Joe wrote:

.... and what would a "proper
look-out" be in those conditions?

One that makes a full appraisal of
the situation and of the risk of collision.

Exactly. If we condense Rule 5 by removing the specifics of what sort of
look-out is to be kept, its true meaning can be discerned...

Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper look-out ... so as
to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision.

IOW, a proper look-out is defined as that which allows the sailor to
ascertain "a full appraisal appraisal of the situation and of the risk of
collision". It is that look-out which is sufficient to acheive this. It is
not, as Captain Crow Pie falsely claims, maintaining a constant vigil by
constantly spinning in one's cockpit in a perpetual scan of the horizon, or
perhaps by growing eyes in the back of one's head in the hope of attaining
360-degree vision. One can only assume that the aforementioned captain does
not blink...


--
Wally
www.artbywally.com
www.wally.myby.co.uk