BruceK
Moderator Emeritus
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- Oct 31, 2011
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Sydney route ferries displaying a red diamond have right of way over everything. When you hear 5 blasts, watch out, some ferry skippers are good guys, some are anything but.As I approached the mouth of Mare Island Strait/Napa River, I saw about 75 sailboats exiting the strait and fanning out to all the courses in my general direction. They must have been part of a sail race as there were still another 25-30 in the strait still heading out. I knew I'd have my hands full just dodging these little sailors. ...Meg spots the high speed ferry about a mile astern plowing toward us at about 32 kts. By now, I'm in the thick of the sailboat cluster, dodging port and stbd as they seem oblivious to the presence of anyone beyond their bow.
This ferry blows through at full speed, barely 30 feet from the closest sailboat and probably 125 ft off our port side. At least I had enough room to maneuver for his wake and I didn't see any sailboats capsized, but I imagined the Capt upstairs at the helm smiling and laughing at the disturbance he caused. It was a pretty gutsy maneuver for such a large, fast vessel in such a confined and crowded area.
The GPS track of threading a path through a racing sailboat fleet can be interesting, though it won`t show the periods of idling and WOT to get through. I fully accept the rights of sailboat fleets but guys who tack in your water are asking for trouble.