Look around you
I have recently been sailing on a friend’s boat in the Channel Islands. He is an experienced Yachtmaster. The following is not meant in any way to be critical of him.
He had just upgraded from a Raymarine C series plotter to an Axiom, mounted on the binnacle. He had not been to the Channel Islands before, whereas I had been cruising there from the days of radio direction finder (RDF). The Little Russel has great charm for me; I love the approach from the north, the search for the Grande Amfroque and Platte Fougere, being swept past Tautenay and La Roustel, and then on to the iconic Bržhon Tower.
We experienced the Little Russel as we left St Peter Port, having arrived via the south coast of Guernsey, so this was my friend’s first sight of them. They seemed unimportant to him, he was focused on the prepared route, the thin red line, rather than the broader surroundings. We had an excellent and up-to-date set of Admiralty paper charts on which we put a mark every hour, but it seemed that little attention was paid to the wealth of navigational information available on the paper charts about the bigger picture.
When we crossed to Sark from Herm the autoroute was set up and we made our way towards Havre Gosselin. When I noticed we were heading for the north of Brecqhou I found that the autoroute was taking us through the Gouliot Passage. I immediately indicated that this was highly inadvisable and we went to the anchorage leaving Brecqhou to the north. The Gouliot Passage would have certainly been quicker as there was a torrent of water passing through. The skipper and crew were pleased to have deviated from the prescribed route.
As the sophistication of the technology increases there seems to be a risk that we are so mesmerised by its accuracy and volume of information, that we may literally forget where we are! Peter Morris
Twice in the last 12 months I have felt uncomfortable about a ship approaching. In these days of AIS we can see them a long way off and, of course, know the name of the ship. In both cases I called up the ship by name on VHF and asked if they had seen me as I only have an AIS receiver; they both responded promptly and both clearly stated, ‘We see you and we will alter course, you hold your course,’ and within a few minutes we could see the bearing change.
Based on my experience I would recommend anyone worried about an approaching vessel to do the same. Stephen Booth
James Stevens replies:
Stephen is right, if there is a danger of being run down by a ship, AIS can be a lifesaver – if you have one.