Public Service Articles in the pursuit of
Recreational Boating Safety

A New Definition for CHAOS

By Wayne Spivak
National Press Corps
National Marketing & Public Affairs Department
United States Coast Guard Auxiliary

The dictionary defines the word CHAOS as "A condition or place of great disorder or confusion." Chaos is then the antithesis of order. And boating on the south shore of Long Island, NY is anything but order.

Years back, I lived in Hoboken, New Jersey. Hoboken, known as the place where baseball held its first game, a town put on the map by the birth and early years of Frank Sinatra, and the fame that came with the movie "On the Waterfront". Hoboken, where the city fathers, at least when I lived there, always ended up in jail, and never wanted to install stop signs.

Hoboken, a city dominated by one-way streets, but without stop signs. Driving in Hoboken was like going to the demolition derby, where each corner became a game of chicken. We called it Hoboken Chicken, who had the guts to boldly just run past an intersection, tempting the fate against a head-on or side collision.

Were there rules, sure?!? New Jersey, like all states have lots of motor vehicle laws that govern all aspects of travel on the states highways and byways. Fortunately, either fate succeeded more often than not, or people did follow some of the basic driving rules, because there never seemed to be that many accidents in a town where there were no stop signs

So how does driving in Hoboken relate to boating on Long Island? Because both driving and boating, in both places were in a constant state of chaos. So it would seem that both driving a car and piloting a boat have more than you think in common. For starters, both activities have rules; rather defined rules that govern the behavior of both driver and pilot.

The International Regulations for Avoiding Collisions at Sea, also known as COLREGS, but more commonly referred to as The Rules of the Road or just "The Rules" clearly spell out to the boater their duties in any type of boating situation. COLREGS, in addition to the traffic-type rules, also provides the basis for many of the other boating requirements; class, category and use of lights, sounds signals, day shapes, and emergency signals.

Lets see why a so-called calm day on the water quickly turns into a nightmare of chaotic activity, as individual boats and boaters go about the waterways, without as much as wisp of understanding of what the Rules of the Road are all about.

This all so typical activity, at least on the south shore of Long Island was recently experience by yours truly and his party as we tried to stay out of harms' way. It made for some interesting boat handling, and just a little bit of swearing (okay, a lot of swearing).

Fishing

My pet peeve and I'm sure I'll get flack over this one, is the stark difference between the COLREGS definition, and the one used by recreational fisherman, fishing in the Great South Bay.

According to Rule 3, General Definitions of the COLREGS:

(d) The term "vessel engaged in fishing" means any vessel fishing with nets, lines, trawls, or other fishing apparatus which restrict maneuverability, but does not include a vessel fishing with trolling lines or other fishing apparatus which do not restrict manageability.

So, to our fishing friends, who have their rods in the water, you're not covered by this rule!

Speed

Another aspect of COLREGS has to do with speed. Now I know most of you power boaters are aware of the following, but for those who are still confused, a power boat has approximately 90° of throttle arc. So to clear up a common misunderstanding, power boats have more than two speed positions, idle and full throttle!

The throttle arc starts at the propeller engaged position (idle) to the full 90° (full throttle). In between, are 89° of separation, corresponding to idle speed, slowest, slower, slow, fast, faster and fastest speeds, respectively. It is your responsibility to select the proper speed for the situation. To this end, COLREGS has a rule that covers this issue (Rule 6). It states:

Every vessel shall at all times proceed at a safe speed so that she can take proper and effective action to avoid collision and be stopped within a distance appropriate to the prevailing circumstances and conditions.

So, when there are lots of boats in the channel, and the seas are confused, DON"T go full throttle up the channel! Smaller boats, those with limited freeboard, or those whose design isn't conducive to heavy chop, really don't appreciate the added wake and the exponential danger! In simpler terms; give a guy a break!

Two-Way Streets

The Coast Guard Boat Crew Seamanship Manual states:

The International Association of Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) established two systems of buoyage for conveying navigation information to mariners. …In US waters, ATON [editors note: aids to navigation] use the IALA-B system of later marks…arranged in geographic order know as the "conventional direction of buoyage".

…Under this, the memory aide 3R rule of "Red, Right, Returning" applies when a vessel is returning from seaward. This means, when returning from sea, keep red markers to the right of the vessel… [COMDTINST M16114.5B January 1998; Chap 13]

So, in English, since we pretty much know we have red and green buoy's; and that we're supposed to keep our boats between them, because that's where the channel is, now we know more. Just like our streets, where we drive on the right, on our water channels, we also drive on our right.

The direction of the channel (street) is determined by whether you are coming in from the sea, or going out. The rule of thumb to determine your direction is to look at the numbers on the buoy's. If they are increasing, consider yourself coming in from the sea, and keep the red buoy's toward your right side, or in more nautical terminology, let the buoy pass by your starboard side.

Now that we know about how are channels are divided into two lanes, will someone tell the guys who always are traveling at breakneck speed, or are throwing the largest wake imaginable to stay on the correct side! Also, as you don't drive your car up the middle of the road, don't drive up the channel in the middle; especially when there are other's using the same channel!

Collision

Every year, there are far too many collisions around the area in which I boat. Now granted, that the area in which I boat probably has more boats per square mile of ocean than almost any where else in the United States, but its still too many accidents. Why do these accidents occur? Because people either don't know, understand or choose to follow the Rules of the road!

COLREGS in Rule 12 through Rule 19 either defines the situation or the conduct of all vessels in almost all conditions. Namely, what is a head-on meeting (Rule 14), crossing (Rule 15), and overtaking (Rule 13) situations. In Rules 16 and 17, COLREGS defines how vessels are to behave and their exact duties during these meetings. In addition, Rule 18 gives the order of precedence of who has the right of way (don't forget the definition in Rule 3 about fishing vessels!):

Except where rule 9, 10, and 13 otherwise require:
(a)A power driven vessel underway shall keep out of the way of:

(i)a vessel not under command;
(ii)a vessel restricted in her ability to maneuver;
(iii)a vessel engaged in fishing;
(iv)a sailing vessel;

If you follow and understand the Rules of the Road, you will reduce your chances for collision. Just as we do on land, if everyone followed the rules, we would have much fewer accidents. Because, no matter what we do, we'll always have accidents, but the point of the Rules of the Road are to mitigate accidents.

Final Rules

Please make note of these extremely important Rules. It is these Rules, that your conduct on our waterways is judged. Should you be in an accident, failure to abide by these Rules in particular, as well as all the other Rules of the Road, can be factors in assigning blame for the accident. It is these Rules that give you the ability to violate many of the other Rules, only after excising your adherence to all other Rules.

Sound confusing? The following Rules give you the ability for a last chance effort to avoid an impending accident, when the other party has not followed the other Rules of the Road.

Rule 2

Responsibility

(a) Nothing in these Rules shall exonerate any vessel, or the owner, master, or crew thereof, from the consequences of any neglect to comply with these Rules or of the neglect of any precaution which may be required by the ordinary practice of seamen, or by the special circumstances of the case.

(b) In construing and complying with these Rules due regard shall be had to all dangers of navigation and collision and to any special circumstances, including the limitations of the vessels involved, which may make a departure from these Rules necessary to avoid immediate danger.

Rule 7

Risk of Collision

(a) Every vessel shall use all available means appropriate to the prevailing circumstances and conditions to determine if risk of collision exists. If there is any doubt such risk shall be deemed to exist.

Rule 8

Action to Avoid Collision

(a)Any action taken to avoid collision shall, if the circumstances of the case admit, be positive, made in ample time and with due regard to the observance of good seamanship.

During my little jaunt the other day, on the calm, peaceful waters of the Great South Bay, I encountered violations of IALA-B (Red, Right, Returning), Rule 6 (excessive speed), Rule 13 (overtaking), Rule 14 (head-on meeting), and Rule 15 (crossing situations). No one ever sounded sound signals (another rule violation).

I however, spent a great deal of my time (while swearing) observing Rules 2, 7 and 8, doing everything in my power to avoid getting hit or hitting someone else. But I must say, when I wasn't involved in the demolition derby, wow, I had a great time.

To learn more about COLREGS and safe boating, navigation and to volunteer your time to help your country, contact your local Flotilla of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary. You can find us on the web at www.cgaux.org, or by contacting your local Coast Guard unit (www.uscg.mil) which is listed in the yellow pages.

There is nothing like boating, whether you're in a power boat or a sail boat!

Editor's Note: All Rules cited are sub-sets of the actual Rule. Reader's should obtain the latest copy of the International Regulations for Avoiding Collisions at Sea and read the entire Rule(s).