Memorising the Colregs

[RNR]

Has anybody got any good tips on memorising them?

I'm starting early to give myself plenty of time (I'm just finishing phase one) but the wording of them seems so unattainable :S

[Ash]

If its bigger/ uglier/ less in control than you are then steer clear!

[CharlieDelta]

If only the rules were that simple!

[minchmermaid]

Annex 5: Size matters and might is right.

[GuinnessMan]

Get some little boats and take them to sea with you. Go through situations with an off duty officer.

Best way to learn is to see it...

[Martyboy]

or look out the window and apply them to the big boats :P I found the easiest way to learn them was too write them out over and over again

[CharlieDelta]

Read 'em out loud!

[Randomist]

Honestly just Going over them again and again works. Before my orals I learned rules 5-19 word perfect and the rest is all lights shapes and sound signals. You'll be expected to know some bits and pieces about the annexes as well. Annex 4 you'll have to know word for word really.

[Superdandroid17]

I did a combination of the above.

Firstly I went over the rules to learn parrot fashion. Initially I made a massive effort spending 1 or 2 hours day after this was constant revision. I ended up using the random number generator in excel and checking 3 a day to make sure I had it right.

Then when on ship asked the OOW to go over what rules applied in the various situations we found ourselves in.

Lastly having learn a bit and seen some application of the rules I looked at the situations myself told the OOW what I thought would be correct and then asked them to tell me if I was talking rubbish or not.

For me the best was the last bit you can read stuff as much as you want does not mean you are actually going to understand it.

[YoungMariner]

Flipcards! Buy the RoR, Flags and Morse flip cards as soon as your start your cadetship, they'll be useful all the way through to Master Mariners ticket.

[Patrick O'Brian]

I have never actually learnt them by heart - you get the concept and then few details and there you go! Blindly memorizing them without getting to understand the system - is worst thing you can achieve; false sense of "knowing" them while you actually don't. Good luck though!

[tlloyd1983]

Don't forget Rule 19. Examiners love Rule 19, learn it well and all the little nuances that go with it. A strong confident answer on Rule 19 questions will see you right through the rest of the orals (and at sea obviously).

[YoungMariner]

For your orals, it's important to know what the examiner expects.


b) a thorough knowledge of the content, application and intent of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea;

Is the exact wording in the syllabus. You need to be very very familiar and comfortable with the rules and being able to define where rules blur and how to react.

I cannot quote the rules word for word, but can quote relevant parts of most rules and know how to interpret them well. I found that the expectations of your understanding change as you go through each oral. The Mates oral was probably the toughest for me in respect of colregs, and the Masters just involved situations where you had to go to port for a vessel forward of the beam in fog, or alter to port for a vessel crossing from port

[tlloyd1983]

Yup, MGN 69, page 9. All you need to know, this is what the examiner can ask you.

In my oral, there wasn't too much of Rule 8, but I did get a vessel crossing from Port, RAM, so I did get an alteration to port question. And we touched it again when he was questioning my on rule 19, just the usual though, vessel stbd side astern, actions to take, alter to port.