USCG Archives - Safe Skipper Boating & Safety Afloat Apps for phones & tablets

Learn ColRegs: Traffic Separation Schemes

Learn ColRegs Rule 10: Traffic Separation Schemes. (c) A vessel shall, so far as practicable, avoid crossing traffic lanes but if obliged to do so shall cross on a heading as nearly as practicable at right angles to the general direction of traffic flow. (d) (i) A...

Passage Planning Advice & Safety for skippers

by Stuart Batley | Navigation, Preparation

Passage planning helps you to: • Decide where to go • Calculate how long it will take to get there • Avoid bad weather • Take advantage of favourable tides • Be aware of possible hazards, eg shipping lanes, tidal overfalls • Decide a watch system • Decide if the crew...

Fire prevention on boats

by Stuart Batley | Emergencies, Preparation

Fire prevention on boats – common causes of fire: • Smoking below decks • Galley cookers • Build-up of butane or propane gas in the bilges • Faulty wiring • Petrol/gasoline vapour in engine bay • Flammable paints and solvents Fire onboard a boat –...

ColRegs Rule 14 – Head-on Situation

by Stuart Batley | Boat Handling, Navigation, Preparation

ColRegs Rule 14: Head-on Situation (a) When two power-driven vessels are meeting on reciprocal or nearly reciprocal courses so as to involve risk of collision each shall alter her course to starboard so that each shall pass on the port side of the other. (b)...

Know your Navlights & Shapes – essential for all skippers

by Stuart Batley | Communications, Navigation, Preparation

Know your Navlights & Shapes International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (ColRegs) Anyone who is responsible for a vessel at sea, from the smallest dinghy to an ocean going supertanker, day or night, must be able to recognise other vessels and...