Quote Originally Posted by wakina View Post
Here is something that everyone seems to be forgetting or at least no one has mentioned it yet!

The rules of the road is a legal guideline that defines prudent behavior and defines who has right of way to maintain course and speed under normal circumstances. I think we are all aware of that fact! But here is the kicker.

It also states that both vessels if under command must take such action as to avoid a collision at all costs. Meaning that if a boat or vessel is approaching you from the left and is apparently not going to give way to your vessel which is on the approaching vessels right then your vessel on the right is bound by law to take all means to avoid the collision by changing course, slowing down or even stopping.

I realize that most everyone here would take such action and avoid a collision if at all possible! I only posted this to let everyone know that it is addressed in the Rules of the Road of navigation and that being on the right of another vessel does not give you the absolute right of way. It is somewhat confusing when you read the rules but it is what it is so be aware.
you are right about the boat on the right giving way to the boat on the left. if we didn't do that there would be many wrecks on the water. I have been trolling for many yrs and I couldn't even guess how many times I have been on the right and had to change course to avoid a wreck. there are just to many people out there that just doesn't know the boat on the right should have the right of way. and then there is that 10% that just don't care.

when I first started boating I didn't have a clue as to who had the right of way. so I always just did what I had to to avoid problems. after I found out the boat on the right is supposed to have the right of way I always wait until I see the boat on my left isn't going to give me the right of way. then I will do what ever it takes to avoid the other boat and his lines.

I personally think every boater in the us should have to take a basic knowledge test before driving a boat or take some kind of boating class.

I was trolling on the western basin and I seen this sail boat coming out. it was pointed right at me so I slowed down to let him go first. then after a few minutes I looked back and he was still heading right at us so I speeded up quite a bit I just knew we would be gone before he got there. I looked back a few minutes later and he was getting close and was headed right at us. it was like he was just trying to get us. I started turning the boat but he was barring down on us. he came so close that we had to pull the rods from that side of the boat and used our hands to push off the sail boat. I know the sail boat has the right of way but he shouldn't have the right to run you down. if he had of kept his course to start with there wouldn't have been any problems. but when I slowed down he had to have turned his boat to keep heading right at us. then when I speeded up he should have went behind us. but no matter what I did he just kept coming right at us. it was like he was using us as a steering point.

under normal conditions I would have just turned the boat around sooner. but the air adjustment screw had came out and we lost a full tank of gas. so all the gas we had was what little we had left in the other 2 tanks where we changed tanks a little early so we wouldn't run out while trolling. so we was trolling on our way back to our harbor. however we did run out of gas but we was only a couple of miles west of the harbor. but not really close enough to get anyone to notice us. but then out of nowhere there came this boat from the west and we flagged him down. we asked him if we could borrow about a gallon of gas. he said he had been lost and had run out most of his gas. then he asked if we knew how much farther it was to Cooley canal inlet. we told him about 2 more miles. we said watch where a boat was coming in and that was the harbor. then he said he would try and tow us in. we made it in and tried to pay him for helping us out, but he refused any money.

sorry for such a long post, but I thought the sail boat story needed told. then I thought I should tell the whole story.