Buying a boat is buying a lifestyle. You leave your cares ashore along with all those laws that govern everyday life. No licences, no restrictions, no traffic police, no worries! But there are rules at sea - namely 'The International Rules for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea' (IRPCS). Being a pessimistic lot mariners refer to these rules as the 'Collision Regs'

This is because the rules are there to prevent collisions. To know if risk of collision exists we must be watching not only where we are going but also all around us. The rules say that we must keep a good look out at all times by all means available. If you are towing a skier with only one person onboard the boat you are unlikely to satisfy this basic rule!

Before we go into detail about who gives way to who let me say that a small, agile powerboat should not be getting into a situation where a large vessel has to take any sort of avoiding action - no matter who might be technically in the right!

The rule that power gives way to sail is known by almost everyone, but that is only the start of it.

In a buoyed channel the convention is that we should keep to the right, like driving on the Continent. So as you leave port with the red buoys off to your right and the green buoys to your left, as I described in my article on Buoyage, you keep near to the red ones. Coming back you will be near the green ones. This driving on the right brings us neatly onto the actions to take when meeting another boat in a head on situation, be it in a channel or in the open sea. Both boats should turn to starboard (right) so that they pass port to port (left to left). This avoiding action is all well and good of course if both helms know the rules, but if one boat turns to, starboard, whilst the other turns to port, the result will be an almighty shower of glassfibre shards!

That is the downfall of the rules. In an estuary crowed with leisure craft, a large proportion of the skippers will have absolutely no idea that there are any rules at all, let alone now what they say. So never rely on the other boat doing the predictable thing. Make your move to the right early and obvious so at the other helm can see where you are going! With this bit of encouragement the other boat should respond by going to the right as well. But idiots inhabit the seas as well as the roads, so be careful out there!

Head on collisions are not the only accidents waiting to happen. When two boats are crossing the opportunity for damage still exists if neither gives way. We now need to take note of two more concepts. One is that we should give way to the right.

If you are looking to the right to see the approaching boat, you are the 'give way' vessel and should not impede the passage of the other boat. In this situation you will be able to see his port side. My students remember the rule by the idea that on his port side would be a red navigation light, and we look on that as a red traffic light and give way to it!

The idea of giving way is fine as long as the other boat does not unexpectedly change course. This brings us to the next concept that of the 'stand on' vessel. Basically if you are the vessel whose progress 'should not be impeded"you should hold your course and speed, that is 'stand on'.

Finally an overtaking boat should keep clear of the boat he is passing. The overtaking boat is not always power driven, I've been passed by a windsurfer going at a considerable speed and in that circumstance it was the sail vessel, the windsurfer, who had the responsibility to keep clear.

I said earlier that the problem with the rules is that so many people do not know them. The other problem is that some know them but choose to ignore them, particularly when they have a few thousand tonnes of steel around them! If a situation develops where the 'give way' vessel is not going to - give way that is -then you must take avoiding action. If it came to a court case it would be no good at all saying that it was not your fault because you had right of way - because the rules actually give nobody right of way as such. And they say that nothing in them absolves you from taking all the measures necessary to avoid a collision. Having said that you would be in a better legal situation if the hold was in the port side of your boat than you would be if it were in the starboard!

There are also unwritten rules which good manners dictate. One important piece of etiquette involves moored boats. It may seem harmless fun to hurtle past yachts on their moorings, but it could endanger lives. The yachts may seem deserted from your viewpoint but on the blind side there may be some old guy loading stores aboard his boat from a wobbly little tender. Rock his boat with your wash and tip him into the water and you may face a manslaughter charge.

The rules go on to describe lights and daymarks as well as sound signals. The only sound signals that you need to remember are the four manoeuvring signals. One short blast means that the ship is turning to starboard, a quite normal manoeuvre if you look at the earlier paragraphs. Two blasts indicates turning to port, which could be looked upon as a little more unusual, whilst three blasts indicates, 'I am operating astern propulsion' which is even more unusual. Operating astern propulsion does not necessarily mean going backwards - it may be that a large vessel is trying to stop or slow down. Five or more blasts means, 'What the **** are you doing, you moron?' ~ or in more official language, 'I am unsure of your intentions'.

The visuals relating to this article can be found by clicking below:

Click here