Joe Coons
For the past several months I've been studying the United States Coast Guard publication "Navigation Rules, International - Inland" as I prepared to get a master's license. Incidentally, all vessels over 40' in length are required to have a copy of the rules aboard!
It is interesting to note that with the exception of those who travel up the Columbia river, all the waters we use around here are "International", so we really only need to know those rules well.
Most of the rules are based upon traditional operating practices, such as passing oncoming vessels port side to port side. Other rules cover things which simply must be remembered, such as use of signals, as when at anchor or underway in fog. The "Lights and Shapes" rules set standards for vessel lighting and the use of day shapes to show other vessels what you are and what you're doing at night and by day. And, frankly, a few of the rules are seldom needed: it has been a long time since any of us had to stay 1000 meters away from a minesweeper, fortunately!
As I've studied these, it has become very clear that occasionally I've unwittingly broken them, although fortunately never with any repercussions other than one or two times when the skipper of the vessel I've offended has had to shake a fist or sound a horn, much to my embarrassment. And more than a few times I've seen the rules broken by other pleasure boaters, and a few times by professional skippers, too.
Most infractions are committed by folks incorrectly taking the "right of way". It's surprising how clear and consistent the rules are about these issues, and when we break the rules, although usually it means little, it can mean a lot. If we were to have an accident as a result of a rule violation, then our insurance would probably have been invalidated by our ignorance! You might want to read your boat insurance policy to confirm this.
Like most boaters, the commercial-operator-violations I've seen involves the "rule of gross tonnage", an "unwritten" rule that says "the bigger the boat, the more right of way it has". Obviously, this isn't legally true, but common sense makes it true in practice: what business have I got in a 21-foot sailboat cutting in front of a supertanker, which could take five miles to come to a halt! Best to let that huge vessel do what ever he wants to: he is the "800 pound gorilla" of the nautical world!
By the way, sailors, remember that if your power system is providing any propulsion, you are no longer a "sailboat"!
And all boaters should remember that the rules have two very important conditions: (1) vessels under way (and to the Coast Guard that means any vessel not at anchor or otherwise secured in one spot; a drifting vessel is "underway", but not "making way") must maintain a lookout at all times" and (2) The right-of-way rules only apply when vessels are in sight of one another. When in fog or otherwise restricted visibility, for example, or under radar, the right-of-way rules are superseded by specific rules for action by vessels when they near each other.
Next month, we'll deal with the racy remarks, "OverNight Rooms for Sale with Condoms Plus Sue" and "True Virgins Make Dull Companions; add whiskey as they fall down"; that column may be read by your younger children in spite of the subject matter!
All rights reserved. For permission to copy, contact Joe Coons.