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A bigger part however--and anyone who has even driven a boat grasps this on some level--is the ability to "eyeball" a situation in close quarters, to grasp the relative motion aspect and determine if you are standing into real danger of collision. This is something I've thought about in maneuvering in on the surface where visibility may be low and things moving quickly, I can rely a bit on my gut as far as if I have bearing drift (and if it is in the direction I desire) and adjust course / speed that way a bit.
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Yeah, I concur. In my experience with sailing ships in ship races -where we sometimes came really, really close when cutting the stern of another competitor- we used as main rule of thumb the constant bearing: If you are on a collision course and the other ship's bearing doesn't change, collision is assured. If the other ship is slowly drifting forward of the first bearing, you will pass cleanly abaft of its stern, if the bearing is dirfting backwards you will probably pass cleanly before his bow. (But this last one is a more dangerous situation
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My experience is limited to sailing ships, not much bigger than what RR has showed there, plus lightweigth race ships (No weight in the keel but just your body to counterbalance the strength of the wind).