steerage,etc,

I was only referring to the type of fishing vessels and their rights, and definitely, steerage (which is what all the r.o.w. is about) is the primary rule, other than military and emergency activities. The channels in the south SF bay are narrow also, and when you do narrow channels, you learn to respect what steerage means. But the newby on the water in a recreational boat or a jetski usually doesn't know the rules. So the main reason for all the rules is to avoid incidents, making all responsible. If a stand-on vessel in close quarters makes a wrong move before giving notice, it is like a person stepping off a curb into the path of a motorcycle, no matter which way he jumps, its too late for the bikerider to second guess. So you really do need to know your rights so others can count on you, even though those professional operators must assume none of us know what we're doing. The lights and day signal rules are very important, letting others know what a boat is doing. Learning currents and tides is bare minimum. Learning to communicate with other vessels to clarify is a good plan.The one that sticks with me is "red over red, the captain is dead". (no steerage). "Under way with no way on" took me a while to comprehend. The sixpack class is the very best starting point after you have had your CG auxilary or power squadron classes to seriously learn. I was also surprised to learn that the vessel with the least right of way is a seaplane. (didnt even consider it a vessel). I think Capt. Bob was one of the first to start these classes, specifically designed to get you educated and licensed by way of dealing with the rules exactly as the coast guard does. You can't make up or "interpret" the rules, they are precise. Listening to others in the class, the questions and the what ifs (I had lots of my own what ifs) from those of us who cared to take these classes, I learned so much. And then we go racing, and there are those other rules, where starboard means something. This is a great time of year to catch up on reading and learning. There are dvd's out you can buy or rent through amazon to learn skills, rules, etc. Helen

Seaplanes have no rights because nobody could possibly get out of their way. Compared to them, everything else is stationary. Like, why does a hummingbird come right up to your noise to look at you? Because to him, you are a stationary object no matter how fast you move. By the way, the south bay channel is only narrow if you need 29 feet or water and consider 500 feet narrow. For my L-36, the South Bay is 10 miles wide, at least where I am. Maybe not so wide south of Coyote Point. Allen On Thu, Dec 9, 2010 at 12:35 PM, Helen Horn <he… [at] sbcglobal.net> wrote: > > > I was only referring to the type of fishing vessels and their rights, and > definitely, steerage (which is what all the r.o.w. is about) is the primary > rule, other than military and emergency activities. The channels in the > south SF bay are narrow also, and when you do narrow channels, you learn to > respect what steerage means. But the newby on the water in a recreational > boat or a jetski usually doesn't know the rules. So the main reason for all > the rules is to avoid incidents, making all responsible. If a stand-on > vessel in close quarters makes a wrong move before giving notice, it is like > a person stepping off a curb into the path of a motorcycle, no matter which > way he jumps, its too late for the bikerider to second guess. So you really > do need to know your rights so others can count on you, even though those > professional operators must assume none of us know what we're doing. The > lights and day signal rules are very important, letting others know what a > boat is doing. Learning currents and tides is bare minimum. Learning to > communicate with other vessels to clarify is a good plan.The one that sticks > with me is "red over red, the captain is dead". (no steerage). "Under way > with no way on" took me a while to comprehend. The sixpack class is the very > best starting point after you have had your CG auxilary or power squadron > classes to seriously learn. I was also surprised to learn that the vessel > with the least right of way is a seaplane. (didnt even consider it a > vessel). I think Capt. Bob was one of the first to start these classes, > specifically designed to get you educated and licensed by way of dealing > with the rules exactly as the coast guard does. You can't make up or > "interpret" the rules, they are precise. Listening to others in the class, > the questions and the what ifs (I had lots of my own what ifs) from those of > us who cared to take these classes, I learned so much. And then we go > racing, and there are those other rules, where starboard means something. > This is a great time of year to catch up on reading and learning. There are > dvd's out you can buy or rent through amazon to learn skills, rules, etc. > Helen > > >

I kept my boat at The Harborage in St. Petersburg, FL and sailboats are told to yield right of way to planes landing at the city airport. The planes hail on Channel 13 as they are making their approach. This is a really fine marina and looks even better now than when we were there -- added a pool and a restaurant -- so the plane traffic is worth putting up with! Only had to wait once or twice in our year and a half there! Don Dutton, 1986 Cal 33-2, "Quantum Evolution" "Twenty Years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." ........Mark Twain From: Allen Edwards <al… [at] PaloAltoPhoto.com> To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Sent: Thu, December 9, 2010 2:24:06 PM Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] steerage,etc, Seaplanes have no rights because nobody could possibly get out of their way. Compared to them, everything else is stationary. Like, why does a hummingbird come right up to your noise to look at you? Because to him, you are a stationary object no matter how fast you move. By the way, the south bay channel is only narrow if you need 29 feet or water and consider 500 feet narrow. For my L-36, the South Bay is 10 miles wide, at least where I am. Maybe not so wide south of Coyote Point. Allen