XIV.
RULE OF THE ROAD AT SEA.
The boat sailer must possess a knowledge of the rule of the road at sea, unless he wants his sport brought to an untimely end by collision. He should become thoroughly familiar with the International Steering and Sailing Rules, so that if he encounters steamships, fishing craft, pilot boats, etc., he will be able so to maneuver his own vessel as to escape collision.
The prudent skipper of a little vessel should always give steamships and ferryboats a wide berth. Big steamships sometimes are slow to answer their helms, and often will not get out of the way of small craft, although compelled to by international law. Should your boat be run down by one of these monsters of the deep you, of course, have your remedy in a court, but you are apt to find litigation very expensive when suing a steamship company, and a suit often lingers for years until, having exhausted every process, it finds itself at last on the calendar of the Supreme Court of the United States.
It is not advisable to attempt to cross the bows of a steamer unless you have plenty of room and you are a good judge of distances. Steam vessels go at a faster rate than they seem to, and the momentum of their impact is very great. Instead of crossing a steamer's bow go about on the other tack, or haul your foresheet to windward till she has passed. Discretion is always the better part of valor. Not to monkey with ocean steamships or ferryboats is as valuable advice as that time-honored warning to boys not to fool with the buzz-saw.
Do not get "rattled," whatever you do, but keep your eyes "skinned" and your head clear.
Skippers of ferryboats often try to show off their smartness by steering as close as possible to small pleasure boats and then giving them the benefit of their wash, sometimes swamping their unfortunate victims. It is fun for the fellow in the ferryboat's pilot-house, but it is the reverse of pleasant to the man wallowing in the seething water. Therefore, do not court danger by approaching too near these unwieldy marine brutes, but if you are so luckless as to get into their wash handle your boat so that she shall not get into the trough of the waves, but take the sea on the bluff of the bow, where it will do the least harm.
Navigation by daylight in fine, clear weather is easy, but when it is dark and foggy special precautions must be taken or collision is inevitable. I do not propose to reprint in this little book the full text of the international regulations for preventing collisions at sea, but I have prepared an abstract, which will be sufficient for the practical purposes of an amateur sailor.
LIGHTS.
Between sunset and sunrise the following lights shall be carried by a steamship when under way:
At the foremast head a bright white light, visible on a clear night at a distance of five miles, showing the light ten points on either side of the ship from right ahead to two points abaft the beam.
On the starboard side a green light showing from right ahead to two points abaft the beam, visible at a distance of two miles.
On the port side a red light similar in all respects, except color, to the green light.
To prevent these green and red lights from being seen across the bow they must be fitted with inboard screens projecting at least three feet forward from the light.
Steamships towing other vessels shall carry two white masthead lights in addition to their side lights.
Sailing vessels when under way or being towed shall carry only the green and red lights as provided for steamships under way.
Small vessels that cannot carry fixed side lights in bad weather must have them on deck on their respective sides ready for instant exhibition on the approach of another vessel.
All vessels at anchor shall show where it can best be seen, at a height not exceeding twenty feet above the hull, a white light in a globular lantern of eight inches in diameter, visible all round the horizon at a distance of at least a mile.
Pilot vessels shall only carry a white light at the masthead, visible all round the horizon, and shall exhibit a flare-up light every fifteen minutes.
Open boats are not required to carry fixed sidelights, but must, in default of such, be provided with a lantern, having a green slide on one side and a red slide on the other, which must be properly shown in time to prevent collision, taking care that the green light shall not be seen on the port side nor the red light on the starboard side.
Fishing and open boats, when at anchor or riding to their nets and stationary, shall exhibit a bright white light, and may, in addition, use a flare-up light if deemed expedient.
FOG SIGNALS.
In fog, mist, or falling snow, whether by day or night, a steamship under way shall blow a prolonged blast of her steam whistle every two minutes, or oftener. A sailing vessel under way shall blow her foghorn (which must be sounded by a bellows or other mechanical device and not by mouth power) at intervals of not less than two minutes, when on the starboard tack one blast, when on the port tack two blasts in succession, and when with the wind abaft the beam three blasts in succession.
Vessels not under way shall ring the bell at intervals of not less than two minutes.
STEERING AND SAILING RULES
FOR SAILING VESSELS.
A ship running free shall keep out of the way of a ship closehauled.
A ship closehauled on the port tack shall keep out of the way of a ship closehauled on the starboard tack.
When both are running free with the wind on different sides, the ship which has the wind on the port side shall keep out of the way of the other.
When both are running free with the wind on the same side, the ship which is to windward shall keep out of the way of the ship to leeward.
A ship which has the wind aft shall keep out of the way of the other ship.
FOR STEAM VESSELS.
If two ships under steam are meeting end on, or nearly end on, so as to involve risk of collision, each shall alter her course to starboard so that each may pass on the port side of the other.
If two ships under steam are crossing so as to involve risk of collision, the ship which has the other on her own starboard side shall keep out of the way of the other.
Steamships must, in cases where there is risk of collision, keep out of the way of sailing vessels.
A vessel, whether sail or steam, when overtaking another, must keep out of the way of the overtaken ship.
Where by the above rules one of two ships is to keep out of the way, the other shall keep her course.
The following rhymes should be committed to memory:
A ship which is being overtaken by another shall show from her stern to such last-mentioned ship a white light or a flare-up light. This rule was only adopted in 1884, but I saw it practically exemplified in the ship Rajah of Cochin in the year 1874. The Rajah was running down the Southeast trades one pitch dark night in April, homeward bound; I was in charge of the deck. We had studdingsails set on both sides, on the mainmast and foremast. Suddenly out of the darkness astern there loomed up the sails on the foremast of a big ship whose jibboom seemed to be right over the Rajah's stern. She carried no side lights, her skipper being probably of an economical turn of mind. I took the lighted lamp out of the binnacle, and jumping on the wheel gratings waved it as high as I could, at the same time yelling with all my might. I could hear the man on the lookout aboard the pursuing vessel roar out, and then came a clatter and a rattle of ropes and a flapping of sails as with her helm hard to port the ship that was pursuing us luffed out across our stern. She snapped off a few stunsail booms, but that was better than running us down. Capt. Sedgwick, who was in command of the Rajah, was awakened by the noise and came up from below in his pajamas. He quickly realized what a close shave his ship had experienced.
BUOYS AND BEACONS.
In approaching channels from seaward red buoys marked with even numbers will be found on the starboard side of the channel and must be left on the starboard side in passing in. Black buoys with odd numbers will be found on the port side of the channel and must be left on the port hand in passing in.
Buoys with red and black horizontal stripes will be found on obstructions with channel ways on either side of them, and may be left on either hand.
Buoys painted with black and white perpendicular stripes will be found in mid-channel, and must be passed close aboard to avoid danger.
All other marks to buoys will be in addition to the foregoing and may be employed to mark particular spots, a description of which will be found in the printed Government lists.
Perches, with balls, cages, etc., will, when placed on buoys, be at turning points, the color and number indicating on what side they shall be passed.