What is Good Seamanship?
Safe Boat Handling as Seen Through the Navrules
Some recreational boaters have had little formal experience with the navigation rules (navrules), known by many sailors as collision regulations (coregs). The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) publishes these rules of the road and they can be downloaded from the internet or purchased in print. The latest edition is Commandant Instruction M16672.2D. The navrules can be a way to better understand the concept of good seamanship.
Rule 2 - Responsibility
Rule 2(a) of the navrules says, “Nothing in these Rules shall exonerate any vessel, or the owner, master, or crew thereof, from the consequences of any neglect to comply with these Rules or of the neglect of any precaution which may be required by the ordinary practice of seamen, or by the special circumstances of the case.”
What Rule 2(a) tells boaters about seamanship is that there can be no pardon for the consequences of exercising poor seamanship or neglecting good judgment. Rule 2 goes on to tell mariners that they can not hide behind the navrules to avoid responsibility for an accident. Rule makers crafting the navrules recognized that departure from these regulations might be necessary to avoid accidents.
Good Seamanship as Seen Through the Navrules
The navrules provide many examples of that constitutes good seamanship and these rules offer boaters some insight into what defines good seamanship. One concept is the idea of looking ahead or anticipating what might happen next. This can be accomplished by an understanding of vessel handling or behavior. A person may for example consider what to do if they meet another boat while rounding a blind bend in a river. Can the boat be slowed in the current or does it turn better in one direction or the other?
Another way skippers can anticipate trouble is to maintain a good lookout. Navigation Rule 5 says, “Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper look-out by sight and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision.” This rule applies to every vessel and maintaining a proper lookout is high among the duties that define good seamanship.
Seamanship demands that a skipper retain control of their vessel. A common cause of collision is excessive speed. Sea state, visibility conditions or crowded waterways require more time of a vessel to react or maneuver to avoid an accident. Rule 6 speaks to this requirement to maintain a speed regardless of any condition, saying in part, “Every vessel shall at all times proceed at a safe speed so that she can take proper and effective action to avoid collision and be stopped within a distance appropriate to the prevailing circumstances and conditions.”
Exercising good seamanship as seen in the rules of the road means that a skipper will take every precaution required by the normal practice of seaman. The people that crafted the rules of the road didn’t believe sailors could foresee every eventually, rather they expected behavior that would reflect the ordinary intelligence and skill an average seaman.
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