Nautical Rules of the Road — Canadian Safe Boating Course

Chapter 6: Nautical Rules of the Road

Port : If a power-driven vessel approaches within this sector, maintain with caution, your course and speed.

Starboard : If any vessel approaches within this sector, keep out of its way.
(Note: This rule may not always apply if one or both vessels are sailboats.)

Stern : If any vessel approaches this sector, maintain with circumspection, your naturally and speed .

Operating Rules

Boat operation is national to a series of rules like to those governing road dealings. The Collision Regulations and the Criminal Code of Canada are two valuable sources of information for anyone concerned in more details on the regulations governing the operation of a vessel. The following are a few of the many rules they set down .

Rules of the Road

The rules of the road in navigation are much like to the rules on kingdom. The Collision Regulations contain many rules pertaining to navigation ; however, four rules are basic to navigation .

A boat that is overtaking another must steer clear of the overtaken vessel’s path.

A vessel approaching from the port side must give way. (A) keeps clear of and must avoid crossing ahead of (B).

When two vessels are heading toward each other, each must reroute and pass to the right of the other. (A) blows one blast and alters course to starboard, (B) blows one blast and alters course to starboard.

As a general rule, rowboats, sailing vessels and canoes have the right-of-way over power- driven boats. However, if one vessel is unable to maneuver as it normally would, the most maneuverable vessel gives way.

responsibility for avoiding collisions is shared by everyone using the watercourse. common sense must be used along with alertness and caution.

The concept of taking early and solid action must be applied in all cases .

Alertness

The Collision Regulations requires that anyone operating a vessel be constantly on the alert, both in sight and voice .
Operating a vessel requires the operator ‘s free burning attention ; operators must be constantly alert and alert to everything around them. not alone must they take explanation of what is happening in front, behind and on both sides of them, like a road vehicle driver, but they must besides pay attention to what is under them. A unmarried glance at the flip is adequate to see the early signs of bad weather, or perceive impend dangers ( electrical wires or others ) .
The water airfoil can besides conceal dangers : tree trunks, water plants, rocks near the open, etc. For that rationality, they required deep concentration when operating a boat. This alertness allows the hustler to adjust speed to boating conditions, and thereby enhance the guard of the hustler and of others .

The Effect of Waves

One of the rules governing the operation of a vessel is that every vessel is creditworthy for the effects of its wake. boat operators must therefore ensure that the wake of their vessel does not endanger nearby pleasure boaters or cause property wrong to their vessels .
Boaters coming to help must not compound the circumstances of an accident or, for that matter, lawsuit another matchless. The effect of the boat ‘s wake is extremely authoritative when approaching the victim. Steps must be taken to ensure the wake is not therefore high that it washes over the victim .
last, pleasure craft operators must know that they can not interfere with marine signals, as stipulated in section 439 of the Criminal Code of Canada, by :

1. mooring the vessel to a signal, buoy or other sea-mark used for navigation; or
2. willfully altering, removing or concealing a signal, buoy or other sea-mark.

Provisions of the Collision Regulations pertaining to the conduct of joy craft in sight of early vessels .
Know that the operator of a pleasure sailing craft, that has the hoist on the interface slope, shall take early and significant natural process to keep well clear of other sailing vessels as described in the Collision regulations, Rules 12 and 16 .
Know that the operator of a pleasure sailing craft, that has the scent on the same english and is to windward of other glide vessels, shall take early and significant carry through to keep well absolved of sailing vessels which are to leeward as described in the Collision Regulations, Rules 12 and 16 .
Know that the hustler of a pleasure sailing craft, that has the weave on the port side and can not determine with certainty whether other sailing vessels to windward have the wind on the interface or on the starboard side, shall take early and substantial action to keep well clear of the glide vessels as described in the collision Regulations, Rules 12 and 16 .
Know that the operator of a pleasure craft shall take early and substantial action to keep well clear of vessels being overtaken as described in the Collision Regulations, Rules 13 and 16 .
Know that the operator of a pleasure trade, which has other power driven vessels on his/her own starboard slope and cross them so as to involve hazard of collision, shall take early and hearty action to keep well clear and shall, if the circumstances of the shell admit, avoid crossing ahead of the early vessels as described in the Collision Regulations, Rules 15 and 16 .

Boating and Alcohol

Drinking alcohol in a gravy boat is no less dangerous than in a cable car. The effects of the sunday and scent, combined with the function of alcohol, seriously distorts opinion and dulls the reflexes. unfortunately, alcohol is a divisor in a high share of fateful boat accidents. In December 1985, major amendments to the Criminal Code of Canada took force in respect to vessels. These amendments led to more dangerous police action, specially for offences committed under the determine of alcohol .

Dangerous Driving

section 249 ( 1 ) bacillus of the Criminal Code of Canada provides :
“ Everyone commits an offense who operates a vessel or any water ski, surf-board, water sled or other towed object on or over any of the inner waters of Canada or the territorial sea of Canada, in a manner that is dangerous to the populace, having esteem to all the circumstances, including the nature and circumstance of those waters or sea and the use that at the clock time is or might reasonably be expected to be made of those waters or sea ; ”
Everyone one who commits an offense under this part may be sentenced to imprisonment for a condition not exceeding five years .
If the offense caused bodily injury to another person, the length of captivity may be up to ten years .
If the offense caused the end of another person, the person who committed the offense is liable to imprisonment for a terminus of up to fourteen years .
department 250 ( 1 ) of the Criminal Code of Canada besides provides :
Another responsible person must be on board a vessel to keep watch on any person being towed .

Impairment

The most extremist change to the Criminal Code of Canada, 1985, in regard to boating concerns the operation of boats by impaired persons.

section 253 of the Criminal Code of Canada provides :
“ Every one commits an crime who operates a motive vehicle or vessel or operates or assists in the operation of an aircraft or of railroad track equipment or has the care or dominance of a motor fomite, vessel, aircraft or railway equipment, whether it is in gesticulate or not ,

1. while the person’s ability to operate the vehicle, vessel, aircraft or railway equipment is impaired by alcohol or a drug; or
2. having consumed alcohol in such a quantity that the concentration in the person’s blood exceeds eighty milligrams of alcohol in one hundred millilitres of blood.”

The Criminal Code amendments allow officers of the peace who have reasonable grounds to suspect that a gravy boat hustler has used alcohol to request that such operator take a breathalyzer test, just as they would for a cable car driver .
nowadays, there is no differentiation between driving a car and driving a boat if the hustler is impaired ; the discourtesy is the like. refusal by a car driver or gravy boat hustler to take a breathalyser trial is besides an umbrage .
The sentences involved in committing the discourtesy of driving while impaired are the like for boats or cars. For a beginning umbrage, the minimum prison term is $ 600. For a second umbrage, the minimal sentence is 14 days of imprisonment. For each subsequent discourtesy, the wrongdoer may be imprisoned for at least 90 days .
These above convictions reflect minimal sentences. Whenever bodily harm is involved, the Court is unblock to impose a sentence of captivity of up to 10 years. If the offense results in the end of another person, the conviction of captivity can be vitamin a long as captivity for life .
In addition to the above sentences, the Courts can prohibit the convicted person from operating a gravy boat for at least three months. Anyone found operating a gravy boat while under such a suspension is apt to two years of captivity .
Although the Courts can not suspend the operational license of a person found guilty of a boat operation umbrage, they may and must prohibit such persons from operating a gravy boat for at least three months .
For an offense set out in the Criminal Code providing a minimum conviction of 14 days of imprisonment for a moment offense, the two offences need not have been committed in the same circumstances. In early words, if a person was guilty of driving a boat while impaired and later a vehicle, or vice versa, the second time would be considered a irregular offense, and the wrongdoer would spend at least fourteen days in prison. obviously, the like reason applies to any subsequent offense .
The offense of “ Careless Operation of a Vessel ”, has been added to the Small Vessel Regulations. An operator who is doing any of the following could be charged :

• traveling in a way that could adversely affect the safety of people or property considering the weather, boat traffic, hazards or potential hazards, or the number of people around the boat
• operating a vessel in a careless manner, without consideration for other people or for the factors listed immediately above.

Others have been added to the Criminal Code of Canada :

• operating a vessel dangerously
• operating a vessel when impaired
• towing water skiers improperly
• failing to stop at the scene of an accident
• operating an unseaworthy vessel

here are a few myths and realities about boating and alcohol ( based on the booklet “ Water and Alcohol – Myths and Realities ” published by the Canadian Red Cross Society ) .

Blood-Alcohol Levels

The following chart allows a calculation of when it becomes dangerous to drive after drinking alcohol. The graph was developed by the Toronto Police Department for car drivers, but it besides applies to persons operating vessels .
The Criminal Code of Canada reports the legal limit for alcohol as 80 milligrams of ethyl alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood ( 80 mg % ). This is besides frequently expressed as 0.08 grams of ethyl alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood .

Instructions:

• Find the column that corresponds to the number of drinks consumed
• Locate the number matching the weight of the person
• The number entered in the box where 1 and 2 meet shows the blood-alcohol concentrations (BAC) in grams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood

Note: One drink in = 1.5 oz of liquor ( 40 % alcohol ) = 5 oz. of table wine ( 10-14 % alcohol ) = 12 oz of regular beer ( 5 % alcohol ) .
Attention: The time elapsed since drink and other factors can affect the data in the chart. For women, blood/alcohol concentrations are higher than specified in the graph .

The Effects of Alcohol

Alcohol has the same effect on a gravy boat operator as a car driver. however, boating involves certain specific factors. here are a few examples :

Balance

Most people who die in a boating accident fall out of a vessel and not necessarily because it capsizes .
proportion is one of the first faculties impaired by the identical first drink of alcohol or the first beer. It affects the body quickly, and obviously, a fishing boat approximately 3.5 meters in length is much less stable than solid anchor .

Coordination

As the blood-alcohol level rises, people are less and less adequate to of coordinating their movements and reflexes. An intoxicate person will find it identical unmanageable to swim or grab onto a lifebouy, regardless of their ability when unplayful. furthermore, alcohol besides affects sight .

Judgment and Sense of Risk

Most people lose their normal reason ability after equitable a few drinks. Under the influence of alcohol, the people may be inclined to take risks.

Hypothermia

contrary to popular impression, two or three “ potent drinks ” do not warm up a cold person. On the contrary, alcohol causes the blood to rise to the surface of the skin, giving the depression of heat, although body hotness quickly dissipates into the atmosphere or water. cold water system is dangerous adequate without alcohol reducing survival time even more .

Body Heat Regulation

The condition “ homo body heat regulation ” pertains to the mechanism that maintains an even body temperature. physical activity, on land or in the water, increases the body ’ s glucose floor ( blood sugar ). Glucose, which carries energy to the muscles, is needed to produce heating system when we exercise. But alcohol interferes with the liver ’ s ability to produce glucose. Drinking alcohol and engage in strenuous exercise at the like time can reduce glucose levels ( hypoglycemia ) and make a person confused and weak, and interferes with the body ’ s heat regulation. Shivering, a automatic by which the muscles produce heat, is impeded by alcohol. Alcohol causes the blood vessels in the clamber to dilate ( extend ), thus increasing the come of hotness that leaves the blood and enters the tune. cold water is besides more effective than cold air in removing body heat. For these reasons, high levels of alcohol in the blood diminish the body ’ s ability to produce heat arsenic promptly as it is lost in cold body of water, and the body temperature can therefore hang .
A pleasure craft operator should always check weather calculate information before heading out to avoid putting the craft and persons on board at risk .
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