Yachts in the reef a big ship’s perspective
FIRST thing is, the wet season is usually between December and April, but it can be earlier or later. Do not be there then. The rest of the year is the dry season with the south east trade winds and great sailing weather.
From the perspective of a big ship transiting through the Great Barrier Reef, the first thing to appreciate is that you are virtually invisible.
Normally, sailors pick up other boats or ships visually by seeing the masts or upper works outlined against the horizon. This does not happen on the bridge of a big ship, which will be something like twelve stories high and looking down on you.
For comparison, think about losing your hat/cap overboard. Because you do not see it against the horizon you soon lose sight of it, in spite of it being in garish colours your wife hates.
“But I have a radar reflector,” I hear you say. Same thing only worse. A ship’s radar is a lot higher than the bridge so its downward blind spot extends a long way forward. This is where the term ‘flying under the radar’ comes from.
Personally, I do not want to see that mountain range 40 miles away but I would like to see that buoy, or you and your yacht, three cables away in a monsoonal rain when I cannot see that far visually. One cable is 1/10 of a nautical mile.
In the old days a ship would often have a second ‘river
