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.