BoatBanter.com - View Single Post - Under Way, Not Making Way, Aground and Not Under Command, revisited

Wayne.B

On Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:34:12 -0400, wrote:

When my sailboat is drifting, I have no ability to steer, Wayne. I
thought you claimed to be a former sailor?

There is no such thing as a former sailor.

If you have no ability to steer than you might be NUC if some
extraordinary circumstance exists. To be treated as NUC under the
COLREGS you must be displaying the proper signals or make it known in
some other way. If you have the ability to hoist sails and make way
in some reasonable length of time you would almost certainly not be
considered NUC in an admiralty court but they might give you some
benefit of doubt if you properly displayed the NUC signals and/or made
a securite call on the radio. Anyone seeing the NUC signals or
hearing the securite call has to give you the benefit of the doubt
regardless, and none of that relieves another boat from their
obligation to maintain safe speed, maintain a lookout, avoid
collision, take evasive action, sound danger signals, etc.

On the other hand if you just decided to stow your sails, shut down
the engine, and drift around in congested waters, you would be taking
a huge risk with or without NUC signals. It would be reasonable to
assume that you should be standing by with distress signals ready at a
moments notice.