Chesapeake Collision
What re-enacting the unlikeliest accident on Chesapeake Bay tells us about boating safety.
Transcript
00:01The picture is so unusual because it's almost a textbook type of collision, and the powerboat is
00:09sitting on top of the sailboat.
00:12It looked a little bit staged.
00:14Once we saw the photo, the first thing is we wanted to learn is exactly what happened.
00:18And then we shared it with our readers on our social media and it quickly became the most viewed
00:23thing that we posted that year.
00:25So when the accident happened, I was actually teaching a captain's license course and I was teaching
00:30the rules of the road. So I saw the picture at the end of the day when I came out of the classroom
00:36and I was really relieved to hear that there were no injuries.
00:39That was just really lucky.
00:42So we went out on the water and went about trying to recreate this accident.
00:46So your immediate gut reaction as a professional mariner in teaching collision avoidance, is that I
00:51can totally see how this happened because of something called constant bearing, decreasing range.
00:57We started to kind of plot it out.
00:58We put the longitude and latitude into our chart plotters, we started to get it on the maneuvering
01:02board and kind of broke down what happened.
01:06And you can use anything on the boat, a stanchion or something on the boat that's fixed, and line it
01:11up on that on a vessel you're not sure about.
01:13And as long as that vessel is moving left or right of that fixed point on your boat, it should pass
01:17ahead of you or behind you. But it stays right in line with that object on the boat, that
01:21stanchion, and it gets closer — you're on a collision course.
01:24We could see how this happened very clearly.
01:28So from the powerboats operator's perspective, what he would have seen was a sailboat off of his
01:35port bow. He would have seen a sailboat there.
01:37And probably from when it was way off in the distance, it would have not moved from that place
01:45while they were approaching one another for some time.
01:47And after looking at the accident report, we see this several minutes that they were approaching
01:53one another.
01:53And here's where it gets kind of cloudy, because I was brought up as a sailor but became all things
01:59boater, so I've been in lots of power boats and lots of sailboats.
02:02Sail boaters are taught that if you're sailing and you're on a small vessel, then you have right of way
02:06over powered vessels, meaning that they have to keep clear of you.
02:11As long as you don't turn into them they have to keep clear of you, except you have to do what you
02:19can to avoid a collision.
02:21So that makes a difference if you're sailing.
02:23You have to avoid collision.
02:25He's supposed to stay out of your way at the point that you realize that this boat to your
02:29right is not staying out of your way, you have to turn to avoid.
02:32We can see it in the report that the sailboat operator gave and his quotes that I think were in
02:39the newspaper, saying, 'I saw the other boat and I knew I had the right of way.'
02:44And technically, that's not correct.
02:45We have stand on vessels and give way vessels.
02:49The stand on vessel initially is directed to maintain course and speed.
02:54The give way vessel, it's very straightforward.
02:55The give away vessel is supposed to get out of the way of the other boat.
02:58In this case, the powerboat was the give way vessel.
03:01He's supposed to get out of the way and do it early.
03:05The stand on vessel goes through a series of things that they're supposed to do.
03:11Initially, that's maintain course and speed.
03:15But then the rule is very interesting because it says when it becomes apparent that the other
03:20vessel, the give way vessel, is not taking appropriate action, the stand on vessel may take action
03:29to avoid a collision. So you're released from your obligation to maintain course and speed.
03:35And now you may take action when you see that the give away vessel is not taking appropriate action.
03:40And then in the final stage of this, the stand on vessel is directed that it shall take
03:48action when action by the give way vessel alone is not going to be sufficient to avoid a collision.
03:55So you go through this three step process on the stand on vessel's side.
04:01To be safe, you need to be aware, constantly be on alert, and move out of the way if you have to
04:06even if you're the stand on vessel.
04:09So with regard to the powerboat we're kind of stuck on Rule Five.
04:13Captain Matt, who is out there on the power boat during the re-enactment, said it's just screaming
04:18Rule Five, which is lookout.
04:20It's a one sentence long rule, but it says a ton.
04:24It says we're supposed to look out by sight and hearing and all available means, at all times.
04:29You want to be very vigilant, but you've got to avoid complacency and you really want to be on the
04:34edge of your seat all the time out there making sure that you see everything that's around you,
04:39making sure you're maintaining what we call situational awareness.
04:43So neither captain went out on the water that day thinking that they were going to have an accident.
04:49Pardon the pun, but it just wasn't on their radar screen.
04:54The thing is, we get so used to situations that we have to guard against becoming complacent, like
05:01thinking they always avoid me, or they always swerve at the last minute.
05:06That doesn't mean that we don't take proper precautions like sounding your whistle or trying to
05:11alert the other boat or second guessing, does he really see me.
05:15Whether you're a commercial fisherman, whether you're a recreational sailor, or whether you're a
05:19recreational powerboater, we all have to follow the rules of the road.
05:23Everyone's responsible. And so it's important that everyone know those rules because we clearly see
05:30here that there were three, four or five rules that were broken here and led to a collision.
05:35So opinions and passions run deep when it comes to this particular collision.
05:39And sailors feel one way about it and power voters feel another way about it.
05:45But we're not here to address those opinions.
05:47We went out and re-created this accident on the water.
05:50We're here to try to talk about how do we avoid these things in the future.
05:55Power boaters and sailors are two distinctly different groups of people.
06:02They're different in almost every way.
06:04However, one of the things they love the most is being out on the water.
06:07So just realize that that person in that other boat doesn't think like you do right or wrong.
06:12They might not be out there doing the same things that you're doing.
06:16So just respect them that they're having fun in the same environment you are.
06:20And make sure you're constantly being alert to what's going on to every situation, how you're gonna
06:26get out of it.
06:28So both boats could have taken actions to avoid this collision.
06:31In the case of the powerboat, it seems that he did not see the sailboat when it comes to the
06:38sailboat. He sees the power boat coming, but he gets stuck on maintaining course and speed and
06:45doesn't progress through the obligations of the stand on vessel as he is required, eventually
06:50required, to take action to avoid a collision.
06:53So the rules of the road are there to keep us safe and give us a set of guidelines and rules to
06:57follow so that we avoid colliding with one another.
07:01But a lot of it is common sense.
07:03You just have to try to use it.
07:06You keep your head up, you keep your head on a swivel.
07:09And then you make decisions and you take action to avoid a collision.
07:13In fact, that's even one of the rules.