"Donal" wrote in message
...
So where in the Colregs does it say you can't run on radar alone? Of
course,
one should always have a visual (and sound) watch, but that is moot if
there is
effectively zero visibility. And yet many vessels maintain their normal
schedule in thick fog.

Or are you claiming that local knowledge is not an advantage in the fog?
Such
knowledge would certainly help one to keep the boat on a proper course, in
its
proper place in a channel.

No! I'm claiming that "local knowledge" does not mean that you may travel
at anything more than a safe speed!

25 kts in thick fog is NOT safe, if there is even the slightest possiblity
of an encounter with another craft.

I'll admit that 25 knots does seem excessive in a lot of situations, and its
rather unlikely that I would be going over 7 or 8 knots in thick fog (and even
that would often be considered excessive). But there are no fixed rules for
this. I'm sure the Bar Harbor Fast Cat Ferry doesn't slow much in the fog, and
there is a chance some idiot is crossing the Bay of Fundy in his sea kayak.

There's always "the slightest chance," someone could be rowing across the
Atlantic. Should all traffic stop because of a slight possibility?





The problem is that small boats without radar, that are not good
reflectors,
will be invisible. They have no business being out in fog.

Wow! I'm almost speechless (but not completely)!

Jeff, I would like to ask if the Coll Regs place any duty on a boat to be a
good reflector?

Absolutely. Positively. Meditate on Rule 2 for a while. Every seaman would
agree its folly to cross a shipping lane in the fog in a stealth kayak.



Do the Coll Regs place any duty on a vessel to keep a look out for other
vessels?


Of course. How does a vessel without radar do this in the fog?




"Assumptions shall not be made on the basis of scanty information"
ColRegs,
Rule 7(c)


I think that is what I was saying!!


No. You're ignoring reality. You're claiming that all large vessels should
never proceed in the fog, because there's a chance of running over an invisible
kayak in the middle of the ocean. You're taking a situation with a huge amount
of gray area and trying to make it black and white; that's not the way the world
works.