge, it needs running lights...as does the dead ship (fish boat) under tow

 

[twistedtree]

No matter what color of the barge, it needs running lights...as does the dead ship (fish boat) under tow

Isn't there some situation where the tug and tow are considered as a single vessel light-wise? Perhaps an ATB?

 

[BandB]

Was anyone on the radio during all this? If not, why not?

 

[BandB]

Wifey B: Fort Lauderdale Parade hit 50th year this year. We watched from home and on television. It is broadcast on Dec 24th and 25th as well for anyone wanting to see just an hour special. Also many youtube videos available. Although it's well managed with control boats and law enforcement, still a lot for first time boating participants to manage.

 

[Seevee]

I love the lighted boat parades, but quit being a participant years ago. Most folks behaved themselves, but seems like there were always a few Alpha Hotels, that really doing dumb things. The straw that broke it's back for me when some jerk let his 10 yo kid run the boat (40ish flybridge boat), kid was all over the place and shinning the light in others eyes.



Plus most of the captains had plenty to drink.



Now, have my favorite anchor spot, very safe and good viewing area, and just watch the parades. Still fun.

 

[SteveK]

Hey Red. Was this a two boat parade? you pulled off to the side, did boats behind follow?
Probably did 10 parades and in all cases it was follow the leader due to light pollution. The lead boat either was not blinded or they turned off lights in the channel.

 

[ancora]

Christmas Boat parades bring out the once-a-year skippers that haven't a clue about COLREGs.

 

[BandB]

Wifey B: Here is the full parade. View from downtown Fort Lauderdale near where they organize and collect. Much better views elsewhere along the route.

Really just like a street parade except the floats float.

 

[GFC]

We did boat parades for about 20 years until we sold Beachcomber. There is a mandatory skipper's meeting on the Wednesday night before the parade. I attended and listened to the parade leader's comments about safety. He missed a few points so I politely mentioned them and his comment was "Oh, I was just getting to that." Aw bullshit.

One of the points he missed was being situationally aware. The gathering spot before the parade is between two bridges about 1/4 mile apart. In the past boats have lost their situational awareness and have drifted back into the downstream bridge. No minor damage, but it has happened 2 times that I'm aware of.

After the parade a friend of mine who was at the meeting sent me a text asking who my fiberglass guy was. He had heard the warning at the meeting about the downstream bridge but didn't have anyone watching where he was in reference to the bridge. That lack of awareness is going to cost him about $1500-$2,000.

 

[porman]

We had a similar experience on Lake Union years ago with our Camano Troll, not during Christmas though. We were traveling across the lake at night and I noticed the lights on the North shore had gone out. While I was wondering about that I got hit with the spotlight from the tug pushing the gravel barge. Plenty of room to get out of the way. Another night we were heading towards the Montlake bridge and the light on the side of the bridge was red. This light had always been green and I thought it was for navigation. Wrong, it's to let you know that there is a wide load coming through from the other side, in this case another gravel barge.

 

[Sailor of Fortune]

Isn't there some situation where the tug and tow are considered as a single vessel light-wise? Perhaps an ATB?

an integrated tug and barge shows shows lights of a single vessel. Don't confuse an ATB (Articulated tug/barge) with an integrated unit (ITB)

 

[RedRascal]

No matter what color of the barge, it needs running lights...as does the dead ship (fish boat) under tow

Isn't there some situation where the tug and tow are considered as a single vessel light-wise? Perhaps an ATB?

It's nice when barges and such have proper lights but I don't count on them in our neck of the woods. My buddy and I did not notice any lights on the fishing trawler under tow. I talked to my buddy today about our experience and he thought the fishing boat was the Island Enterprise from the Trident Seafood fleet. https://www.tridentseafoods.com/our-story/our-fleet/ Which means I was way off in my length estimate, Island Enterprise is 312' long.

 

[RedRascal]

Was anyone on the radio during all this? If not, why not?

We were monitoring 16 and I did not hear the tug call and we did not call. We yelled at them then opted for light to signal them. Their generator sounded like the cheapest 4,000 watt generator you could buy and vibrating around on an aluminum deck. I doubt they could have heard their VHF but who knows. Neither of us instinctively went for the radio. The lady that saw use waving probably thought we were wishing them a Merry Christmas. Their boat had a creative set of lighted antlers on the hard top which was about the beam of the boat and about 4' high. Even if the lady thought we were trying to tell her they were about to get run over her view forward would have been the bright antler display.

 

[RedRascal]

Hey Red. Was this a two boat parade? you pulled off to the side, did boats behind follow?
Probably did 10 parades and in all cases it was follow the leader due to light pollution. The lead boat either was not blinded or they turned off lights in the channel.

The parade had ended and about 50-75 boats were scattered about the lake heading to here and there. This parade did have a lead boat when the parade was going. At the time there were 3 sailboats further behind us but they were waiting for a bridge(Fremont) to open.

 

[RedRascal]

Christmas Boat parades bring out the once-a-year skippers that haven't a clue about COLREGs.

And they also bring out the rental Duffy boats which have nice interior lighting for visiting while you motor around without night vision. Along with the wood fired hot tub boats that have about a foot of freeboard. They typically have lights inside the tub or underwater lights so you typically see a glow. https://lakeunionhottubboats.com/ We saw two hot tub boats and a few Duffy boats along the parade route. You need to be alert if you do one of these parades.

 

[C lectric]

Our two Christmas light parade nights were 30 yrs ago. We were out on our B&SIL's boat as it was quite a bit bigger.

First night was cloudy but no rain or wind but still darned near hit an unmarked, isolated piling the first night.

THe second night the wind was blowing and it was raining quite hard so visibilty was poor. Couldn't see from inside so the bridge it was. The Bimini top was little if any help.

THere were several small boats running around and cutting in and out of the line.
We darned near ran one of them over. Dark boat, no lights, nothing, not even a darn flashlight.

Those were the days when there was even more logging debris in the water although we didn't hit anything. It was still on our minds though.

THat was it. We pulled the plug and left. Then got chased by a tug towing something so we had to get WAY over in the channel to avoid him, rather allow him to avoid us.

We never did it again. We would though watch the other boats.

It was interesting but the odds of trouble were far to high. Could have been an error on our part or someone else's error. Didn't matter, we quit.