"Martin Baxter" wrote in message
...
Wilbur Hubbard wrote:

A friend of mine has a sailboat that's about fifteen meters in
length.
The other day his vessel was the subject of a USCG safety check.
Among a
couple other things, he got written up for not having a bell. He had
a
whistle. The citation said he was in violation of Rule 33(a) which
says
the boat is required to have a whistle and a bell. I told him to
fight
it because the citation won't stand up in court. Why am I right?

Wilbur Hubbard

Inland Rules say 12 meters or more, Internationlal rules say 20 meters
or more, was he outside the demarcation line?

Cheers
Marty

He was outside the line. But, an excellent point as the rule differs
depending if you're inland or international. Since you should be legal
inland because that's where you dock your boat you still need the bell
and the whistle. Only when you're in international waters do you need
both. What boat never docks or moors? Few, if any. So, in effect, the
change to rule 33(a) is really really stupid and useless.

Wilbur Hubbard