Joe Coons
In our last column, we talked about the mnemonic "OverNight Rooms for Sale with Condoms Plus Sue/Sam". Rather than being the neon scheme for a sleazy motel, this is an excellent way to remember which boat has the right of way, with the highest priority vessel being first.
OVER: The vessel being OVERtaken is the highest priority of all vessels, or, put another way, if you are overtaking another boat with yours, you never have the right of way! (This is, perhaps, the most overlooked of all boating realities!)
Night: "N" is for vessels Not under command. If a vessel is broken down, adrift, is under way but the rudder is jammed, etc., it is higher priority than the following boats.
Rooms: "R" is for vessels Restricted in their ability to maneuver. This would include dredges, pile drivers, tugs with awkward tows, very large ships, and a few kinds of fishing vessels such as bottom-fishing trawlers. Look for three, red over white over red lights at night, or a day shape consisting of two balls with a diamond between, to signify that this boat is restricted ion her ability to maneuver.
and CONdoms: "CON" represents "CONstrained by draft". A boat which, for instance, draws 12 feet of water running in a fifteen foot channel may not be able to move out of the way for another boat in the channel, so she has the right of way! She should be showing a black cylinder shape (think of a "draft" beer barrel) or, at night, three red lights in a vertical line.
for SALE: A "SAIL" boat comes next in priority. But she must be under sail alone; if her auxiliary is providing any propulsion, she is a powerboat: see below.
Plus: "P" is for Powerboat. Unless it has one of the characteristics above, it is near the bottom of the heap.
Sue/Sam: "S" is for Small boats, neither sail nor power, not included in any of the above categories, such as rowboats and canoes. Under the international rules, they have no status at all.
The next time you're ready to go out and "assert your right of way", maybe you'll remember to review Overnight Rooms with Condoms for Sale plus Sue/Sam!
Now, nearly every boater knows about "True Virgins Make Dull Companions, when falling down add Whiskey". Thus refers to calculating true, magnetic, and compass headings as follows:
True True heading
Virgins Adjusted by Variation
Make Gives you Magnetic Heading
Dull Adjusted by Deviation
Companions Gives you Compass heading
. . . and reminds you that as you go down that little table, you add for Westerly variations and deviations ("falling down add Whiskey").
Therefore, to steer a heading of 270 degrees, having looked at the chart and found an area variation of 21 degrees east and, from the compass correction card a deviation of 2 degrees west, the compass heading would be 270 - 21 = 249 magnetic heading + 2 = 251 compass heading. (We're "falling down" the table, so westerly deviations and variations add, while easterlies subtract.)
Likewise, if you're steering 270 on your compass, with 21 degrees east variation and 4 degrees west deviation, your true heading would be 270 - 4 = 266 magnetic heading + 21 = 287 degrees true heading. (Remember, now instead of "falling down add whiskey, we're going up, so west subtracts and east adds!)
There are some other mnemonics from my younger years that are more bawdy, but none are more useful to our boating activities, except, perhaps, "red, right, returning".
Have a wonderful, safe, New Year!
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