LETTERS ⇑⇓ COURSE CORRECTIONS I think I gave you an indignant — but understandable — response in last month's Letters when I commented on the May 16 'Lectronic Latitude, Tack or Attack [we titled that letter Watch Your Tone]. My tone left something to be desired; I should have held off a couple of days and written a more constructive letter. It was pure reflex. I'll attempt to provide some more constructive — and hopefully, gentle — criticism. I love Latitude 38. That's part of the reason I was so upset. I'll stick to this specific encounter, and then close with a couple of general suggestions. In the 'Lectronic, you said: "We were having a brisk and pleasant sail, when an LPG tanker appeared from astern. No big deal. With our bearing holding steady we decided to point up a bit, slow down and let it pass ahead. Then this gun boat came roaring into view and we reconsidered our plan. Though we were monitoring VHF channel 16 we didn't hear a hail, but we did get a clear hand gesture that we should tack (clearly being on starboard tack and under sail wasn't going to help us). We were pleasuresailing, so no big deal."
JUST A BIT
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Latitude 38
• August, 2018
SUSAN KREBS
WE’VE MOVED
Danger and appropriate actions are in the eye of the beholder. From our perspective, this was a normal encounter with a ship transiting the Bay. From a professional mariner's point of view, this encounter was too close for comfort, and our actions were not decisive enough to put the pilot of the ship at ease.
I'm very glad that you knew which vessel had the right of way in this situation, but I don't think you made this clear to your readers, some of whom would not know, in the article. It wasn't clear to me, but then I'm kinda thick. And your actions, or the absence of them, showed a lack of appreciation for the seriousness of the situation and a lack of understanding of your obligations as the burdened, or give-way, vessel. They were very typical, however, of your average recreational boater. During a tanker transit, armed escort vessels and any tugs involved are under the direction of the ship's pilot, or at least they were when I was doing this up until 2000. That escort would almost certainly not have buzzed you if the pilot had not directed him to do so. He or she would not have done so unless you made him or her uncomfortable. And those Bay pilots are accustomed to very close encounters. I wasn't there, but I'd speculate that what made the pilot uncomfortable was your not taking "early and substantial" (see CG 169 on conduct of burdened vessels) action that