How much room is required/reasonable for a sailboat to give a fishing boat?
Reason for my question: my wife and I were sailing our 30' sailboat in a channel that was about a mile wide, and saw a fishing boat coming our way. I angled our boat away to the point where I thought we were well clear of creating any issue--I could see the fisherman on board but couldn't make out any facial features. My guess is that we were more than 500 feet away.
But he blew 5 blasts on the horn and motioned us away and yelled something at us, but we could barely hear that he had shouted, much less make out what he said (but I can guess
). I immediately changed course away even further, and he acknowledged that.
I still don't think we were anywhere near creating a problem, but I would appreciate any information from others who know how much clearance I should be giving fishing boats. I am assuming they had fishing nets down (no I'm not referring to recreational fishing with a rod over the side
).
I do think it's important to respect others on the water, especially those making their living there, so I want to be sure of what's required.
Thanks,
Frank.