33tiara

I fish out of Manistee, I awoke at 5 a.m. walked out to the cockpit and at 5:03 I heard what sounded like a cannon. I knew a boat had hit the south wall. I fished all weekend and the fog was extreme many times not more than 30 ft. vis. My heart goes out to all the people involved. No doubt the fog was directly the cause. But come on fishermen you are responsible for the safe operation of your vessel. If you do not have radar which I am sure this charter captain had all of the bells and whistles, you have no business out in the fog. I learned a long time ago when you are out on a clear day and fishing is slow get in to your electronics and learn them inside and out. I often turn on my radar and indentify all of the vessels around me on a beautiful clear day. I watch all of the vessels move so I can reconize exactly what I am reading on the radar. When fishing this past weekend with no visibility I am totally confident navigating the waters. I see every single boat, which way they are traveling ect. The key to being confident is again using these electronic tools on beautiful clear days to make yourself aware as to exactly what you are reading. I believe there are many boaters who have all the bells and whistles who really do not know how to use them correctly. There is no excuse to what happen Saturday morning. That south wall in Manistee shows up on your radar and your GPS more than you can imagine. If you understand your electronics this will never ever happen. The key is understand your electronics on clear days, understand the vessels moving around you. When that fog sets in you will feel confident navigating the waters. Do it often when the fishing slows down. On saturday night it was perfectly clear and within 15 minutes the fog set in and you could not see 50 feet. If you do not understand your electronics there are great tutorial CD's available online which is how I learned to use my Ray Marine equipment. So boaters on clear days practice with your equipment so when visibilty is limited you are proficient using them. It may save a life. This particuler incident no doubt was the lack of a captain not paying attention to his electronics, being overly confident and to complacent. Now the poor guy has to live with one of his good friends passing away for the rest of his life. Not to mention his loved ones missing him. This is absolutely totally avoidable. It happens every single year on the south pier of Manistee Harbor. Understand your electronics.