Driving your car, you operate in a well-organized environment. There are roads, lanes, stop signs, traffic signals and rules. But on the water, it's wide open. Except for marked channels, there are no roads, lanes, signs or signals – total freedom of movement.
But there are still rules to obey.
The Navigation Rules set and enforced by the Coast Guard – known universally as the "Rules of the Road" – are a set of regulations that govern how vessels interact with one another on Inland waters. Outside that, International rules apply, which are very similar. While the Rules are complex and detailed, designed to cover every possible situation and vessel, those that apply to the average boater are generally simple and logical.
Glen JusticeTwo power boats confront a dilemma. Powerboats and sailboats are governed by different rules.
The Rules exist primarily to prevent collisions. How do you know when a danger of collision exists? The classic technique is to take a series of bearings on a boat that is approaching you, keeping track of the relative angle between the two boats. If a vessel is approaching at an angle that may intersect your course, line up that boat with a shroud or a part of the windshield. If, after a little time, the other boat appears to be moving forward of that mark, it will probably pass ahead. If it appears to be moving aft, it will pass behind. But if it stays in the same relative position, you may be on a collision course.
Electronic aids can also help. Radar equipped with ARPA (Automatic Radar Plotting Aid) will track vessels and calculate their course and point of approach. AIS (Automatic Identification System) is another tool that provides valuable information on nearby boats, including identity, course and speed.
However, there is no piece of gear that will tell you what to do once you find yourself on a collision course. That is where the Rules come in. Every boat over 39 feet is required to carry a copy of the Rules on board, as well as a horn and a bell to signal other vessels. A copy of Navigation Rules can be downloaded online (see link below), or purchased in hard copy at many marine stores. Laminated cockpit cards, condensed to essentials, are also available. Whatever your reference, all boaters are required to know and obey the Rules.
STAND-ON OR GIVE-WAY
You may hear terms such as "right of way," the "burdened" vessel (needs to take evasive action) or the "privileged" vessel (maintains course and speed). The official Rules do not use those terms. Instead they refer to the "Stand-on" vessel, which maintains course and speed so that the other vessel can predict its movements, and the "Give-way" vessel, which maneuvers to avoid collision. BIOTECHNODESIGNA crossing situation between two powerboats. The vessel on the right has the right of way.
All this sounds straightforward, but then you find Rule 2, which says that every vessel is required to do whatever is necessary to avoid a collision. What this means in practice is that if the Give-way vessel doesn't give way, the captain of the other vessel has to look out for himself. The Rules do not require you follow them blindly into a collision. Remember the old saying, "He was right, dead right, as he sped along; but he was just as dead as if he were wrong."
The wise skipper, if he is going to take evasive action, does so in good time and makes his moves obvious. Even if evasive action only requires a slight change in course, do not ease over just a little bit–that's what sank the Andrea Doria. Make your move obvious.
The Rules say that two power boats should make their intentions known by sounding whistle signals. The term "whistle" refers to a horn or any sound-producing device, other than a bell. One boat gives a signal, and the other answers with the same signal if that course is agreeable. Do not give a different signal. If the suggestion is not agreeable, sound the danger signal and do not proceed until the situation is straightened out. Here are the common signals, with a short blast lasting about one second:
- One short blast: "I am directing my course to starboard."
- Two short blasts: "I am directing my course to port."
- Three short blasts: "I am operating in reverse."
- Five or more short blasts: "Danger"
You will not generally hear many whistle signals on the water. Most commercial vessels will simply call the other vessel on the VHF radio, usually on Channel 13, or Channel 67 on the lower Mississippi River, and say something along the lines of "one whistle okay, Cap'n?" That fulfills the requirement to communicate your intentions.
