[CoastalCoder]

Asking as a non-boater: does the Coast Guard take seriously allegations of such seamanship?

Basically I'm curious if sea captains are held to similar standards as airplane pilots, or if poor boat piloting is only penalized when actual mishaps occur.

[71a54xd]

They take drinking really seriously, it's way easier to get a DUI on a boat than a car.

Most of my experience has been in the Boston Harbor, which depending on who you talk to is more dangerous than the hudson, but in my experience most of what they dislike on the hudson is erratic lateral movement. Basically, you're not supposed to meander or transit laterally unless you're a sailboat or a ferry. Police boats / coast guard will approach vessels quickly if it looks like they aren't aware of these rules.

That said, maritime rules are pretty vague. Basically, boats going one direction stay to the right, the opposing direction stays to the left. Situational awareness is important to avoid other slower / faster / larger vessels. "Share the road y'all" is the most succinct way to explain boating in a nutshell haha.

[sokoloff]

> boats going one direction stay to the right, the opposing direction stays to the left.

Wouldn’t that put them head-on? If a southbound boat stays to the right (west side) of a channel and an opposite direction boat stays left (also west side), that seems worse than everyone staying right.

[jgoldshlag]

Everyone stays to the right

[71a54xd]

Well put, this is way easier to follow than what I wrote ;)

[noah_buddy]

You're flipping the frame of reference for each case which is what makes it confusing. Staring up or down a waterway, opposing traffic are on opposite sides (left or right). From each boats perspective, they are on the right side.

[odonnellryan]

If you have a captains license, it is not good if people complain about you. They do investigate.