So it would have been OK with you if that was what happened? Are you claiming that the burdened vessel is somehow “less burdened” if it is hit while it crosses the bow of the stand on vessel?
However, the premise still stands. When all you have is a YouTube video, that’s “scanty”. Your over the top diatribe was unprofessional wether you had the facts (which you don’t) or not. Until such time as a report is issued you can only speculate, that’s it. In the mean time friends, family members, WSF customers, media, etc… may read these threads and means we need to post responsibly in the event we are wrong.
The youtube video shows very clearly which vessel was the give way vessel. You may not like the source or what you see but there can be no doubt or controversy about which is the burdened vessel. There is nothing scanty about what is seen of the yacht’s track. There is nothing to speculate about, what is seen on the video is what happened.
Why is that so difficult for you to accept? If you saw a security cam video of a 7-11 holdup would you claim that it might have been something else?
Diatribe? No diatribe is necessary, the ferry captain failed in his duties just as much as the yachtie … period. Maybe more so since he saw it coming and he was the professional in command of the burdened vessel. The stupidity, ignorance, or negligence of the yacht driver does not relieve the ferry captain of his duties. The ferry captain made a conscious decision to maintain course (and speed? - to be determined) despite a clear and obvious collision threat until it was too late to prevent the collision.
Do I think the ferry captain should “hang?” Yes I do. He was placed in a position of trust and responsibility based on his skills and competence. This incident shows that he chose not to exercise those skills and demonstrate the trust that earned him that position. There are many more skilled, competent, and trustworthy license holders waiting for the opportunity to fill the role that the ferry captain failed to uphold. He had his chance and failed, it’s time to let someone else fill that role. Hopefully that person will not fall victim to the complacency and arrogance that seems to infect WSF captains after a few years of being the biggest fish in the small pond.
The real problem this incident illustrates is the attitude of working mariners (much of what I have read stops me from saying professional) that the all too common stupidity demonstrated by recreational boaters relieves the working boater of responsibility to play by the rules. Read the thread here and on other boating sites, the majority seem to think that since the yachtie was stupid, not at the helm, did not change course or speed, was negligent, was whatever in the world they think of him and they think the ferry would have run aground, injured passengers by turning or stopping, was constrained by draft or maneuverability or some other horsecrap the real diatribe and lynching is against the guy who had the “right of way.”
When any of us point out the obvious, and some of us know how the WSF culture works, those mariners who can’t bear being told they don’t have special rights on the water think those of us who point out that fact are “unprofessional.” Got news for you Im, I used to hold (let it expire) a master’s ticket and have worked on the WSF boats as well as yachts, tugs, containerships and tankers transiting Puget Sound and I object to being called unprofessional for pointing out what may be an uncomfortable fact for some people.