Some sail boaters need to seriously review the Navigation Rules. The stories to follow are so preposterous that I must make my standard disclaimer: I do not make up these stories. I’m sure many in the sailing community wish I had fabricated the stories, which by all accounts reflect poorly on the general sailing community who are squared away sailors.

Coast Guardsman coxswain Jay Douglas described an incident in the spring of 2004 on Muskegon Lake involving a sailboat and large motor vessel. The motor vessel Joseph L. Block, a 728-foot long, 78-foot wide “lake carrier,” was transiting three-mile-long Muskegon Lake in early evening. At the time, a sailboat regatta was underway. “I couldn’t believe it, this 30-foot sailboat comes about directly in front of the Block and loses it wind,” said Douglas.

Captain Sheldon of the Block said, “The sailboat disappeared underneath my bow. All I could do is sound the danger signal [five short blasts].” What could any captain do traveling at five knots, while drawing 23.6 feet. Not even the bow and stern thrusters were effective at that speed.

“He missed hitting the sailboat by feet, “said Douglas, who approached the sailboat captain after the Block had passed. “I stood down the captain for such a bone-headed maneuver and his response: ‘I’m a sailboat I have the right-of-way.’” With that mentality, he had no right being on the water. If this sailboat arrogance was a one time write-off I wouldn’t be writing about it at all, but I often hear similar sailboat right-of-way concerns from other commercial captains and even Coast Guardsmen.

Chief Reed told me he was transiting a narrow channel in Lake Macatawa, Holland with a vessel in tow. He had the Coast Guard boat’s blue law enforcement light flashing when he encountered a sailboat tacking back and forth in the narrow channel. The sailboat captain insisted that Chief Reed stop and give way. Chief Reed in accordance with the Inland Navigation Rules maintained course and speed. When the sail boater drew near he hollered out: “Don’t you know the rules, sailboats have the right-of-way.”

I have heard similar stories from other Coasties. My former boss, Commander Roger Dubuc, told me that while he was outbound aboard the Coast Guard cutter, Sherman, in San Diego Harbor a sailboat ran into the 378-foot long cutter. The sailboat struck the Sherman’s bow just aft of the anchor pocket. “We were steaming along at one knot, if that, due to heavy vessel traffic in the restricted channel. The sailboat lay alongside our cutter. It’s captain yells up at our captain that as a sailboat he had the right-of-way,” said Dubuc. Unbelievable or maybe totally believable—read on.

Captain Paul Allers skippers for Arnold Transit Company, a Mackinac Island Ferry and freight service that has been operating in the Straits of Mackinac for over a hundred years. Captain Allers himself has been working on boats for over fifty years. “I’ve gone from coal steam driven boats to jet driven boats,” said Captain Allers, who hails from a long line of family mariners that dates backs over 150 years, a maritime history that includes nineteenth century Great Lakes sailors.

Captain Allers described an incident he witnessed in the Round Island passage, which borders Mackinac Island, Lake Huron. The incident would make the most devout sailboat advocate wince. According to Captain Allers, the motor vessel Indiana Harbor, a 1000-foot ore carrier, encountered a sailboat in a meeting situation while steaming along on a westerly course through the narrow passage. The operator of the 36-foot sailboat hailed the Indiana Harbor on Channel 16 insisting that the captain move over to the right side of the channel. The sail boater was demanding right-of-way privileges over the giant vessel while crowing over the marine radio his sailboat status. The captain of the Indiana Harbor, which at the time was drawing 28 feet in a 35 feet-foot deep channel, faced two options: either muscle past the nincompoop or comply.

After a heated exchange over the marine radio, the Indiana Harbor captain acquiesced even though according to the rules he was the stand-on vessel. Navigation Inland Rule 9 clearly reads: “A sailing vessel shall not impede the passage of a vessel that can safely navigate only within a narrow channel or fairway.” The 60,000 ton leviathan with a beam of 105 feet—nearly three times the length of the sailboat—eased over to the right side of the 400-yard wide channel, precariously close to shallow water. Captain Allers said, “The Indiana Harbor was kicking up mud. I had to hand it to the Captain, he displayed remarkable seamanship skills. It was a very close call.”

While the motor vessel captain displayed remarkable skills, the sailboat captain displayed remarkable ignorance and a total lack of respect for proper decorum so honored by professional sailors. He also displayed a sailboat right-of-way carte blanche mentality so often seen on the water. “In my many years on the water, I’ve seen far too many incidents with pleasure craft, mostly sail, that fail to abide by the rules of seamanship and courtesy,” said Captain Allers.

Believe me, Captain Allers is not alone. Such disgruntlement regarding sail boaters and their ignorance of the rules is frequently aired by professional mariners that I talk with. There is a sure way to right the ship and that is for these wayward sail boaters to review the Navigation Rules and join the majority of sail boaters that do comply and thus boat smart.

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