In our May newsletter I wrote of the death of my brother-in-law when he was hit head on by a truck turning left in front his motorcycle. The driver stated he hadn’t seen Michael, even though it was broad daylight and Michael’s motorcycle light was on. Among the many warm replies we received one that applies to sailing too. John Stone, who spent 25 years as a Marine and is now doing a lovely job of completing a 32 foot cruising boat from a bare hull wrote:
I started out with motorcycles and after too many close calls I gave it up. I understood it was not so much that people were not paying attention, though there was some of that, it is that they did not see me even when I could tell they were looking right at me.
I was taught many years ago in the military it has to do with a blind spot in your eye that is due to the attachment point of the optic nerve in the back of the eye. The brain compensates for the missing vision by filling in the blind spot with information derived from adjacent rods and cones. I don’t know if current science still supports that explanation but the end result is the same . . . there are things out there in your line of vision that you may not see.
Bottom line, all military pilots, and many other military personnel are taught to always keep scanning ones eyes and moving ones head. Just moving your eyes a little eliminates the blind spot.
Click this link for a demonstration: http://www.msf-usa.org/motion.html
Guess that explains why, when we are looking for a bouy at sea, I have sometimes found that, if instead of staring straight towards where I think it should be, I instead sweep my eyes across the horizon I can spot it more easily.
