You're correct, Duane. I just did a word search for "downbound" and those are the only two usages in the Nav Rules.

It is a just the polite thing to do, that being said, around here some of the inlets are very narrow with extreme tidal flow and if you dont let the down current boats go first you could find yourself in a bad situation

I try to give sport fishing boats a wide berth whenever possible. The problem is, IMHO, in particular the smaller boats, seem to be operated by folks who like to fish, not boaters; they only have a boat so they can go fishing. And they have no idea of the rules. I was sailing by a large group of small fishing boats, attempting to clear them by a good 100 yards, when one of them crossed in front of me, then turned around to cross me again, this time very close. All on board were waving at me to 'move away...!'. I just shook my head, where am I supposed to go that you aren't going to turn in front of me again??!! I also remember a day with many small boats out fishing when the fog rolled in. As it was getting dark, someone called a mayday; "we're stuck in the fog, anchored by a red buoy with a '2' on it and the compass says 128 degrees". There was a long pause before the Coast Guard replied. I have a feeling that the radio operator was calling all of the others over; "hey come listen to this one".

I too, thought that vessels traveling with the current had right of way. And I can think of one place in particular, Fairlee Creek on the northern Chesapeake, where such a rule would make sense. It's a common Chesapeake inlet, with a sand spit running 90 degrees to the shoreline, cut by a very narrow channel, in this case, maybe 30 feet wide. When the tide is at full flow, probably 4-5 knots, particularly when it's going out, you'd better be on your toes, it'll catch your bow pushing it to port, at exactly the time you need to turn to starboard to enter the inlet. I've seen several boats either run up on the beach or get pushed aground in the shallow water to port along the shore. Any vessel coming out in that current, would find it very difficult to reverse and maintain control, I know I couldn't. I NEVER go into that place on a weekend, when it's filled with many dozen powerboats, with their crews drinking at the Tiki bar, not to mention the muscle boats bow first up to the bar's beach. That place is just an accident waiting to happen, ESPECIALLY with the current. But somehow, I don't think knowing the rules would make much difference, I had a muscle boat come out in the dark, hit the throttle and go by me at at least 60mph maybe 10 feet off my port side.

I can think of a couple other places where tidal flow would be a problem; the Cape May Canal (NJ) where it goes through a railroad bridge, the Kent Island Narrows, Knapps Narrows, I'm sure there are others.

One of the best things about being retired, is that I can go to places like Fairlee creek during the week, when it is perfectly quiet and I only have 5 or 6 neighbors. Different strokes for different folks, I guess, but there's no denying the danger of that inlet.

Hmmm, that turned into a bit of a rant; sorry 'bout that..:o

At the inlet from open water into every river, harbor and bay on the charts there is a dotted line with the words "Colregs Demarcation" which means all the waters inside of that line come under the "...waters Specified by the Secretary" and Colision Regulations apply.

As Captains we must be aware of which way the current is flowing especialy going through a bridge. We have all seen at one time or another, after watiing for a bridge to open and the sailboat is the down current privleged vessal that a power boat comes the other way, dosen't think he has to wait for us to clear the bridge first and flys through the bridge opening.

We have to be careful, we don't want our grave headstone to read "He died defending his right-of-way."

There do seem to be some anomalies and somewhat confusing statements in the rules. This is from the rules governing the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal:

"
(8) (c) Right-of-way. [B]All vessels proceeding with the current shall have the right-of-way over those proceeding against the current.[/B] Large vessels or tows must not overtake and attempt to pass other large vessels or tows in the waterway. All small pleasure craft shall relinquish the right-of-way to deeper draft vessels, which have a limited maneuvering ability due to their draft and size.

(11) (f)[B] Sailboats. Transiting the canal by vessels under sail is not permitted between Reedy Point and Welch Point.
[/B]

These two items could explain why some people (myself included) believed the rule regarding right of way proceeding with the current. May also explain why someone's powerboating friends thought you weren't allowed to sail in the ICW. Considering that both the Delaware and Chesapeake bays are part of the ICW, that would be highly inconvenient.

This statement in the beginning of the Coast Guard Inland rules document implies that the rules apply everywhere except the Great Lakes, however, the items later in the document (quoted in previous posts) imply that they only apply to the Great Lakes and Western Rivers. Somewhat confusing.

4. DISCUSSION.
a. This manual contains the International Regulations for
Prevention of Collisions at Sea, 1972 (72 COLREGS). It also
contains the Inland Navigation Rules, which were enacted by law
on 24 December 1980 and became [B]effective for all Inland waters
except the Great Lakes on 24 December 1981. The Inland Rules
became effective on the Great Lakes on 1 March 1983.[/B]

Unfortunately (for those involved), many collision cases have wound up in the admiralty courts where the ultimate judgement as to the involved vessels' compliance with or failure to comply with the Rules have been decided. A library of large (and expensive) books have been written on the subject of the Navigation Rules for maritime lawyers, who are highly compensated for the work they do. Let us all hope that we're never in need of the services of these specialists.

Because of the many court cases in this field, there is much precedence to draw on. Starpath Navigation, in Seattle, offers an online course on the Navigation Rules. Starpath actively follows the court terrain in order to provide the latest interpretations to their students. Although I teach for Starpath (their courses on Marine Radar and Marine Weather) I am not a Navigation Rules instructor, nor have I taken the course. From the Starpath Student Discussion Forum, available to paid students, I captured the following court summation that might be of interest here.

"We do not read Rule 9(a)(ii)'s right-of-way provision to allow downbound vessels absolute freedom to proceed down the Mississippi River however they choose. Instead, it gives downbound vessels the authority to deviate from the 'keep to starboard' requirement of Rule 9(a)(i) provided they comply with the procedures enumerated in Rule 9(a)(ii). In other words, the downbound vessel's right-of-way under Rule 9(a)(ii) is conditional--it depends on the downbound vessel's having proposed a manner and place of passage and initiated the maneuvering signals prescribed by Rule 34(a)(i), as appropriate. When the downbound vessel exercises its authority under Rule 9(a)(ii), the upbound vessel must give way, even 'hold as necessary to permit safe passing.' 33 U.S.C. 2009(a)(ii)." Marine Transport v. M/V Tako Invader, 37 F.3d 1138.

Power vessels(in open water) obey colregs at night the same as day,ie,a vessel crossing from stbd to pt would stand on,his red port light being visible at night(red stop,green go),the pwr vessel seeing the red stops,the crossing vessel seeing green would stand on.Under sail,port tack gives way to stbd tack,windward to leeward...what rules do sailing vessels obey at night?imagined unseen tacks or lights?

At night, power vessels and vessels under sail, within sight of each other, obey the same rules as day. The only way to tell if it's a vessel under sail is that it has no steaming light. The way you tell if another sailboat is opposite/same tack or windward/leeward is by lights, and where the wind is coming from...yes, you deduce the unseen tack.

In restricted visibility - ie, vessels not in sight of one another - ALL vessels are Give Way.

To add one thought to Larry's post, the rules say if you are unsure of the other vessels tack and if you are the stand-on or give-way vessel, assume you are the give-way.

Colregs oblige the stand on vessel to maintain course and speed unless the burdened vessel doesnt react at which time avoiding action is to be taken by the stand on vessel.Imagine the chaos if everyone is giving way!
As for under sail vessels...Colregs state that the tack of a vessel is determined by the opposite side of which the main boom is carried,not the side the wind is on(prt or stbd).
A vessel on port tack that is unable to determine the tack of an upwind vessel gives way...a stbd tack vessel would stand on.My question is,how to determine this at night(the opposite side of the main boom)?Its not enough to say "figure it out from the wind direction" as tack is not determined by this when broad reaching,running or sailing by the lee.

You make a good point. Let me do some research.

I don't think the colregs are concerned about which tack the vessel is on, just which direction they are approaching from. It's the RRS that are written with the direction of the wind as a determining factor.

Carl, it's in COLREGS, Rule 12.

Here's what David Burch wrote in response to my question.

===============
Several things are going on at the moment here, so let me answer this in pieces.

First, since Larry posted this question in the Starpath nav rules course, we assume the reason for asking is related to the rules. Second, therefore, we must be under sail ourselves or we would not be asking this question. Third, we know the vessel in question is under sail since we see no white masthead light, which would put it under power and remove the question again, or else we see only a single white light and we are overtaking and again, no question remains.

Thus we are under sail, and we see either a single green light, single red, or both red and green.

If we are on starboard tack, then all boats to windward must stay clear, regardless of what lights we see. Likewise, any one coming head-on showing red and green must stay clear as they are on port tack and we are on starboard.

If we are port tack, then any boat headed straight toward us (showing red and green) is definitely a starboard boat and will have right of way, but worse than that, from just sidelights we cannot tell if red or green is port or starboard, and we must assume all windward boats have right of way until they are close enough for us to discern the tack with binoculars. Once we can be confident the boat is another port boat to windward, then we can assume right of way, but till then we have to maneuver as the give way vessel.

Looking to leeward from a port boat your life is simple in that all lights have right of way over you.

Looking to leeward from a starboard boat, the only thing you know is red and green is the opposite tack (a port boat) and you have right of way, but you do not know about just red or just green, and you have to assume you are the give way boat till you know more.

It is a bit of a parry on the question, but I think sailing by the lee is not operating in normal condition and would not count. Furthermore, the head-sail side is a fall back tack definer.
==============

In subsequent discussion, David Burch confirms that in night sail-to-sail encounters a sailing vessel must act as a Give Way vessel until she knows *for sure* what the relationship is.

Thanks Larry..at least i now have some answers when this comes up from students,cheers,