Look out!

My last voyage in th Medway resulted in me contemplating the hazard of being run down by a ship. I think this is the biggest risk for PioMicroYacht. For hazards such as adverse weather conditions and sea state are probably low risk because of my level of caution. But if a ship comes in your direction and does not see you ... or I do not see it .....

I have to admit I can think of two other potential collision situations  that were somewhat of the ordinary. 

On a trip to Swanage from Christchurch harbour, I was south of the Old Harry Rocks in the dark. A yacht was passing me easily, but when fairly close turned directly towards me. I had to row hard to get out the way. Itr obviously had not seen me, despite my navigation lights and radar reflector. 

A second one is that on arrival at the  Plymouth Sound from the Avon Estuary I was distracted by looking at a classic old ship, I failed to notice a freighter coming rapidly down the harbour. The first thing I knew was an advance party, a large black rib, whih came straight up to me and told me to get out of the way, which I quickly did.

I am not counting when crossing the English Channel and I told the support boat I was stopping for a break. They replied sternly 'No you shouldn't ...  row hard ...  There is a container ship over there coming straight in our direction."

It takes two to tango, as they say. So both ships/ boats have to keep a lookout and be prepared to follow the collision avoidance regulations. Of course, large ships cannot really get out of your way.

The problem with rowing is that I am facing the wrong way, but I learned on rivers  how when rowing to turn round and quickly scan the horizon for what is coming. If in doubt, I stop and turn PicoMicroYacht to get a better look. 

This is what I was doing in my recent Thames Estuary voyage. I turned to look closely at the approaching tug, fully alert and realised I was growing in apprehension. 

Was the helm distracted by some other activity, or did they see me all the way from afar?  I zoomed in on my photograph of the tug and  saw the helm was hunched over some device, their forarms lifted infront of them, clutching it. Was it a mobile phone? Or was it a steering device? I don't know.

Curious, I googled the following three words: distraction, ship, accident.

Up came a link to a Maritime and Coastguard Agency Marine Guidance Note. The title was 'Human Element Guidance: Part 3. Distraction. The fatal danger of mobile phones and other personal devices when working. '

The first sentence read as follow: 'Use of mobile phones and other personal devices has been found to be a significant contributory factor in maritime accidents and incidents.'

It then outlined the risks and reasons. It turns out that the mechanism of risk of using a mobile phone in a ship can be similar to that when driving. 

I made a note to review all distracting activities when voyaging in PicoMicroYacht.