Posted by Ed Kiser on June 25, 2013 at 13:49:07 user Kisered.
In Reply to: Re: Right / Left posted by Tom Napier on June 25, 2013 at 11:31:33:
Dick did run into that situation where the RULE was not being followed, as he was just starting out sailing Scarab but ran into some vacationers windmilling about rowing with their oars, and being yelled at by one of these, causing Dick to have to make an unexpected shift in direction and lose his wind, with a few frantic moments of trying to get his ship back under control. In that emergency, there was no point in calling out "steam gives way to sail" but simply do what has to be done and avoid an accident, regardless as to who had the right of way.
At least Dick had the comfort of obeying the "port gives way to starboard" rule because he knew the skipper of the threatening ship was NANCY. But you are right, one must be observant, and "just in case" do what HAS to be done regardless of the rule.
This "head on" traffic business reminds me of the Goblin (in WD) encountering that huge steamship in the middle of the night and they had to use the Woolworth plate to show their position as well as take some frantic action to avoid collision.
Ed Kiser, Kentucky, USA kisered AT aol DOT com