North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

Coming up to another madly anticipated Run Off and the high likelyhood of a record number of boats on the water in most rivers at one time, brings me to the question of:

What is the appropriate passing speed of a boat passing other boats that maybe anchored or tethered near a feeder creek mouth and/or snag?

My thoughts:

All boats are different. Even identical boats will behave differently due to load, load distribution, trim, speed etc . So the question is really getting at speed versus the wake generated by the boat doing the passing .

From the people in the stationary boat's point of view, the wake is the primary concern. Followed by the speed of the passing boat given the proximity of the two vessels. Obviously the closer the passing distance the slower the speed should be . But if the passing boat slows down to pass only to generate maximum possible wake, the stationary boat's occupants are not going to appreciate the effort all that much .

Safety First? Nah - Safety Always!! But wake consideration should come a close second too . From both sides (stationary boat and passing boat). If you have parked yourself in a narrow section expect to get a bit of wake . If you are doing the passing try and do it generating as little wake as possible. If that means dropping back to a trolling speed in a tight section, do it . Or if you have a bit of space keep your tub on the plane and trimmed up.

Like most things in our crowded lives these days, considering how your actions will affect others and doing the right/safe thing will always mean less agro from your fellow boaties .

Of course I could completely wrong about the concept too.........

Take it easy - and tight lines all

Good post.

Keep you're distance as far as practically possible when passing. As you said about the wake,don't slow down to half speed even though you're showing consideration-you're making it worse with the wake, either keep it on the plain,or slow completly down.

Another thing,on approaching creek mouths and you want to fish it,don't anchor or tie anywhere near someone's casting area,this one get's me! If in doubt stay out!
Also,keep motor use to a minimum,once you've tied,or anchored,the motor should be off straight away! Can't stand people who leave the outboard running for 3 minutes whilst they stuff around,absolute no consideration.

Boat traffic isn't always bad news though. There are days when an approaching boat or passing boat will cause a barra to strike,it happens too often to be a fluke.

We had a long thread on this a while back - consensus seemed to be that fast leaves less wake than medium/slow and ultra-slow is not the go or you would be slowing down all the time and getting nowhere.

I think keeping the distance is important, also keeping to the right of a river as per "road rules" (in this case international water rules) and using common sense on tight blind corners such as the Tommycut cutting.

If it's a tiny boat though, or with kids on board, you would want to pass slowly for safety's sake

Sorry Matt but your wrong, maritine laws are opposite to road rules and passing should be on the left. As for passing other boats law say you should reduce speed to 8 knots wiyhin 100 meters of another craft or the shore line.

all for passing correct - left side.

however show me where i need to obey rules for passing from down south.

brings the point of no boating license requirements in the NT meaning you can to a degree do what you want.

maritine laws are international and apply anywhere weather you have liciences or not.

Fishalot wrote:Sorry Matt but your wrong, maritine laws are opposite to road rules and passing should be on the left. As for passing other boats law say you should reduce speed to 8 knots wiyhin 100 meters of another craft or the shore line.

Matt actually said 'keeping to the right'. Both technically right there.

Yep, lots of people have no idea of the rules.

Matt actually said keeping right as per road rules were not in America

Call it water rules then - as I understand it you are supposed to travel to the right of a waterway, the opposite of Australian road rules. I have edited my original post to make what I meant clearer.

But in reality because people on the water seem to have varying understanding of navigation rules, it's probably safest to avoid oncoming traffic simply by making your intentions obvious well in advance.

It's not rocket science guys - and who gives a f*rk if you go on the 'wrong side'!!! The RIGHT SIDE is the side where the other guy isn't

Where not talking Sydney Harbour or Singapore Ferry Terminal volumes of traffic here

Anyone who complains about someone approaching them on the 'wrong side' when they were 'on the right side', and doesn't use Common Sense 101
(that would tell them that the oncoming boat doesn't care about the right side - so I'll just maneuver to the 'wrong side') - please return to where people think like that

Safe separation is the go on open water ways. But if your up a tight river or creek and turning a blind corner I'll be expecting any oncoming traffic to be hard up against the creek on my left as I pass.

Problem is slug is that if the police here decided to start enforcing boating rules then that's when we would find we were on the wrong side, going too fast etc.

It's already been happening at Sadgroves Creek in the channel.

I am unsure what maritime rules can be legally enforced up an NT river, it might be something for an upcoming NTMAG article. Perhaps someone here knows more.

Common sense is the way to go. It might not stand up in court though if something happened and you were on the wrong side.

Yep - a good dose of Common Dog F%$@ is the only way it's gunna work - particularly 'remote'.

'They' (the ones on the 15th floor with alfoil hats!! ) can't even get roundabout rules right on the roads - how they gunna manage what's the 'correct' way to travel on a flooded waterway (eg top of the South), in this part of the world at this time of year

Everytime I hear someone complaining about 'no boating' rules here, I must admit I immediately think ' New Arrival'

The RULE here is - "No one else knows them, don't assume they do - use COMMON SENSE - they probably are !!!!"

"It's not rocket science guys - and who gives a f*rk if you go on the 'wrong side'!!! The RIGHT SIDE is the side where the other guy isn't "

Yes and no to the above, . Travelling down the Adelaide river at night at reasonable speed , nav lights on, and saw what I believed at the time was another boat at anchor in a creekmouth due to the dim torchlight waving around, I know the river fairly well and we were in a wide section. I started to feel something wasn't quite right, (I was travelling on the correct side of the river), I turned the spottie on and fair sh#$t myself, here was a boat a lot bigger than mine at speed coming straight at me, I just had time to pull throttle off and near on drove up the bank to avoid him. after some choice words I continued on. The beauty was that I knew him so confronted him at work. His laid back attitude was that he was close to the bank as he only had a torch and she was all good as we didnt actually crash. I enightened him to nav lights etc and get a brain when it comes to nightime travelling with another boat approaching. If you only have a torch at least travel the right way. Daytime, yeah whatever works if there is room. This is a great place to live however if we have to many incidents happening we will end being regulated by the authorities "just like down south" to control the morons.