I still don’t quite get rule #2…

Jun 8, 2004
2,860
Catalina 320 Dana Point
RULE 15: Crossing Situation; When two power-driven vessels are crossing so as to involve risk of collision, the vessel which has the other on her own starboard side shall keep out of the way and shall, if the circumstances of the case admit, avoid crossing ahead of the other vessel.
For me, when motoring other powered vessels to starboard are "stand on" while those to port are "burdened".
https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/navRules/navrules.pdf
 
Jan 11, 2014
11,429
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
RULE 15: Crossing Situation; When two power-driven vessels are crossing so as to involve risk of collision, the vessel which has the other on her own starboard side shall keep out of the way and shall, if the circumstances of the case admit, avoid crossing ahead of the other vessel.
For me, when motoring other powered vessels to starboard are "stand on" while those to port are "burdened".
https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/navRules/navrules.pdf
Correct. And if the nav lights are on the boat to starboard will be showing a red light while the boat to port will be showing a green light. If you see red, give way; if you see green stand on.

I believe burdened and give way are used synonymously.
 
Jan 30, 2012
1,123
Nor'Sea 27 "Kiwanda" Portland/ Anacortes
As I understand the law, if there is an accident and the give way vessel did not give way and the stand on vessel had time and room to avoid the accident but didn't, the stand on vessel is liable for the accident.

Close - but relative fault gets quantified in Admiralty collisions. That means it is not a 'last clear chance' analysis. 'Last clear chance' means the last guy gets blamed if he had the opportunity to avoid the problem.

Admiralty (which applies the Colregs) is a bit different. Every collision case will involve facts which show some quantity of fault (the degree of fault) on both sides. Virtually no cases end up with a clear winner - excepting the lawyers of course which is just as was intended - and as it should be.

There is a way out. Follow two rules and you are safe. Rule 1 Buy liability insurance and if there is a collision let the insurance companies work it out. Rule 2 to avoid involvement in Rule 1 give way to other boats no matter the rules.

Charles
 
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Jan 11, 2014
11,429
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
Close - but relative fault gets quantified in Admiralty collisions. That means it is not a 'last clear chance' analysis. 'Last clear chance' means the last guy gets blamed if he had the opportunity to avoid the problem.

Admiralty (which applies the Colregs) is a bit different. Every collision case will involve facts which show some quantity of fault (the degree of fault) on both sides. Virtually no cases end up with a clear winner - excepting the lawyers of course which is just as was intended - and as it should be.

There is a way out. Follow two rules and you are safe. Rule 1 Buy liability insurance and if there is a collision let the insurance companies work it out. Rule 2 to avoid involvement in Rule 1 give way to other boats no matter the rules.

Charles
I am not a lawyer and don't play on TV. However, I do know that Admiralty law is not for the feint of heart. I'm also not certain that admiralty law applies in all boating cases, inland waters and waters not connected to the sea may not be under the jurisdiction of admiralty law, but under local law.

And yes Stu, I knew that burdened was archaic language, just connecting the dots between burdened and stand on. :) :beer:
 

Tom J

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Sep 30, 2008
2,305
Catalina 310 Quincy, MA
A couple of rules of navigation I swear by are "common sense prevails", and "the big guy always wins". I dodged the Staten Island Ferries several times while sailing through New York Harbor, and both rules applied there.
 
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Jan 30, 2012
1,123
Nor'Sea 27 "Kiwanda" Portland/ Anacortes
I am one and don't play one. The rules (see the link at #7 above) are both inland and general maritime. You are right the Colregs are not mandatory in collision cases on non-navigable waters but state courts almost always adopt these rules in jury instructions thus to measure fault. (By the way no jury in Admiralty cases.) Most states do not adopt pure relative fault but almost all have a modified version that considers the relative fault of the parties.

The point here is follow the rules - yield to vessels crossing from your right. Moreover, when in doubt yield to any vessel that represents a threat of a collision no matter what. Do that and you are out of harms way - almost every time

Charles
 
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Jan 19, 2010
12,374
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
There is a not so subtle difference. The Give Way vessel is obligated to give way, however the stand on vessel is obligated to take action to avoid a collision, it has no "right" to stand on. It must give way if the other vessel does not.

A right implies something that can not be taken away, i.e., the right to free speech or freedom of the press. Vessels have no rights, only obligations to avoid collisions.

As I understand the law, if there is an accident and the give way vessel did not give way and the stand on vessel had time and room to avoid the accident but didn't, the stand on vessel is liable for the accident.
I understand the philosophical distinction you are making but it probably only comes into play (legally) if there is a large difference in the manuverability of the two vessels. If two credit-card weekend captians get into a high speed collision, I suspect it becomes a "right of way" debate between the two captain's insurance companies.
 
Apr 5, 2009
2,815
Catalina '88 C30 tr/bs Oak Harbor, WA
The red wine is on the left. Port is a red wine.
Green has more letters than red. Starboard has more letters then port.
The version I use is simpler to remember and teach.
Port is a short word like "Red" and "Left"
 
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Apr 5, 2009
2,815
Catalina '88 C30 tr/bs Oak Harbor, WA
I understand the philosophical distinction you are making but it probably only comes into play (legally) if there is a large difference in the manuverability of the two vessels. If two credit-card weekend captians get into a high speed collision, I suspect it becomes a "right of way" debate between the two captain's insurance companies.
Quite often not true. It almost always becomes a question of % of responsibility and the Give-way vessel will often receive a percentage of the blame which comes out in the insurance payout.
 
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Jan 19, 2010
12,374
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
The red wine is on the left. Port is a red wine.
Green has more letters than red. Starboard has more letters then port.
I like it.... except that starboard also has more letters than red...:yikes:

When I first started boating I remembered starboard and port by thinking that R&S are right next to each other in the alphabet. So right = starboard and port was the other one... Also not a very sexy method but it worked for me until it became natural to think that way.

Now if you want to drill down in the etymology of the two words.... starboard is a bastardization of the word stear board. On the double ended viking longboats, the "stear board" was clamped to the gunwale (gun wall) of the boat near the stern. Since most helmsmen were right handed the stear board was usually clamped to the right side of the boat. Also, you didn't want to risk damaging the stear board when tied off so the other side of the boat was the port side.

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Feb 26, 2004
22,776
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
And yes Stu, I knew that burdened was archaic language, just connecting the dots between burdened and stand on. :)
Thx, Dave. What seems to happen in every single one of these discussions is that the introduction of incorrect terms may tend to confuse those who are new to the "sport" (for us at least) of boating safely, which was what the OP originally started out with quoting in the YT video and question he asked.
As you know, I read a lot of boating forums, and even the Cruisers Forum guys, who spend a hell of a lot more time out there than we do get it wrong and are helped along to understand proper usage of terms.
I know you know, but a newcomer here may not. He could well ask, "What's burdened?"
Happy New Year :beer::beer::beer:
 
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Tom J

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Sep 30, 2008
2,305
Catalina 310 Quincy, MA
A lot of confusion can be avoided through the lost art of communication. Most close calls and collisions could be avoided if the skippers involved were talking to each other. Back in the day, ships used the whistle system to inform each other of their intentions. This system is still in use in the VHF radio calls from bridge to bridge. By scanning channel 13 in my travels up and down the East Coast, I became familiar with these calls. I was often able to talk to the captains directly and avoid any potential problems.
Traveling the ICW was an education in the use of the VHF to coordinate with other boaters. The most common use of the radio was to ask the slow boat in front of you for a slow pass, and he would slow down as you passed him. A lot of skippers on the ICW became familiar with the VHF, and made good use of it.
 
Jan 11, 2014
11,429
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
Glad I remembered nobody is "privileged" anymore.
While privileged may no longer be in use there are many who seem to think they are privileged and don’t have to follow the rules. Spend some time on the ICW. :huh:
 
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capta

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Jun 4, 2009
4,773
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
Granted. The term "right of way", while being used erroneously in this context, is more easily understandable to the novice boater. Stand on and give way can then be taught in the same context.
As a life long professional mariner, one of the most difficult things I've had to do was forget the term "right of way" once the ColRegs updated to burdened and stand on. I would put forward that teaching using incorrect terms which need to be unlearned and new ones learned isn't the best way to teach the ColRegs or anything else, for that matter. KISS.