COLREG Confusion

[Leviathan]

Hi all

As the title suggests I'm a little confused about COLREGS.

Do we need to know every rule word for word? Or can you know what every rule means and be able to explain it in your own words?

The 3O (Russian) on my ship told me we need to know the rules word for word. I understand Russia has a different system.

Could anyone explain?

[Crawf121]

nah, just need to know how to apply them

[alistairuk]

Hi all

As the title suggests I'm a little confused about COLREGS.

Do we need to know every rule word for word? Or can you know what every rule means and be able to explain it in your own words?

The 3O (Russian) on my ship told me we need to know the rules word for word. I understand Russia has a different system.

Could anyone explain?

You will be expected to be able to recite specific ones near enough word for word during your Orals if they come up, as your college lecturers will have advised.

[Snowy]

How far does your sense of professionalism extend? There are some specific parts (ie, 8f, 17a, and the requirements for small, sailing & fishing vessels in 9 & 10 etc) where the exact wording and your thorough understanding really counts.

It will not hurt your professional development to learn 1-19 verbatim, and have a very thorough understanding of the rest. If you want to delve into understanding them fully you cant go far wrong with Paul Boissier's book, and then if you're still piqued, Cockroft & Lameijer.

[YoungMariner]

The primary focus is understanding and correct application, followed by knowing the rule titles and numbers. Learning word for word the steering and sailing rules will help you substantiate your answers in an oral.

[Snowy]

Yep, concur.

[Silvertop]

How times have changed, when I did my orals if you didn't know rules 1-19 word for word in your oral you failed. Especially Rule19..

Think about it this way, if you misquote it in your 'own version explanation', you might change the meaning, and if you think you are right in your misquote, you might end up doing the wrong thing in a traffic situation!? Or worse, do nothing expecting someone else to do something..

Learning them the right way now will make sure you get them right for the rest of your career at sea. Even my wife remembers the rules after helping me revise them for orals!

[endure]

Even my wife remembers the rules after helping me revise them for orals!

[AbdulRafiq_14]

Hi all

As the title suggests I'm a little confused about COLREGS.

Do we need to know every rule word for word? Or can you know what every rule means and be able to explain it in your own words?

The 3O (Russian) on my ship told me we need to know the rules word for word. I understand Russia has a different system.

Could anyone explain?

My Lecturers say that it is easier to remember them once you have applied them at Sea.

[Leviathan]

I'll memorise them word for word then. I wasn't against doing this it's just I heard some people in my class say that it wasn't required. Thanks for all the answers.

[Aardvark1]

Agreed! I also recommed Cockroft & Lameijer, its thanks to that book that i finally understood rule 8f!

[Clanky]

8f is a perfect example of why you need to both learn the rules word for word and know what they mean.

Being able to repeat this rule parrot fashion is quite obviously not a demonstration that you know what to do in a situation where you are required not to impede the passage safe passage of another vessel, however, it would be very hard to explain what the rule means and how it is applied with regard to the other rules to which it refers without being able to quote it word for word.

[bridgemonkey]

8f is a perfect example of why you need to both learn the rules word for word and know what they mean.

Being able to repeat this rule parrot fashion is quite obviously not a demonstration that you know what to do in a situation where you are required not to impede the passage safe passage of another vessel, however, it would be very hard to explain what the rule means and how it is applied with regard to the other rules to which it refers without being able to quote it word for word.

And here was me thinking all engineers did was sit in their hole, drink tea and steal all the biscuits from stores... On a serious note what you said is spot on. I had a lecturer who used to make exactly the same justification using that rule as there is not a single word there that can be removed without changing the meaning.

[condeh]

Job one, know how to apply the rules.
Job two, know how to explain why you made a decision. Doing this by quoting the rule properly demonstrates both understanding in application, and understanding that the specific words in the rules actually matter.