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At 01:14 PM 1/12/02, you wrote:
... Rule 13a states that the requirement of an
>overtaking vessel to keep clear of the overtaken vessel is absolute and
>transcends any other rules (eg, power keeping clear of sail, windward
>keeping clear of leeward, port/starboard  tacks, etc, etc.)
>
>BTW, I've always found the way the overtaking whistle signal requirements
>are expressed in the US Inland Rules to be odd.  Rule 34a says when two
>vessels are approaching, one short blast means "I intend to leave you on
>my port side"  But when talking about overtaking, Rule34c says one short blast
>means "I intend to overtake you on your starboard side"
...
>Lu Abel

It is such a pleasure to see a continued nav thread on the list that I am
tempted to continue it even though the following is drifting very far off
topic.

In World War II, some air pilots were required to distinguish left from
right via the radio telephone, because reception tended to be excessively
noisy, a former British Army pilot once told me.
They had discarded the port/starboard labels already, and now they learned:
  "left,left' for left, and "right" for right.   So for someone holding
this proceless knowledge, it might be easy to mnemonize these sound signals as
One blast: "turning right"
Two blasts, "turning left".



Brian Whatcott
   Altus OK                      Eureka!

   

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