"Jeff Morris" wrote in message
...
Donal wrote:
In these circumstances both ships would be communicating with the
harbour
control. Generally, the vessel outside the harbour would be instructed
to
slow down and wait until the outgoing vessel was clear. However, if the
vessel inside the harbour had more sea room, then the inbound vessel
might
be given priority.


Harbor control? What's that?

Every port that I visit has a "Harbour Master". Commercial vessels, and
larger pleasure vessels, usually have to seek the Harbour Master's
permission before entering or leaving the harbour. His VHF channel is
published in all almanacs.

I've (wrongly) assumed that it is the same everywhere.



I think there is such a thing in New York and maybe in a few other ports
on the East Coast, but it is certainly the exception, not the rule.
Actually, it may be more common now after 9/11. Perhaps one of the
"pros" can address this issue.

Since the harbor entrance in still under Inland rules, I might guess
this happened in the Chesapeake.

AFAIK, the Coll Regs reign supreme here, even in harbours. However, most
harbours have their own local rules. These are also usually mentioned in
the almanacs.



I think that the allocation of blame depends on the time that elapsed
between the two sound signals. If there was only a couple of seconds,
then
most blame would lie with 'A'. However, if more than 15 seconds had
elapsed, then I would say that 'B' was at fault.


Perhaps I should clarify a point. The major delay was in A's proposal,
not B's acceptance of the plan.

I can see that 'A's lateness in making his intentions clear would not help
the situation. However I still feel that the gap between the signals would
have been very important. If 'A' was very late, and there was a very short
gap, then I would allocate most of the blame to 'A'.


Regards


Donal
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