Someone's REALLY bad day

[Valiente]

If that wasn't a suicide attempt, it was Captain Stevie Wonder in command.

[sailingdog]

The really tragic part of this video is if the sailboat had turned to starboard, as is usually the case, it might have gotten clear of the ferry completely.

Originally Posted by Andyman

This is even worse!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkqKpnU8sCE

[TrueBlue]

A while back, another forum discussion over that video, concluded that since the confused skipper's prior boat had wheel steering, he became disoriented with the tiller and froze . . . don't know how true that is.

Edit - I may have it backwards - It was quite a while ago and don't recall if the destroyed boat had a wheel or tiller.

[merttan]

About the New London ferries... Especially the jet ferries... You see them coming, blink your eye and they are already next to you...
Be careful around New London harbor if you are not familiar with the area, ferry hours are usually at every hour incoming and outgoing.

[sailingdog]

The high-speed New Bedford ferry is a large catamaran and moves really fast... so it is one you really have to keep an eye on in the Buzzards Bay area.

[davidcctx]

this thread makes my stomach churn

[pirateofcapeann]

It’s the ones in NY that bothered me! They seem to think they own the water and the rules just don’t pertain to them! (Must be a NY thing). I’ll give the devil his due though as those guys have one tough job piloting through that mess, particularly with the summer weekend traffic!

[sandsailor]

i looked at this several times and the sailboat was in the wrong for sure what was he thinking???

[tenuki]

I have to say that my experience with Ferries in Puget Sound is that they are very aware and give boaters wide berths ( I try to return the favor ). Edmonds isn't the busiest area, but it can get crowded some days. I've never felt even remotely worried, but then I keep a very close ferry watch when I'm out there. Between that and the VTS it keeps me awake.

The closest call I had was a cruise ship way outside the VTS. I saw it coming miles away and tried my best to sail out of it's path but it kept turning to intercept (did I mention it was way outside the VTS?) To make matters worse it had two coast guard small gunboats escorting it and they enjoyed zipping in circles around us with their machine guns waving. I could tell they enjoyed it because they were smiling, laughing and waving. Between those two wakes it got rather interesting out there. Man, those cruise ships are HUGE and for some reason travel well outside the VTS occasionally. annoying!

Puget Sound VTS and Edmonds/Kingston ferry route in my sailing area: