Whale of a Navigation Problem

[osirissail]

Here's one for you. How do you get out of this situation? Who has the right of way?


The source article is at: Whale of a tale! 40-ton mammal lands on yacht - World news - Africa - msnbc.com

[DotDun]

I'll bet the statistics on that happening are less than getting hit by lightning.

[Captain Bill]

Clearly the whale in question is a Right Whale. In the US this gives it "Right" of way over all boats. In fact even getting within 500 yards of a right whale is a crime. It used to be this was only in special areas, but two weeks ago I heard the USCG warning boaters that approaching within 500 yards of a Right whale off of Cape Hatterras was a criminal act and could result in prosocution. Clearly the boat in question was closer than 500 yards.

[Astrid]

Only in US waters:

http://www.d1south.org/Downloads/Doc...RightWhale.pdf

although other countries may have a similar ban.

[captainKJ]

According to the Rules of the Road
The right of way would have gone to the sailboat

the whale was crossing from the Port side,,, he was the giveway whale

[rebel heart]

Have fun explaining that to the insurance company.