Boating and Navigation Rules (ROR)

ROR, which is short for International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, was a subject that I was taught at Midshipmen School in 1978. The school for Naval Officers to be. The passing rate for tests was set at 100%. I was told a 99% score was unacceptable because the 1% failed answer could be the one responsible for a collision at sea later on. Hence I learnt every one of the 37 rules by hard and committed them to memory. The ROR is one of the 11 chapters that students taking the PPCDL course have to learn. For a landlubber, the terminology may be hard to swallow. It will take a while before the terms are understood and applied to the rules.
It was immediately evident to me why these rules were critical when driving a Missile Gun Boat or a Landing Ship Tank (LST). These ships take a while to turn and maneuver out of a collision situation. However it is very different with small pleasure crafts. Yachts below 120 feet are extremely maneuverable and you can easily steer her away from a collision situation within seconds. Yes, that's right, seconds. As such, I feel when it comes to taking action to avoid a collision, the best course of action for a pleasure craft, would be to steer clear of other vessels, especially large merchant ships and leave them a wide berth. Generally ships have difficulty seeing small boats and may be reluctant to maneuver out of their path in a narrow channel or fairway, expecting the pleasure craft to stay clear instead. That to me is common sense and acceptable. By the way, almost every mile of Singapore's port waters is a fairway or part of a fairway. In any case here is a video of how the rules apply in the given circumstances.