So, you have acquired your SAMSA Skipper License in South Africa. You must be excited to take out your powerboat for a spin. If it is your first time driving a powerboat alone, you might be nervous. Despite knowing the rules, it is natural to feel nervous. So, let’s talk about how to give way to other boaters in South Africa in this article.
Rules of the Road: How to Give Way to other boaters in South Africa?
Just like cars, boats also have their ‘Rules of the Road’ to maintain safety and order on the waters. Boats do not manoeuvre like cars nor do they drive on a predetermined path, like roads. On water, you can literally go anywhere in any direction as you please, unless the waters are restricted for reasons.
Such directional freedom bears a great responsibility for the safety of life and property of your own and other skippers. Thus, in this article, we will mainly be discussing how you can give way to other boaters.
But before we dive into that, we have to discuss an important aspect first.
Understanding the Navigation Lights on a Boat
If you are a nighttime skipper, you must know about navigation lights. They help an approaching vessel and you to decide on manoeuvring.
It is one of the prime requirements for acquiring high-level skipper licenses that allow one to drive a powerboat at night. These lights must stay on from dusk to dawn or in foggy situations.
There are two types of lights on a vessel.
Sidelights
Sidelights are the Red and Green lights that flash on both sides of the hull. They are situated towards the bow and are visible from the sides and the front. These lights allow other vessels to understand whether they have to give way. Let’s understand how that works.
If you did not know already, the left side of the boat is called the Port side and the right is the Starboard side. The Red light is the Port light and the Green light is the Starboard light.
If you have difficulty remembering the Port and Starboard sides, here’s an easy memory pointer for you.
Red – Port – Left (short-lengthed words go together)
Green – Starboard – Right (long-lengthed words go together)
Easy, right!?
All-Around White Light
Smaller vessels have an all-around white light, usually situated on the rear side of a vessel and slightly elevated so that it is visible from all directions. While the Sidelights are not visible from behind, White light is. Any boat approaching from your rear can see the lights.
On larger boats, there are two white lights: Masthead Light and Sternlight. In this case, the Masthead Light is similar to All-Around white light while the Sternlight is only visible from behind.
Here’s how you can Give Way to other Boaters in South Africa
There are three ways to handle a situation with approaching boats. It depends on the direction they are approaching from. Besides that, the type of the vessel also matters in making a decision. Let us take a look.
A Vessel is Approaching from Your Port Side
Any vessel approaching from your Port (left) side must give you the way. This translates to your vessel maintaining the course and speed while the other vessel makes sure it does not get in your way.
A Vessel is Approaching from Your Starboard Side
You must give way to any vessel that approaches from your Starboard side. In this situation, you are to exercise caution about your course. Change the course or slow down your vessel to allow the other vessel to pass. During this time, make sure you keep an eye on the vessel all the time.
A Vessel is Approaching from Your Stern Side
Any vessel approaching from your Stern (rear) side may consider overtaking you. In this situation, they will sound a horn. Two short blasts mean they intend to overtake you from your Port side, while one short blast means they want to do so from your Starboard side. If in agreement, follow the same horn pattern after them and maintain your course to give them way.
However, if you are confused or if there are dangers, then sound five short blasts. It either means you are confused or cannot give way. Or it may mean that there is danger ahead and you do not recommend overtaking.
A Vessel is Approaching Head-On
When a vessel is approaching head-on, both vessels must give way. In this case, turn to the starboard side to give way to the other vessel. The other vessel will also do the same to give you way while maintaining a safe distance between you two.
Final Thoughts
In this article, we covered the basics of how you can give way to other boaters in South Africa. Following the Give Way rules are important as they maintain harmony and avoid collisions and chaos at the sea.
There’s one general rule of thumb. If you see any tugboats, commercial vessels, fishing vessels, or sailing vessels, and do not know what to do about them, always give them the way first. We will see about that in detail in our next article.
In South Africa, if you have a Skipper’s License, then you must remember these rules on the go. Do not stress about them though, as they will come naturally to you as you get used to powerboating.
If you require further information on RYA Powerboat courses or SAMSA Skipper Courses, feel free to reach out to Sail and Power SA. We are a Cape Town-based RYA-accredited training institute with 30+ years of experience in the industry.