I was coming in a little late last night. The Washington State Ferry Sealth was at the Friday Harbor dock. I know they rotate out and reposition at the second dock for inner-island passengers. I gave them a call on the VHF to see what their departure time was, so I wouldn't be caught next to them as they powered up to pull out.
The response on the radio: "How soon are you in?"
"Three minutes, but I can hold out here if you are ready to depart."
They responded, "Come on in, we'll hold."
"Thank you.
Just as I was at the most vulnerable position (right alongside their stern, we were moving slow)... they powered up! I have to do a 270º rotation to get to our dock - the space is tight. I saw the water come at us in a major swirl from their prop wash. I shouted to the first mate to get a roving fender ready (something to put between us and whatever solid stuff would be in our path: another boat, a dock. I put the power to it and came in hot. My first mate was right on with getting a stern line on, and that nasty prop was caught our bow. With one line on the dock, I had control... mostly. It took a lot of power just to rotate our bow in because of that huge-ass prop wash.
With two lines on, I shut down, came down from the helm, and thanked the guests for making the trip with us, and apologized for "the hot landing."
One passenger said, "You're good. That was impressive."
He couldn't see that my ass was still puckered.
When the guests were all walking down the dock, one of the other captains said to me, "It sure looked like that was on purpose. They hit power at the worst possible moment for you."
"Yeah." That was all I had in me without a string of curse words.
Other than that, it was a fine day on the water. The guests got to see whales. The water was lumping up on my evening trip, making for some rockin' and rollin', but we had some great whale views. As we headed in, the Orcas were heading west in Juan de Fuca... not a good sign. They've been feeding up and down the west coast of San Juan Island this week - the first we've had them there for any length of time this season.
The crowds have been huge on the island and on the water, but I expect that will slow somewhat by late today (Sunday). It has been a very busy weekend.
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3 comments:
Boy what a surprise, glad you were able to compensate and get safely to the dock. Good Job!
We had a similar experience on the ICW at a lock. A Tug was across the narrow access to the lock when I was given clearance to enter. It was a bit tight behind him, but we had plenty of room. Until he decided that he needed full power to hold himself to the dock just as we passed behind him...I know the pucker. We were really busy at the helm for a few seconds.
I'd file a near miss report.
Hello my captain friends Herb and Bob. I've visited with these guys two seasons now, and haven't had an issue. Other captains who have been around here longer than I have have their own "ferry stories"... similar situations. I'm not sure if they are talking to the ferry, though. Giving this overnight consideration, I have to wonder if they can see me from the forward helm... and wonder if they think we're in when we're actually in the worst spot for them to power up. If it happens again, I'll be MORE SPECIFIC about our arrival. I understand they were offering me a courtesy... I'd like to believe that it wasn't intentional... probably. ;-)
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