Some Basic Boating Etiquette
Boating etiquette encompasses the unwritten rules that underlie a safe and pleasant experience for everyone on the water. It pertains to how to act at the ramp, on water, and in an anchorage.
Efficiency and promptness are crucial at the ramp. Prepare your boat before the launch for an optimal time at the ramp to avoid backing up the line and unnecessarily irritating other boaters. Ensure that you have untied the ropes, put the drain plug in, and started the engine. After the boat is off the trailer, pull over to a dock or beach and load food, gear, and guests there. Draining, cleaning, or unloading the boat on the ramp is highly unacceptable.
The same applies to the fuel dock. As time and space are limited, fuel up, pay, and move on as quickly as possible. If you have to make other purchases, such as bait or groceries, you should relocate the boat and return for them.
Once the vessel is on the water, the boating etiquette relates to maintaining proper speed and observing the rules of the road. Many places do not set an official boat speed limit. However, this is not a reason to operate the craft recklessly. Stopping, making turns, and correcting the course require significant time. Thus, take reasonable care to avoid collisions.
Determining a safe speed mandates considering several factors, including the vessel’s responsiveness, current traffic and weather conditions, visibility state, and the geographical characteristics of the body of water. In addition, you should be particularly mindful of the waves your boat and those of others produce. In crowded areas, a large wave can cause the swamping of smaller vessels and toss passengers around on the board.
Understanding and observing the boating rules or who has the right of way is also essential for demonstrating courtesy and keeping everyone safe. While they encompass a lengthy and detailed list, learning just a few basic ones should suffice for coping in most recreational boating circumstances.
Each side of the boat has a designated name. From the boat operator’s perspective, the left is the port, the right is the starboard, and the rear and the front are the stern and bow, respectively. The stand-on vessel is the one that does not move, and it has the right of way. The give-way vessel is the one that moves and must change its course and speed to accommodate the stand-on one.
For example, if two powerboats approach each other on a perpendicular course, the stand-on vessel is one whose operator looks to the port and notices the other approaching boat. They should carefully proceed with their speed and course. The give-way craft is one whose operator looks to the starboard and sees the other vessel. They should change their speed and course accordingly to avoid colliding with the stand-on boat.
If the boats are coming head-on, neither of them is give-way or stand-on. They should both change their course to starboard and pass each other port to port. In the case of overtaking, the overtaking boat is the give-way vessel, and its operator should change the course to starboard.
It is noteworthy to mention that sailboats with hoisted sails have the right of way over powerboats. However, human-powered vessels, such as canoes, kayaks, and stand-up paddle boards, have the right of way over any other type of craft, including sailboats.
Finally, when entering an anchorage, you should observe how the other boats already there behave, including how they tie off and how much space they leave between each other, and mimic their actions. For example, if they swing to one anchor, do not set more as changes in the current or wind will make your boat move in a different direction and potentially lead to a collision.
Also, avoid anchoring in a channel. Channels are like highways; doing so will equal parking in the middle of one. You will recognize a channel by the green and red buoys marking its borders and the higher boat traffic.
