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george huxtable skrev  17.06.2005 16:30:

> This is a response to messages from Carl Herzog and Lu Abel.
>
> They both seem to think that in Britain, boaters are more closely
> regulated, but that is not the case at all.
>
> For example, I have never ever passed any sort of test or exam about
> my own
> marine proficiency. Completely unqualified, am I competent? Who can say?
>
> In Britain, anyone with enough money and arrogance can buy a power
> cruiser
> and take it to sea without having learned anything at all about it. He
> can
> even allow his teenage son to take it to sea. I don't think there's
> any age
> limit at all.

In Norway you have to be above 16 to run a motor boat above 15 feet,
with more than 10 Horsepowers or with a speed of above 8 knots
(whichever hits you first). But if you are above 16 you can run any boat
with any size of engine as long as the boat is below 50 feet in length,
so this basically is the same situation as George Huxtible described
from the UK.

But in Norway commercial shipping has the right of way, also regarding
sailing boats. Not all recreational boaters realize this and not all
captains on commercial vessels realize that a small boat might be in te
way either because of incompetence or for technical reasons. Our virgin
run with the motor boat we bought last year was across the Oslo fjord
just wre there is a ferry running every 20 minutes in either directione
- and a gale - so we tried very much to keep away from the ferries while
at the same time having a rfeasonable course across the fjord.

Espen Ore

   

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