Video of Pleasure Boater colliding with Washington State Ferry

Good thing it appears everyone was OK. Not sure why the ferry captain didn't reverse sooner as it seems clear the captain of the pleasure boat was either totally oblivious to the ferry's course, or was unable to change course.
 
I thought the boat crossing paths from the stbd (moving right to left) has the right of way. Pretty clear though that someone wasn't paying attention.
 
the smaller more maneuverable boat IMHO would be the give-way vessel..
 
I always assumed that the ferry had right of way, as it isnt maneuverable.... (ie ferries, freighters tugs/barges)

other than that guy on right has right of way.....



in this case who ever is right or wrong, its kinda like being the pedestrian that was hit in the cross walk, you might be in the right but you still got hit by a car.
 
Another way to remember it is if you see the boat's port light which is red, it means stop, which in actuality means slow down and pass behind the boat coming from the right. No excuse for not manning the wheel while underway. I would never expect a ferry, tug or any large vessel to give way, but that one may have been able to slow and adjust course and gone behind. No sense being bullheaded if it means killing the guy in the small boat, especially when he could have had a stroke, seizure, or perhaps a severely impacted bowel.
 
looked like the guys auto pilot just kept on ticking correcting its course and just kept on going.
 
eroyd said:
I thought the boat crossing paths from the stbd (moving right to left) has the right of way. Pretty clear though that someone wasn't paying attention.
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You are correct, and more than one person wasn't paying attention! Pretty embarrassed ferry captain I would imagine. Yikes.
 
Tugcapitan said:
You are correct, and more than one person wasn't paying attention! Pretty embarrassed ferry captain I would imagine. Yikes.
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I am a bit surprised you think the ferry captain was not aware of that pleasure craft (not paying attention)? It looks to me he was well aware of the pleasure craft (5 blasts of horn done twice) but rather I think anger and stubbornness may have got the best of him.....and that will likely get him in some trouble I think. Ferry captain seemed to refuse to take evasive action to avoid collision. Kinda reminds me of the incident with BC Ferry that "quok'ed " the boat floating in the middle of the ferry lanes in Horseshoe Bay many years ago. You can't hit someone just because they shouldn't be there! It is possible that a pleasure craft could make a brutal move like that if the operator had had a medical condition and was passed out at the helm for example. Despite the pleasure guy being a idiot in this particular case, I feel the ferry captain should have attempted to avoid collision by reversing much sooner than he did (which was in fact too late)- and not maybe expecting the pleasure craft to make a turn in time. Its required to attempt to avoid a collision no matter who has right away and it seems the ferry did not make that attempt other than the warning/danger blasts. The pleasure craft appeared on the video to definitely be on ferry's right however according to the website the video was posted on (gcaptain), the editor comments that the pleasure craft had been coming from a give way overtaking position ( which doesn't seem to show on the video). Also a pleasure craft should give way to larger commercial craft running their channel routes/lanes. Being on the toilet with nobody at the helm and vessel on autopilot going 8-10 knots across a ferry/shipping lane is just plane wrong. I feel both should be slapped for this one but the true idiot is the pleasure craft I feel.
 
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Dogbreath said:
Thanks for posting this it's been a helluva rough week and I really needed the laugh
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No problem Carl, glad I could uplift your week a bit! I thought the passenger who threw his arms up in the air and yelled at the boater was pretty funny. Also one of my first couple of thoughts after I watched the vid was ....wow that is one tough boat ( as the pleasure craft looked to take a good hit without sustaining any obvious damage!)
 
Birdsnest said:
looked like the guys auto pilot just kept on ticking correcting its course and just kept on going.
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EXACTLY, BN! Noticed that too. Someone was below washing dishes while the autopilot was in charge. Dumb idea...
 
Peahead said:
No problem Carl, glad I could uplift your week a bit! I thought the passenger who threw his arms up in the air and yelled at the boater was pretty funny. Also one of my first couple of thoughts after I watched the vid was ....wow that is one tough boat ( as the pleasure craft looked to take a good hit without sustaining any obvious damage!)
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Ya, he got lucky it was a glancing blow off both their bows...
 
Peahead said:
...I feel the ferry captain should have attempted to avoid collision by reversing much sooner than he did...
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Consider that from the video we can't tell when the ferry actually went into reverse. We see the prop wash from the bow appear very late, but we don't know when the stern engines went into reverse. Given that the ferry is moving very slow, the captain may have already been in reverse long before the video started. I think it boils down to equal blame for both vessel captains:
  1. Although the pleasure craft was the stand on vessel, "captain" did not appear to have been keeping watch at all.
  2. The sea conditions were such that the ferry captain should have been able to take sufficient action to avoid collision. The ferry was not restricted in maneuverability.

Despite the size of the ferry there is no official rule regarding the relative tonnage of each vessel, and who has "right of weight". However, anyone driving a pleasure craft with half a brain knows that you don't mess with ferries, commercial fishing vessels, tugs, barges or freighters.
 
Fisherman Rob said:
Consider that from the video we can't tell when the ferry actually went into reverse. We see the prop wash from the bow appear very late, but we don't know when the stern engines went into reverse. Given that the ferry is moving very slow, the captain may have already been in reverse long before the video started. I think it boils down to equal blame for both vessel captains:
  1. Although the pleasure craft was the stand on vessel, "captain" did not appear to have been keeping watch at all.
  2. The sea conditions were such that the ferry captain should have been able to take sufficient action to avoid collision. The ferry was not restricted in maneuverability.

Despite the size of the ferry there is no official rule regarding the relative tonnage of each vessel, and who has "right of weight". However, anyone driving a pleasure craft with half a brain knows that you don't mess with ferries, commercial fishing vessels, tugs, barges or freighters.
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There are other clauses in the Collision regs about vessels constrained by their drafts, and narrow channels. Like you say - both 2 blame...
 
The rules only work if both parties know understand and follow them. I'm sure many of us have "given way", when by rule we were the stand on vessel. Like driving a car, sometimes it's better to be safe than right! Always assume the other guy may either not know, or follow the rules.
 
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