"Rick" wrote in message
link.net...
Jeff Morris wrote:

So you claim that a plastic kayak with stealth coating, no radar or
reflector,
has every right to travel in shipping channels in pea soup fog? That sounds
like stupidity to me. Or are you simply claiming that everyone has a right
to
commit suicide?

Regardless of what you think about the mental capacity of the operator,
that kayak has every right to be there.

I'm not so sure of that. Rule 19 is pretty clear that any movement may be
inappropriate, and vessels have been held completely at fault for leaving the
dock without radar.

It might sound like stupidity
but stupidity is legal. If you run down the kayak you will be held at
least partially responsible for the collision. Like it or not.


If the kayak crosses paths with a tanker in the fog, I doubt the tanker would be
assigned any fault.

Be careful when you start asking for pecking order rights to use the
waterways. You might end up further down the list than you would prefer.

I haven't asked for any rights. There are no rights in the ColRegs, only
responsibilities. And the kayak isn't in any pecking order. And the pecking
order doesn't apply in the fog. The pecking order only applies "when in
sight" - if a vessel choses to be invisible, it doesn't have "pecking order
rights."