We were on a right angle collision course for a half hour early this morning. (She was the privileged vessel, for more than one reason!)
Even with my radar’s CPA calcs, (closest point of approach) it was not clear whether I should speed up or slow down.
I finally coordinated passing with the approaching PILOT. (The ship herself was unresponsive.) He said the ship would be turning left a bit (to NW) to take him on board. So I told him I would speed up therefore to leave them behind us. He agreed that made the most sense.
Earlier I had asked him (again, before he was aboard), “Should I speed up or slow down?!” His answer was, “Well you gotta do SOMETHIN!”
In reality there was no real danger, as we were still miles apart. But it was an interesting passing nonetheless. It did get the blood flowing at 7:00am! It also makes for good story-telling of course.
In our experience, cruise ships typically put on their miles at night, and make interesting ports during daylight hours for their passengers to go ashore to buy the T-Shirts that they couldn’t find online.
It is too bad all this happened in clear weather. It would have been much more exciting had it all happened in the fog!
Shellerina's Blog 