Trawler Taunts
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Noon position: 36 28.2 S 150 15.0
E We rounded Gabo Island marking Australia's SE corner and entered into NSW waters at midnight to a freshening S to SE breeze. The seas were very lumpy, which is not unusual in this area where wind, waves and currents meet from different directions, but now that we are well to the north of this nautical junction, the seas and swell have settled into a regular pattern and, with a bit of pressure in her sails, Sylph's motion is likewise more regular. She surges forward as each wave approaches, does a dip and a curtsy as the wave passes under her counter, slows a little off the wave's back before picking up speed again to the next approaching wave. At around 0600, a little north of Eden, a trawler decided to keep us company for a while. Its bright deck lights could be easily seen off to port and the AIS indicated it was closing on a near steady bearing from the west, heading NE, speed ten knots. It was showing lights for trawling, though at ten knots it could not have had any gear out. I watched it closely as it approached, hand steering for while to ensure Sylph's heading was steady (the windvane self-steering cannot anticipate approaching waves and will of course follow any shifts in the wind direction). We were running wing-on-wing, with the jib poled out to starboard, the main to port, so our ability to manoeuvre to port was strictly limited, without having to gybe. Fortunately, it became clear that the trawler's bearing was drawing right and that there was no risk of collision. She ended up passing six cables* ahead of us and once she was past and clear I returned below to make a nice hot cup of tea. But then, as I was putting the kettle on, the AIS 'dangerous target' alarm sounded. It seemed that the trawler had decided to alter course to nearly parallel Sylph's heading and had reduced speed to four knots. We were closing one another again. I called the vessel up on VHF to clarify her intentions and she advised me that she was streaming her trawls. I confirmed her heading and went back to the helm to ensure that we would pass her safely. Now why she had to come to this particular patch of ocean and set her trawls right in front of us is a mystery to me. I told her on the radio that I was doing my best to stay out of her way, to which her watch keeper replied, "We are showing our lights and we gotta do what we gotta do." Somehow I suspect that they would not have done what they had to do if we were a large merchant ship. It certainly did not seem to be a very seaman-like manoeuvre to me. However, with Sylph surging along at a brisk six knots before the fresh breeze we were soon past the trawler; but, just as we were drawing ahead, the wind decided to fade on us so our speed dropped down to four knots, the same as the trawler. "Bother!" I thought, "Now the wind gods are in on the joke." Fortunately the lull in the wind was short lived and twenty minutes later we were back up to six knots and drawing clear again. And it also seemed that by then the trawler had had its fun with us, for they now altered course to the NE and rapidly drew away. We have made good progress now that the wind has filled in steady out of the SE, with a good day's run posted, If the forecast holds true then we should be entering Sydney Heads sometime on Saturday. All is well. * For the uninitiated, a cable is one tenth of a nautical mile, which is a tad over 200 yards. |