Rules of The Road Too Confusing?

[jackdale]

There are numerous memory aids associated with Colregs

For example, rule 18 can be recalled with

An Anchored
Over Overtaken
Night Not under Command
Room Restricted in ability to manoevor
For Fishing
Sale Sail
Plus Power
Snacks Seaplane

The lower ones give way to the higher ones. The first two are actually in other rules.


Some memory aids for navigation lights:

Red over green - sailing machine
Red over red - captain is dead (not under command)
Red over white - fishing at night
Green over white - trawling at night
White over red - pilot ahead

The best advice - "If it looks like a Christmas tree, stay away from it."

Sound signals in restricted visibility - based on number of words

Underway under power - one long ("moving" - one word)
Underway with no way on - two longs ("not moving" - two words)
Sailing, fishing, etc. - One long, two shorts ("almost all others - three words")
Towed vessel - One long, three shorts ("I am being towed" - 4 words)

Any more memory aids?

Jack

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by Solitude

So ...Why do we have this??


The areas that use the 'B' system, are North and South America, Japan and the Philippines. The remainder of the World uses the 'A' system.

South Korea is also system B.

So what do all three non-american countries have in common?

Prior to 1977 there were 30 different systems.

[Solitude]

I'm sure it doesn't cause too much confusion except when I try to explain it to my european inlaws. LOL

[Inkwell]

God, you've got to love this Board. So much knowledge and general information. Thanks for sharing.

[unbusted67]

Originally Posted by CSY Man

Yeah, be carful with them pot shots and good luck studying the rules, they will be less confusing as you go along.

I'm being a jerk, sorry.
.

Originally Posted by Inkwell

God, you've got to love this Board. So much knowledge and general information. Thanks for sharing.

Amen to that.

Originally Posted by jackdale

There are numerous memory aids associated with Colregs

For example, rule 18 can be recalled with

An Anchored
Over Overtaken
Night Not under Command
Room Restricted in ability to manoevor
For Fishing
Sale Sail
Plus Power
Snacks Seaplane

I've been using

Serious (Seaplane)
People (Power Driven)
Start (Sailing)
Feeling (fishing)
Doubtful (constrained by Draft) [COLREGS only]
Right (Restricted in ability to maneuver)
Now (Not under command

and feeling very proud of myself for making it up.

[svBeBe]

Here is a tip for unbusted67. Get some unlined 3x5 blank cards, a black pen, red marker, green marker & yellow marker. Make cards of each lighting configuration and day shape configuration as shown in Rules of the Road. On the back write the description matching depiction on front side of the card.

Now, play flash cards for an hour or two.

Guarantee that you will know all of them in one evening.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by amytom

Shouldn't that be Malagasy? BTW I was born there.

Thanks for the correction, I was wondering what the correct term was but was too busy (lazy?) to research it better and didn't have a local to ask .

For that matter, do they have ferrymen, I sort of assumed there miust be a ferry somewhere there.

One never knows what interesting information is avavible on CF

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by svBeBe

Here is a tip for unbusted67. Get some unlined 3x5 blank cards, a black pen, red marker, green marker & yellow marker. Make cards of each lighting configuration and day shape configuration as shown in Rules of the Road. On the back write the description matching depiction on front side of the card.

Now, play flash cards for an hour or two.

Guarantee that you will know all of them in one evening.

That is a great plan. I have flash cards for all the courses I have to teach. I also have commercially prepared flask cards for Colregs, but the process of doing the cards yourself is much more effective.

I also worked with a company in Austria in developing a CD that covers most of Colregs and aids to navigation in IALA System B as well as the material for mid-level and advanced sailing courses. The first version was created for the Canadian market; we are currently creating a version for North America that will include the ICW and Inland Rules. The new version will also cover MARPA and other new developments.

Jack

[Stranded Mariner]

Originally Posted by svBeBe

Here is a tip for unbusted67. Get some unlined 3x5 blank cards, a black pen, red marker, green marker & yellow marker. Make cards of each lighting configuration and day shape configuration as shown in Rules of the Road. On the back write the description matching depiction on front side of the card.

Now, play flash cards for an hour or two.

Guarantee that you will know all of them in one evening.

This will work like a charm, and is actually how I learned the lights and day shapes in maritime college.

[LtBrett]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

I read the first posts with amusement thinking that the colors and shapes are fine and that we don't need any changes but then I thought it would be nice at night to readily distinguish privileged vessels... Oh, well. Nice to speculate about but it'll never happen.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who at times has trouble distinguishing what a vessel is doing. In good vis, no problem. But when dealing with adverse seas, precipitation, and heavy traffic, it can be hard to tell the back end from the front end of a vessel. I have a particularly stressful transit of the English Channel as my reference case. I find it frustrating that the answer most people advocate is gaining a greater understanding of the rules. All the knowledge in the world won't eliminate ambiguity the way a simple blue stern light would. Maybe other revisions would be more effective, or perhaps no revisions are warranted. IMHO, the rules can be improved, not just memorized.

Brett

[cabo_sailor]

I'd suggest that you pick up one of the Davis Quick Reference Cards. They should not only make the learning easier but will provide you with a handy on-board reminder cheat-sheet.

Davis - Marine - International Nav Rules

[jackdale]

Colregs can be amended. The last amendments came into effect in 2003 and were primarily concerned with wing-in-groundeffect vessels.

The process is described at:
Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (COLREGs)

Some countries such as Canada have their own modifications. That might also be a possibility.

Jack

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by cabo_sailor

I'd suggest that you pick up one of the Davis Quick Reference Cards. They should not only make the learning easier but will provide you with a handy on-board reminder cheat-sheet.

Davis - Marine - International Nav Rules

There is also one available from Weems and Plath. One of my students had one; it seemed quite good.

Rulesmaster has an excellent CD. So does Xplain. A Canadian version of the Xplain software is also available. It is Canadian only in the sense that it covers Canadian tides and currents.

Jack



Jack

[Badsanta]

Lightrule Collision Regulations Slide Rule

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by LtBrett

I have a particularly stressful transit of the English Channel as my reference case. I find it frustrating that the answer most people advocate is gaining a greater understanding of the rules.

Do you want to tell us about your Channel experience? I also advocate a greater understanding of the rules, but to be honest, I think you also need to have a copy of COLREGs handy as well. I've never really found lights to be that confusing, and tied to other information (radar, bearing shift) usually able to get a good appreciation of aspect. That said, I've had moments of confusion too - during a RIMPAC (for the non-Navy types, this isn't what it sounds like ) exercise we were patrolling our little patrol box, surrounded by dozens of other ships patrolling their own patrol boxes - of course all the ships were going 3 kts max, so everything was slow motion, and severe clear so lights were visible way over the horizon. Anyway I spotted a white light and had a look thru the bino's and sure enough it looked like a masthead light, with a green light to the right of it and a red light to the left of it () In all honesty it looked like I was dead ahead of a ship with its running lights reversed. After an hour or so we got close enough to work out that we were looking at the starboard beam and the red light was an unfortunately-positioned working light.

I think that 99% of the time, the rules for lights are straight-forward. The remaining 1% involve niggly details that most cruisers won't have to worry about - like switching off the masthead light when you switch on NUC lights.
Just my 2 cents.

Kevin