You have to realize that when an individual who gets around in a boat with twice two hundred and fifty horsepower on the back puts his mitt on the throttle lever, he inevitably feels like someone important. Hence the temptation to press on a bit. Alas, the laws of naval architecture being what they are, our bold ‘marinus légitimus motorisaë’ finds himself, despite everything, in a situation where he is breaking the law, as soon as he leaves the open sea. Explanation. When you enter a channel, the maximum speed permitted is often around five knots. And the two propellers driven by the overabundant horsepower will not generally allow you to drop down to this ridiculous four or five knots. What’s more, from his seat, the helmsman’s field of vision forward is cut by a zone of several tens of meters. If he has unfortunately kept up some speed, but not enough to plane, then his vessel will rear up like a stubborn horse, increasing still further this famous blind spot. To put it more clearly: the guy can’t see anything a hundred meters in front of him!
Every day, my wife and I enjoy going for a paddle aboard our kayak. This morning, powerful propellered predators were criss-crossing the water; I observed them carefully, just in case. I couldn’t see anyone’s head aboard this blue catamaran, about seven meters long, which was speeding towards us. “Accelerate a bit,” I said to Malou. A few seconds later, the machine, propelled by its two black outboards, skimmed by us a few centimeters away! He hadn’t seen us! In return the driver threw me this wonderful reply: “Well, you’re in the middle of the road!”
Who: Malou & Dominique
Where: Guadeloupe, West Indies
The boat: Catafjord, aluminum catamaran ketch
Blog: www.voyagedenzo.com
