Wayne.B wrote:
On Sat, 25 Aug 2007 15:48:47 -0400, "Armond Perretta"
wrote:

Unless that "reasonable person" happened to be a judge in Admiralty
Court. In gear or out, when the machinery is running, the vessel
must follow motor boat rules.

Please explain to me the difference between running an engine out of
gear to charge batteries and running a generator.

Are you saying that if you run a generator you are no longer a
sailboat? Highly unlikely. Quoting Dickens' Oliver Twist: "If that
is the law, then the law is an ass".

Your query was answered by Lew in another post in this thread. It may be
worth adding that a generator differs from the ship's machinery in at least
one significant way: it cannot power the vessel.

As Lew pointed out, the problem is in trying to distinguish between a
sailing boat running machinery in gear or out. It basically cannot be done
with any degree of certainty. That is why the interpretation of COLREGs in
this instance is that a vessel running machinery _capable_ of propelling the
vessel is assumed to be "under power" in the standard sense, and hence
subject to the motorboat rules.

As a practical matter, sailing along and running the machinery in neutral to
power the batteries is probably not the best choice for a number of reasons.
First, you can get a little "kick" by putting the engine in gear. The noise
will be bothersome in any case.

Second, it is generally not a good idea to run small or medium-sized diesels
without a load, so your engine will benefit from doing a little work while
you charge up.

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://home.comcast.net/~kerrydeare