What would you do in this situation?

[pubgolf]

Howdy Ausfishers,
Went out to the reef fishing last Thursday afternoon.

Had a great afternoon even got a feed.

The thing that got a little bit up my nose happened when we were entering the leads to the mouth of the creek that went to the ramp we launched from at about 8pm.

To add a little interest to the endless lights flashing at the entry was the fact that a dredge was parked smack in the middle of the channel.

So as i get in to the channel doing about 6 knots a Prawn Trawler which was sitting in behind the dredge swung out and followed us up the channel.

The problem was that the trawler was gaining ground on us. Not a bit but plenty.
I had one thing he didnt. Speed. I was lit up correctly with Running lights and a mast light both working fine.

This moron got to within about 12 feet of the back of my boat.
If my outboard had all of a sudden decided to stop working this guy would have cut my boat in half without half a chance of a reaction.

So my question is
If this happened to you what action if any would you take?

Bear in mind that i have the rego, name of the trawler i even know where the fool lives.

Am i overreacting and are there clowns like this everywhere or should i wonder around his place...............? or should i just let it go?

:thumbsup:

Rod

[Fish Guts]

was it a 6 knot zone in the channel ?

idiots are everywhere mate. definately not worth going around there it would prove nothing and could turn very nasty. report him if he does it again.

[FNQCairns]

You have nothing without video evidence, very rude and a bit of a chuckle for the Trawler skipper I am sure.

cheers fnq

[spears]

Very stupid thing by the trawler operator,mind you one doesn’t need a university degree to operate such a vessel..i think you were followed by a moron..

[Angla]

Very stupid thing by the trawler operator,mind you one doesn’t need a university degree to operate such a vessel..i think you were followed by a moron..

lol

Chris

[BrewGuru]

obviously on auto and gone down to make a coffee

[garman1]

I thought 6 knots was the speed limit around a dredge, as a skipper your speed is governed by the prevailing conditions surrounding your boat and it is better to be careful and a bit slow than sorry........................

You can't do much to him except to wish him a wide berth and hope that at some point he will gain some patience and sensibility.

I think you did the right thing.......................stay on your course and let him go round you if he wants!

[bigjimg]

A handheld spotlight can say a thousand words...hello here i am.Jim

[poundalead]

So can a hand-held beer bottle thrown at the windscreen! Hello here I am......... What an idiot. I would just try and keep a wide berth. No need for a confrontation

Cheers Benny

[pubgolf]

Good one poundalead,
Pity there were no stubbies on board.
I ended up giving it some stick and getting out of there
But what a moron
If the outboard had of cut out he was straight over the top of us
All for a larf with a deckie who cant count to ten.
Hmm he parks his trawler where we launch
He who laughs last laughs loudest
:thumbsup:
Rod

[gawby]

I think the idea of throwing stubbies
is as bad as the trawler following to close.
Graeme

[freddofrog]

Sorry, I don't understand the dillema, just report him, end of story. I fail to see the problem here. Why wouldn't you report him? Maybe you "don't want to get involved" or would you rather see it happening again to someone else.

No nothing "legal" will come of it but that's fine.

The marine authorities will contact him. He will deny it but next time out you can be sure he will be more on the lookout which is what you want anyway right?

As for what to do on the night, a spotlight, horn, bottle all sound like good ideas but I gotta ask the question, why didn't you get out of the way a lot sooner rather than let it get dangerous. Sounds like you have a part to play in this too.

Sorry but that's just the way I see it.

[FNQCairns]

I just twigged this was the channel into Yorkeys?, at low tide not much room to move and that dredge sometimes is in a painful position. It may have moved now it's been almost a year since I launched there.

I do suspect he wanted you to move over, still it's 300m long, why would he stand on and save 4 seconds???

cheers fnq

[oldboot]

You should report him without delay.

If the coppers get a few reports of a similar nature, the'll know who is telling the truth.

this sort of idiot never does this stuff once.

he might come home to find a copper with a speed gun waiting one night.

remember the 6 knots is almost always accompanied by the words "no wash"... at least in the rules.

cheers

[Hornet Rider]

pubgolf, sounds like he was playing with you mate, unfairly no doubt & it's a dangerous game. It's unlikely he was on auto pilot in the creek. It's the intimidation factor that gets under your skin, & most men can't immediately handle that. We tend to dig in, hold our ground & don't like to be pushed around. Women cop it all the time, they live with it from an early age & they have survival strategies to deal with it. You can't be responsible for the actions of others & you can't put brians in a monument. If it was me, I'd either go about, pull over or arc it up & get well ahead, depending on the circumstances, draft, etc. No mater what situation you're in, you always need to plan an escape route. Depending on how well you handle conflict you could eye ball him & tell how much you didn't enjoy it, but there's risk in doing that. The pen is more powerful than the sword, so you could report the incident, in the third person to MSQ & QPol, without being emotional. You don't have to ask them to do anything, but it will have been formally reported & they may choose to follow-up. There's risk associated with that option too. He could be just a bully & there's only one way to deal with a bully. Alternatively, he could be a serious menace, they're the ones you stay well clear of. Let the coppers deal with them, they have ways & means.

[SunnyCoastMark]

Sounds like he needs a snapper to the back of the head....;D ...........or a grunter (in FNQ)

Mark

[oldboot]

Sunny mate you gota use the right tool...... everybody knows that a large mullet is the correct fish for slapping about the head.

A snapper it not well balanced when held by the tail and a grunter anly a bit better......you will get a much more comfortable grip, the long solid body will yeild a much more satifying blow........;D


seriously this idiot did this on purpose.... he was hiding behind the dredge and intentionaly came out to menace you....... report the b@#@$&D.
it wont have been the firts or last time he has tried this sort of thing.

cheers

[Dory4.1]

Was he trawling at the time? I'd probably give him a flash of the hand held spot light on the of chance he hadnt seen you, and do exactly what you did, avoid a collision by getting out of his way.

Rgs
Michael

[TimiBoy]

You should report him.

If he hasn't been reported before, it will hopefully make him more careful in future.

If he has then a history is building. The Police will investigate it, or so they told me last time I enquired about this sort of thing. At the least he'll know they're onto him.

Cheers,

Tim

[GBC]

You really think he was hiding behind a dredge just to wait til someone came along to upset? Give me a break.

I don't condone what he did, and once he was aligned with the channel he could have slowed again, but I'd suspect he was just turning into your channel from god knows where.
He probably needed a lot of way on just to turn the thing - especially if going with the tide.
I've parked in the pigpens a few times at Portsmith and various others and its not fun. Most deep draught vs hull length vessels require a LOT of water over the rudder to get any helm at all. eg Six knots s.o.g on a gps while running downstream during the run out tide will not give a trawler satisfactory steerage.
Again, I'm not condoning his actions, however there are plenty of situations where - stuff 6 kts I've got to get this thing turned come into play.

As for throwing stubbies, sinkers, fish etc - talk's cheap fellas- let's see someone try it. Pros don't generally stuff around with that sort of behaviour.

Again, I understand how you feel, I've been rounded up by a few in the Moolooaba a few times on a run out tide and been forced to either yield or cross the bar immediately. I also understand that if I'd have stayed in the way, I'd have most probably been bunted by some bloke panicking to keep off the rocks.

I suppose the jist of it is - if you've got a big boat up your arse in a confined area get out of the way. Argue about who had right of way later while you're alive. I'd report it if you genuinely feel that he was playing games.

He'll probably quote rule 9c - Small vessels must get out of the way of any vessel which can only navigate within a narrow channel - or something like that - probably a good one for all us trailer boat owners to remember when faced with similar circumstances.

[finding_time]

You really think he was hiding behind a dredge just to wait til someone came along to upset? Give me a break.

I don't condone what he did, and once he was aligned with the channel he could have slowed again, but I'd suspect he was just turning into your channel from god knows where.
He probably needed a lot of way on just to turn the thing - especially if going with the tide.
I've parked in the pigpens a few times at Portsmith and various others and its not fun. Most deep draught vs hull length vessels require a LOT of water over the rudder to get any helm at all. eg Six knots s.o.g on a gps while running downstream during the run out tide will not give a trawler satisfactory steerage.
Again, I'm not condoning his actions, however there are plenty of situations where - stuff 6 kts I've got to get this thing turned come into play.

As for throwing stubbies, sinkers, fish etc - talk's cheap fellas- let's see someone try it. Pros don't generally stuff around with that sort of behaviour.

Again, I understand how you feel, I've been rounded up by a few in the Moolooaba a few times on a run out tide and been forced to either yield or cross the bar immediately. I also understand that if I'd have stayed in the way, I'd have most probably been bunted by some bloke panicking to keep off the rocks.

I suppose the jist of it is - if you've got a big boat up your arse in a confined area get out of the way. Argue about who had right of way later while you're alive. I'd report it if you genuinely feel that he was playing games.

He'll probably quote rule 9c - Small vessels must get out of the way of any vessel which can only navigate within a narrow channel - or something like that - probably a good one for all us trailer boat owners to remember when faced with similar circumstances.




If you keep talking good advice like that GBC i'll definately have to reassess my opinion of your common sense!! ;) Here was i thinking that the rum bottle had long since disolved it!!!;D Good post mate. i think alot of small craft skippers have know idea how hard larger vessels have it in confined waters with a good tide running! It just an onwater version of semitrailers and cars!

Ian

[chop duster]

GBC,
just finished a reply along the same line as yours only to loose the bloody thing! ahhh
Hiding behind a dredge..... now that is funny
I don't think there is anything wrong with the OP's question it's just the silly reply's that insued.

[oldboot]

As always........you realy have to bee there.

there are a number of questions i would have to ask....

what were the conditions on the water.

after all size is a relative thing.

there are prawn trawlers & there are PRAWN TRAWLERS, just like there are dredges & DREDGES.....and every thing can get a bit out of proportion at night too.

All these colision rules and stuff seem rather sensible when two boats are approaching from different directions in open water.........but when applied to two boats traveling one behind another in a channel.......HMMM

I can imagine that a master of a large boat could get a bit pi$$ed if buzzing insect of a boat slips in in fromt of him.

I can also see that a large vessel who knows that he is going to be restricted by draft and steerage should have a greater burden of care and make his entrance into the channel a bit more obvioous..and carefull

regardless the 6 knots speed limit still applies to him regardles of his needs for steerage.......

If he is unable to navigate the waters safely and according to the regulations he should be making other arrangements.

If for arguments sake the front boat wasn't an agile and speedy runnabout but a small barge or a sail boat under motor what would he be doing.

If he ran over the boat in front and killed the occupants what would be the outcome........

cheers

[pubgolf]

I didnt mean he was sitting in hiding behind the dredge
What i meant was that he was sitting in what looked a stationary position from where i was at.
Yeah get out of the way. Which is what i did!
But hey Dont try putting the bow of your trawler on the transom of my boat.
The guy surely has been around a while and most certainly knew what he was doing.
Its just always a shame that you need to be the"bigger man" and take dickheads for what they are, then let it go rather than "stooping to their level" and chucking a stubby at him.
Talk is cheap and driving a trawler is probably like driving a truck. But dont try the intimadation.
It wears pretty thin having cowboys playing stupid games.
If he wanted to go around which there was room to do he should have altered course and not looked like he was going to plough over the top of us.
Like the road there are morons on the water too!
:thumbsup:
Rod

[Ron173]

What a tosser!

Mate I'd be going n having a word and politelty asking what his intention was? point out the stupidity, and also tell him a second time WIL get NO DOUBTS a reporting

[mik01]

no one likes to be tailgated.

its pretty scary to see a big semi advancing quickly on you down the highway when you're doing the speed limit.

I imagine a trawler doing the same is equally scary.

It was obviously not daylight either, so distances are easy to misjudge which is even scarier. he may have been 'playing' with you, impatient hoping you get out of the way, or just plain ignorant.

if Pubgolf was worried, then its obvious to me that he had a legit concern and the trawlers actions were intimidatory

[spears]

With my first boat that I owned only 12 foot tinny ,I was sitting on the edge of a shipping channel anchored where it was 6 knots and a tug came thru at full speed leaving a 1 meter wake behind it.
It almost turned us over and I could here the guys on board the tug laughing..

[oldboot]

With my first boat that I owned only 12 foot tinny ,I was sitting on the edge of a shipping channel anchored where it was 6 knots and a tug came thru at full speed leaving a 1 meter wake behind it.
It almost turned us over and I could here the guys on board the tug laughing..

Hmmm.... now under the letter of the law that one is definitely a " marine incident" and should have been reported within 48 hours........ yeh right.

If someone had ended up in the drink it most definitely would have been a clear
"marine incident".

I notice in one of the notices to mariners recently.... the 6 knots was also discribed as "no wash and no power wave"

these tugs arent the most streamlined of tubbs......I saw one going down the bris river at pace the other day and the wash from it was huge. fortunately I was in dry land.

cheers

[GBC]

I understand your sentiment oldboot and others, but a semi tailgating does not have right of way.

A vessel restricted by her draught (if that is the case - was she showing three vertical reds?) has right of way over just about everything apart from a bigger one.

The 'river embley' and the 'river boyne' used to make all trawlers - fishing or not move out of their way using this rule all along the QLD coast between Gladstone and Weipa.

Still sounds like this bloke was a bit of a tosser - just trying to prevent further more dangerous incidences.

Also agree with the six knots thing in general, but this is six knots through the water, not six knots s.o.g.

Time for another rum.

[kronfeld7]

i would have definetely reported him to the authorities, like someone mentioned, if he's going faster than you, even if it's only a 6 knot zone, let him go round you.

but to follow that closely is just idiotic, i wouldn't have hesitated in reporting him as soon as possible.

[dreemon]

the smaller boat will be vulnerable, like pushbike vs car, you have to get out of their way only "because", I was at the clarance river mouth anchored as close to the rocks as I could, a trawler with auto pilot on nearly pinned me to the rocks, COMING IN THROUGH A BAR !!!! no one at the helm , I had a broken collarbone at the time, and couldnt set up my" home made kick starter " (its a pull start) and pull anchor fast enough, he just missed me:o , then there was swearing !! but I didn't get his rego even though my eyes were wide open, wish I did, cause that was hairy

Report him or at the least have some words with em,

[pubgolf]

Ausfishers,
Thanks for the replies,
It did concern me a little,
it did worry me a little,
i was glad i had a very reliable outboard on the back that didnt have the temprement of my old outboard.
I spoke to the wife about the whole incident again tonight and i was reminded about the whole 'khama' thing
So after i called her Earl 20 times i came to the decision that reporting the incident to the water police was the right thing to do.
I did that 3 days ago
I was reminded that chucking sinkers through his windscreen was not really the right thing to do.
But thanks for all the discussion and thanks for the ideas.
:thumbsup:
Rod

[Hornet Rider]

Rod, smart lady you have there. A good decision mate. Happy to be of moral support, or more if needed, should this matter protract.

[lutjanus]

gday all i thought i would part with the knowledge about this sort of stuff as I understand it. First of all i very much doubt he was resticted in his ability to manoever.... And wouldn't of had his lights to signify such an action. However as a vessel constained by her draught is slightly different but once again in this situation not going to happen due to the lights he was showing. But something that people have missed is he was the overtaking vessel so unless he is not under command he has to stay clear of any vessel regardsless of either vessels situation. He can technically sit "up your arse" as long as he keeps out of your way. As long as he was under 6knots he hasn;t done anything wrong because he didn't hit you. Now maybe he would fail a common sense test but through experiences that i have encounted with (SOME) trawler operators, as a general rule they have more boat driving eperience than most recreational boat operators as they have a slight amount more knowledge in such things as the collision regulations and spend a bit more time in their vessels and know its capabilities.
Ok hope this helps clear the regulation side of things.