Protocol for crossing Dublin Bay

[DaveWalsh]

Anyone who remembers me from my paddling days will recall I just love a technical discussion, and maybe they will also recall that the whiff of controversy never quite deterred me either, so this one, which looks like Knotman might have got it going, is just to my taste.
Well done Alan with the Channel 12 thing and Dave with the reminder that not all juggernauts keep out of cycle lanes (sorry, I’m mad into cycling these days). Also, that no juggernauts ever see any cyclists, so just keep safe – its up to you - OK ?
But, there is an intriguing technical little bit more, though this is straying a little bit from busy shipping lanes, - ....
When another boat is far away, and this applies to big ones and little ones, fast ones and slow ones, RIBs, yachts etc, if it is at that moment on a collision course, there are rules as to how you will see it, subject of course to either/both boats changing direction, which must be watched second by second (especially if you are the smaller boat).
* If you can see its (port) left side across your (starboard) right side, or its (starboard) right side across your (port) left side, then the possibility of a collision exists.
* If you can see its (port) left side across your (port) left side, or its (starboard) right side across your (starboard) right side, then the possibility of a collision does not exist.
* If you can see its (port) left side and its (starboard) right side, on your nose / very close, then a collision is possible / probable.
All this is good for kayakers to know at an instinctive level when occasionally forced to be worrying about yachts and RIBs and things, but it doesn’t apply in busy shipping lanes, where ultimately the only rule (like when you’re a motorbike on the Mad Cow Roundabout) is – emerge alive on the other side.
This theoretical stuff though is why boats hang lights out on each side, red on the (port) left side and green on the (starboard) right side. Regardless of whether they are travelling faster or slower than other vessels, or in the same direction or across each others’ path, or head to head, vessels know that so long as they pass “port to port” or “starboard to starboard”, they are safe. I have been out among the east coast fishing fleet at night, and its like a horizontal Christmas tree of green and red lights, and the rule for all of them in forward motion (travelling or dragging nets, the speed no matter) is they can all ignore red on the right and green on the left, and watch out exclusively for green on the right and red on the left*****.
Kayakers – DO NOT PRACTICE ANY OF THE ABOVE IN SHIPPING LANES !
DWalsh
***** Boats at night also show white to rear to further exclude vessels they don’t have to factor in to their concentrations.

[Conal]

Just so there is no confusion regarding shipping channels and marker buoys in Dublin Bay and elsewhere, the reason the buoys are in place is to mark the Fairway i.e the part of the bay that is kept dredged. Larger ships will stay in the channel but ships with a shallow draft are likely to be found outside.
The Fairway is there to prevent shipping from running aground, not to keep them out of the way of yachties, kayakers etc in the bay.
So, it\'s eyes and ears peeled at all times.

[conormurray]

I\'d just like to report on my crossing of Dublin Bay on Saturday using the protocol as talked about in the previous posts.

We kept a listen on channel 12 as we approached Dublin Bay buoy and found that even though we as kayakers feel somewhat invisible, heard a cargo ship report us to Dublin VTS as \'four kayakers messing around near the fairway\'.
We immediately contacted Dublin VTS and reported our position and intent. We were instructed to wait for the approaching Stena Nordica and to proceed once she had cleared us and asked to let them know when we had passed Rosbeg South buoy. The cargo vessel which was waiting for the pilot then started her engines and motored in behind us.

Being in contact with Dublin port certainly takes some of the \'chancing it\' part of crossing shipping lanes and therefore makes so much safer. Contacting Dublin VTS also makes us visible to other vessels.

And even though there was no traffic on our return, we followed Dublin Port rules and called in again.
It’s a very simple thing to do and I’m glad it was brought to our attention.Post edited by: conormurray, at: 2010/05/03 19:36

[conormurray]

Post edited by: conormurray, at: 2010/05/03 19:42

[conormurray]

Post edited by: conormurray, at: 2010/05/04 08:36

[dermotfinn]

[conormurray]

For ease of checking scheduled arrivals and departures in Dublin Bay, Dublin Port have all the informations here...

http://www.dublinport.ie/information-ce ... epartures/
http://www.dublinport.ie/information-ce ... -arrivals/

And for 10 days in advance with more detail check here...

http://booking.dublinport.ie/dpcweb/

Happy crossings,
Conor

[EMurphy]

Another piece of advice (found very very useful on a recent crossing of Dublin Bay from Howth to Kish return) is to know your Lat and Long position just in case like Dave said you see both the port and starboard side of one of these big \"juggernauts\" on a conflict course with you and you need to quickly radio in your position to the ship\'s bridge. In this situation, the information received from VTF Dublin on Channel 12 was inaccurate concerning the departure time of big vessels into and out of Dublin Port. The lesson learned was that arrival and departure times of big vessels should have been independently checked but thankful at least that the Garmin Forerunner came in very very useful.

Eileen