[Sandhead]

Today was a typical gong show on the river.

Started the day off almost getting hit by a commerical boat drifting down the river. I was anchored in fairly fast moving water and a lady in a commerical boat drifted down without a net and almost took me out.

Casted out with the 18oz weight and it didnt hold, had to pull the anchor and move.

Tried to set the anchor three times and it didnt stick, much to the delight to the three boats around me.

After finally having the anchor stick, tossed out both rods with 12oz weight and had two bites, one around 5 and half feet stuck.

To make this a real long weekend gong show though, saw a a$$hole of a tug boat come within 5 feet of a fiberglass boat. The tug was towing almost a half kilometer of wood. Not sure why the tug had to come so close as he had almost a kilometer of river to navigate.... really scary when i noticed that the fiberglass bayliner wasnt aware of what was going around. Have some crazy video of the situation...

Surprisingly the dock was quiet, usually on a long weekend the dock is where is the real gong show happens, was suprised to find the gong show on the river today

 

[eimaj]

Thanks for the report,

it should be noted that the Tug is in the right of way and the fiberglass has to be aware of what is going on and be ready to move if required. Not only acocording to maritime law, but also for his own safety.

Any pics of the Dino

 

[Sandhead]

No pictures of the dino, lots of the fight though

I thought that a boat anchored technically had the right of way?

 

[Richard Nixon]

Not if he is in a shipping lane and technically the river is a shipping lane
better re-write your operators licsence ;D ;D
Also you are required to fly a black flag showing you are at anchor

 

[Steelie Trav]

No pictures of the dino, lots of the fight though

I thought that a boat anchored technically had the right of way?

Not when it comes to a tug in tow, they can't maneuver at all with that many booms behind them. So here is a note to all boaters, keep out of the way of tugs on the river they do have the right of way........even if they don't my money would be on the tug or its load. Having said that the tug operator should have sounded off if he thought the boats were to close to him or his load. I have almost been run down at night on the river with my nav lights on, definitely gets the blood flowing.

 

[Sandhead]

i dunno..
the river is almost a kilometer wide at that point, and the boats fishing were off to the side near the shore. The tug had tons of room to choose his route. I would say that he choose to take his load super close all six boats moored..
Whatever maritime law says what i saw on the river today was totally not safe

I was thinking the fiberglass boat should have been pulling its anchor it was too busy dealing with snagged fishing lines.

i would have cut the lines the dealt with anchor... the boater gunned the boat and dragged the anchor down the river. it was a interesting tactic, not one that i would have chosen but it seemed to have payed off for that guy.

if i would have had my four month old son on board my boat that day i probably would have shot the tug driver, good thing that guns are illegal in canada

 

[cape resilient]

Like some irresponsible sport fisherman, you will find some commercial operators acting the same but I would think a tug boat captain would have more professionalism and realize the danger and act accordingly ....... :naughty:

Being on the water for over 20 years myself I would never allow myself to be in that situation , but I would recommend you contact the coastguard next time and let him / her deal with the issue at hand and maybe the fisherman or tug boat captain should be repremanded before they hurt one of us or our loved ones.

Cape R

 

[JetBoat Jim]

I have been out anchored 40 feet from log booms , no where near shipping lanes, and had boats go between me and the log booms. :naughty:...........on the other hand I have had tugs going full steam power down to a crawl to pass me while being anchored, then powering back up after a wave.

but there is a few spots I anchor that have been honked at to move, but no problem, just move. those booms are not easy to drag around a corner.

 

[Richard Nixon]

You guys seem to missing the point here "TUGS HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY" Do you really think it easy to keep control of few thousand pound of wood being hauled behind the tug. Given the fact the river coming back up a good 5 feet or so in the last week and half and currents to deal with and making sure they don't loose part of the boom to bar. It's way easier for us to pull anchor and move then it is for the tugs to manoeuvre around us. It your responsibility to ensure the safety of your boat, and if that means pulling anchor and moving then thats what we have to do.. I have done this lots of time in the past not only for tugs but aslo to avoid a tree or 2 coming down on me.

 

[Fishaholic]

Not to mention that these guys(tug and commercail operators) are very well seasoned at running a vessle...... just cause someone a little worried does not mean that the "experianced" operator didnt know what he was doing ......................... :2cents:


eace:

 

[Fishaholic]

And Bill........... pretty sure an anchored vessle has right of way over anything powered.

.not trying to start nuthin.... jus what i thought ???

 

[fishnfvr]

We were also on the river one time when were were anchored fishing for sturgeon and we had a tug and boom come within 10 feet of us. We stood there and waited for him to give us a signal to move which he did not. We figured he was going AROUND us - which he did not. We have had tugboat operators toot and we have absolutely no problem moving - but how the hell are we suppose to know where exactly he is going. After wards he came over to us and gave us sh$t for not moving. And we asked him why he didnt give us some sort of a signal (Like honk) and we would have moved. It takes a few minutes to pull up the anchor and rods. We respect the fact that these guys have a job to do and we will move if asked (no problem at all) . Anyways I asked him why he did not honk - and he said IT WAS NOT HIS JOB TO HONK! Unfortunately we did not know where he was going until he was right beside us - All we were asking was for him to tell us to get out of the way! And to note - it wasnt like we were in the middle of the river we were off to the side and he went between us and the SHORE to pass through! I am sure it is a frusterating job but I do think we have to work together here!
But Bill - we were the ONLY boat there off to the SIDE and what does it take to honk a warning whistle and we will move! WE had absolutely no way of knowing where he was going and we didnt think he would go between us and the shore when he could of gone around - OR HONKED
I respect that they have a job to do - I TOTALLY RESPECT THAT.

 

[Richard Nixon]

I don't want to get into a pissing match with anyone on here but we all have to aware of whats going on around us. When I'm fishing the Fraser and at anchor I'm always looking up river to see whats coming down. Its only common sense and like I stated before its allot easier for us to pull anchor and move then it is for a tug to try to manoeuvre around us. Their is always 2 sides to every story and I would like to hear the tug operator side too. Sandhead did you get the name of the tug and was this below or above the Mission bridge ??

 

[eimaj]

I should have added, what a couple others have already touched on. The tugs have the right of way, but they should try and keep to some basic safety rules also. That said there is at least 2 captains out there that are tired of dealing with fishermen, one of them I can't blame as he's had numerous fishermen tell him off over the last bunch of years even when he did try and accomodate them, so now he's just cranky.

Still the biggest point to remember is big hard nosed boat with a mile of logs in tow will always win when it comes to a shoving match.

 

[firstlight]

Ive seen some good and bad tug captains out there.
Chances are he was being a goof if he came that close.
Most of them are decent people but there a couple who never slow down for anything.
Have seen them run close to shore just to stir up the bar guys more than once.
Have also seen fish hooked soon after more than once.

 

[woody]

For a tug captain to say it's not his job to honk is ridiculous, if I'm driving on the road and some guy is walking down the road with his walkman on do I just run him over or or drive so close to him that I brush his arm to teach him a lesson? or do I let him know I'm there by honking? I agree that you should keep your eyes open and move for the tug, I've done it more than once up around the mouth of Dewdney when sturgeon fishing, but for them to risk sinking and killing someone, and I don't care how good they are when pulling a load of logs that weighs thousands of tons and coming within ten feet of an anchored boat with no signal you are risking that persons life, that is criminal and unbelievably stupid and pig headed and you are definitely risking someones life for no good reason. :naughty: That being said you should be keeping an eye out upstream when anchored, a tree coming downstream isn't going to go around you and will suck the bow of your boat into the water in seconds if tangled in your anchor line, you should always keep a very sharp knife available to cut your line fast if the need arises.

 

[musicman]

Now that's some good advice regarding anchoring and lines. Have a very sharp knife close by because things can happen pretty quick out on the flow and you need to be ready to cut and release if need be.

Great advice Woody

Thanks

Musicman

 

[bigjay]

Any operator with right of way has to sound a collision warning, which is 5 blasts. Than when it's brown trouser time a single continuous blast until the collision or dangers passed.

Oh, the mandatory boat course doesn't give enough specifics to solve the problems like two fishing vessels engaged in fishing unable to move easily on a collision course. I'd go with the commercial have right of way. Same with the tug and tow.

As a cautious person I would consider the Fraser a shipping lane as far as the booming ground go which would mean you have move even from anchor if a collision with a commercial vessels is imminent.

Again the basic boaters course does not cover this at all!

Have fun, Jason

 

[scoopy]

If you are on the water you should know what is going on around you at all times. If a tug boat is coming at you MOVE. Common sense would tell me that my fibreglass boat versus a tug would not end well. I would rather be pi#$ed off at a careless boat operator and move myself,rather than stand my ground because I have right of way. Who had right of way really isn't that big of a deal, getting injured or worse is. Keep your eyes open and always be ready to deal with anything when on the water, especially if you are in a shipping lane!!!


Matt

 

[cape resilient]

Like I said before take a vessel number , call the coastguard and report the incident.

Its the only way to get THE BAD VESSEL CAPTIANS on watch and if they get enough complaints about the same Captian, TRUST ME HE (SHE) WILL GET A CALL OR EVEN AN SURPRISE VESSEL VISIT !!!

HOWEVER, keep in mind your action will also be noted ....... so just be safe thats all that counts and check the ego when pushing off the dock .

Cape R
Remember Larger Vessels need more berth .......................... my feeling , lets give it to them eace: