COMMON SENSE MATTERS

It is every sailor’s responsibility to know the rules of the road and follow them, so we all can be safer at sea.

It’s foggy on a dark night. Our boat is sailing through a narrow channel at 10 knots. We hear a foghorn. Two minutes later, the horn sounds closer. A few more horns are sounded. Out of the mist, a tugboat appears, crossing our bow at short range. As the vessel passes, I notice a hawser line extending from the stern into the water. I realize the tugboat is towing something. Instantly, I turn the wheel and sail 180 degrees away from the tugboat. Our crew could hear the waves of an oncoming craft. We watched in horror as the faint outline of a barge slipped past. Had I not maneuvered away, the barge would have rammed us. The sad episode took place more than 40 years ago, and I still…

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Cruising World (Digital) - 1 Issue, April 2025

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