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Are You The Operator Underway?

3K views 20 replies 9 participants last post by  sailak 
#1 · (Edited)
The question has been asked in another thread, are you an operator at anchor? The more significant question is, are you the “operator” underway? The answer may surprise you.

There is no question in Canada for any recreational vessel that is not required to have a licensed master. The operator, the person responsible for everything that happens on the vessel and the one who will be blamed if there is a collision, grounding, or injury is the person whose hands are on the wheel. This responsibility shifts as helmsmen are changed. Turn the helm over to a guest , tell them , “Steer straight for that house.”, and, if the boat runs aground and there is an injury, it will be their fault. The guest must have a Canadian recreational vessel operator’s card to legally manipulate the wheel. The only thing you might be held accountable for in this case as an owner might be letting a person without a card steer.

U.S. State jurisdictions are increasingly moving towards this approach, driven by modeling laws after motor vehicles. The overwhelming number of boats they are concerned with are outboards where this actually makes some sense and it is simply beyond legislators and regulators to think about how things might be different on a large cruising boat.

I wrote an article about this and other regulatory foolishness for one of our New England boating magazines. See page 93.

Later:

Oops. Sorry. The online archive of the magazine seems to have disappeared. I'll find out if this is temporary or permanent.
 
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#5 ·
Both Canada and Connecticut stopped answering my phone calls and emails about that question without giving me an answer.

I later confirmed the Canadian position with a Transport Canada inspector over dinner. I asked her the autopilot question. She rolled her eyes and said that the idea of a recreational vessel having an autopilot was as incomprehensible to the legislators forcing these rules on them as a fish having a bicycle. The idea that someone might me navigating, looking at charts, watching the radar, while another person steered in a straight line was also equally outside their ken. As far as they, and many U.S. states are concerned, all recreational craft are outboard boats.

I hope I can find the article. The Connecticut situation is crazy.
 
#4 ·
Hello,

This is great question and I would really like to know the answer. I live in NY and I have not been able to get a straight answer. Here, you don't need an license to operate a sailboat. Anyone over the age of 18 can legally operate the boat. I rarely steer my boat, I prefer to let a 'guest' or the autopilot steer so I can trim sails, keep a lookout, relax, etc.

So who, from a legal standpoint, is 'operating' the boat?

Barry
 
#6 ·
My take is that if there is an accident, the names on the title *and* the person behind the wheel (if different) will all end up in court. I think part of being a responsible boat owner includes keeping the guests/crew and the boat safe. That responsibility extends to making good decisions about who I allow behind the helm because if there is an incident, they may automatically become part of the legal fallout.
 
#7 · (Edited)
That responsibility extends to making good decisions about who I allow behind the helm because if there is an incident, they may automatically become part of the legal fallout.
If you are in Canada or states that have adopted this interpretation, part of being responsible is also telling guests that they may be dragged into any post accident mess if they touch the wheel.

If you are compulsively responsible, no more letting kids steer. They are minors and can not legally make a decision about taking on such a responsibility. It's illegal to do so in Canada anyway unless they have their card. When I was flying, I could let my sons hold the yoke under my supervision but I can't legally let a person with 40 years of cruising and circumnavigation experience but no operators card touch the boat's helm in Canada and some states. Go figure.

In Connecticut it is even weirder. The experience cruiser, even if not a CT resident, if they own real estate in CT but haven't taken the eight week boating course, can not legally touch the wheel with you standing right there. A person who had never been on a boat before in their life but doesn't own any CT real estate and is resident of another state could be given the deck watch unsupervised at night to navigate the vessel through all the traffic up to the NY border.
 
#9 ·
In an aircraft, there is a clear distinction drawn between the Pilot in Command and the Sole Manipulator of the Controls. They can be the same, but may not be. The PIC doesn't transfer and remains both in command and fully responsible for the aircraft, even when not manipulating the controls. I think this makes more sense.
 
#10 ·
I think someone must have posted this before because I recall reading your article Roger.

My take, is that the long history of the sea began to change in part with the advent of Jetskis.

Every state is different, but they all seem to be moving toward a NASBLA approved course and an "operators" card/license; some more slowly than others. Here in NJ and in many other states it applies to " Power driven vessels". A sailboat under power is a Power driven vessel, a sailboat under sail alone is not. So you can turn the wheel over to anyone you want, as long as you're sailing and not motoring.

While one needs to follow State laws, you are still also required to comply with the Colregs while on federally controlled waters. ( re: proper lookout vs autopilot)

The " operator" of a motor vessel is no different than an operator of a car. Just because I'm in the right hand seat, doesn't mean I can let an unlicensed driver, drive my car. Even if that operator has 40 years of driving experience. Again, I think the focus is on power boats and speed etc.

For boats, if someone has that level of experience and wants to mitigate all the technical limitations of individual state laws..they can obtain a CG license and they'd be allowed to operate in most if not all states. Even though, a CG license requires no knowledge of how to operate a Jet Ski. lol.

Yes, the courses are easy, the exams are easy, their focus is on the small open vessel where most of the accidents and deaths occur. Everyone gets caught in the net though.
 
#11 ·
A sailboat under power is a Power driven vessel, a sailboat under sail alone is not. So you can turn the wheel over to anyone you want, as long as you're sailing and not motoring.
That is an interesting distinction I hadn't thought of. I wish I had thought to ask the Transport Canada inspector about it. I suspect it doesn't apply in
Canada but might here where the power issue is more prominent in the various laws. For example, I pay excise tax in Maine based primarily on horsepower so less for my 32 foot boat than many pay for small outboards. I'm not complaining.

The " operator" of a motor vessel is no different than an operator of a car.
I disagree on this one. On larger power vessels, whether Aux sail or not, the "operation" may well be a team effort with one person navigating and directing and the helmsman functioning essentially as a verbally directed autopilot. Navy ships are certainly operating like this all the time.

All of this could have been avoided by Canada and the states including one simple concept in the rules. Whoever has legal custody of the vessel by virtue of ownership, charter, or rental, is entirely responsible for whatever happens aboard. This would have been consistent with the tradition of the sea. It contributes to safety by there being one person who knows the buck stops with them and will therefore think more carefully about who should be allowed to steer and who should not.
 
#13 · (Edited)
I completely understand your perspective of the buck stops here re: tradition. etc. I certainly assume that level of responsibility on my vessel, regardless of who's at the helm.

That " Person in Charge" works well for vessels that carry more than one passenger. I think the challenge came with the advent and proliferation of the PWC. where there's only one passenger/operator. One solution could have been to only require Jet ski operators to take a course and be licensed. I believe that some states have done just that.

The Navy model works well at sea where there's plenty of room and time to make course adjustments. And the fact that they require you to stay clear. On crowded inland waterways with a ton of go-fast boats; the closing rate of two power vessels meeting or passing in close quarters imposes a much shorter decision making period.

Another consideration that probably played in to the equation was alcohol use. If I recall correctly Alcohol was involved in some way in 1/3 of the approximately 650 boating related deaths in the US last year. Here, in NJ at least, your boat operators license is now linked in part to ones drivers license. The top 6 factors in all the fatalities were: Operator inattention, Operator inexperience, Improper lookout, Excessive speed, Rules violations and Alcohol use. All operator related.

Lastly I think there was a desire to inform the boating public that life jackets save lives.
71 % of boating fatalities were from drowning of those 85% were not wearing a life jacket.

In my state, it's a 7 hour course that can be done online and a 1 hour in-person exam.
The certificate issued has no expiration date. Most US states extend recipricol privileges, So take it once..and you're done. I think there are many government regulations that are more costly and intrusive in our lives. Asking a boater to take one safety course/exam in their boating life seems fairly reasonable and may benefit us all. We do it for cars, motorcycles, hunting, Scuba Diving, etc. Why not for boating?

I understand the loss of Tradition ( 3 generation Navy family). I just don't see that it's a major inconvenience.
 
#16 ·
I certainly assume that level of responsibility on my vessel, regardless of who's at the helm.
I think this "operator" crap dilutes the concept of responsibility and accountability.

If you are the "captain" of a vessel, be it 10 feet long, or 1,000 feet long, you are, and should be responsible for anything that happens onboard. You can delegate authority (placing someone at the helm) but not responsibility.
I don't think the new regs. relieve the captain/owner completely of any responsibility. If someone turns over the helm to an unlicensed or intoxicated operator, they will be held additionally responsible.
Admirable sentiments and anyone willing to step up and take full responsibility deserves respect. However, it may not be up to you. In Canada, they aren't even going to ask or care whose boat it was, just whose fingers were on the wheel.

Certainly the captain/owner will have some responsibility and culpability if the helm is turned over to someone not up to the task. However, the fact that the person steering under your direction and command could be considered at all responsible is something that you must disclose to anyone before letting them steer. You could lie later and say you were steering but then we're talking possible perjury.

The way it as always been at sea, and the way it should be, is that an inappropriate action with the helm that results in damage or injury is an issue between the master and the person at the helm. For all other parties, including any other guests or crew who may be injured, the captain is totally responsible and at fault. Part of the responsibility of command is assessing the capability of crew members and how much direction they need. If you get it wrong, you are responsible, even if the person you turned the deck over to decides to make a 90 degree turn in a straight channel he's navigated many times before. Ask Captain Hazelwood of the Exxon Valdez. The mate's actions were incomprehensible but Hazelwood stepped up as if he had turned the wheel himself and paid the price.

You don't have that option under this emerging concept. If you told a guest to just steer for that island, directed them over a shoal, and their pockets are a lot deeper than yours, you can be sure they will be drawn into the lawsuit even though they had no more responsibility than an autopilot.

Given the widespread understanding of traditional responsibility at sea, it is irresponsible not to inform people you let take the wheel of this fact.
 
#14 ·
I think this "operator" crap dilutes the concept of responsibility and accountability.

If you are the "captain" of a vessel, be it 10 feet long, or 1,000 feet long, you are, and should be responsible for anything that happens onboard. You can delegate authority (placing someone at the helm) but not responsibility.

Letting owner/skippers off the hook because "I wasn't driving", is totally bogus.

This isn't about preserving tradition, this system WORKS and it has worked for eons. The system still works in confined waters, and with high speed vessels. Make no mistake, PWC's are "vessels" and should be treated as such. People in Florida, are riding them to the Bahamas from Miami, for Christ's sake.

I drove Uncle Sam's war-canoes for 20 years. I've helmed and navigated nuclear submarines, and 27-foot patrol gunboats equipped with 400 hp Volvo-Penta turbo-diesels that were very fast. Do you think the rules changed for me, just because my gunboat was small, fast, and I was zipping around a confined shipping port?

I strenuously object to this re-assignment of responsibility, and to lumping everyone together with the "lowest common denominator" of water-borne trash for these safety courses.

Instead of making the entire maritime community change to conform to conditions for speedboats and PWC's, they should be forced to join the rest of the maritime community.
 
#15 ·
BH, I understand the objection. Did you helm or navigate your vessels without any related training? With regard to the Captain being responsible, I don't think the new regs. relieve the captain/owner completely of any responsibility. If someone turns over the helm to an unlicensed or intoxicated operator, they will be held additionally responsible.

I suppose that I don't feel the angst that many do, because it really doesn't affect me. I can operate under my CG license, and I'm allowed to turn over the helm while under sail
to anyone of my choosing, and imo the buck still stops with me. It's only while under-power that I need to " consider" whether the helmsman is licensed. That a jet skier or power boater is now required to take some minimal training to be on the water with me seems like a good thing vs. no requirements of any kind which was the practice and still is in many places. But, like I said, I understand where people might take exception to the changes, and I'm not trying to change minds. In reality it doesn't affect what I do.
 
#17 ·
BH, <snip> Did you helm or navigate your vessels without any related training? <Snip>
The question is irrelevent. Of course I was trained, however this did not absolve the captain of any responsibility if I made a mistake.

As the master of my vessel, I should be held responsible for its safe operation. If I hand over the tiller to my #1 crew during a race, to take a rest break and he collides with another vessel, I should be held responsible for damages and injuries to that vessel. I may be able to seek some justice through the courts against my #1, but ultimately it was my decision to put him on the helm.

"I wasn't driving" is a bogus excuse and should be reserved for ground-based transport, not the maritime environment. I'm sick of the term "recreational" getting separate rules and treatment.

I've no problem with educational classes and certifications for new people with no vessel ownership or operating experience, but I don't feel that everyone else should be lumped in with those people. I should be able to challenge the test, or present proof of experience to gain the certification.
 
#18 ·
There was a 4 year challenge period here, where you could simply take a test and pass without having to take a course. There's also an exemption for CG icense holders. Not sure what Maryland did. I agree that consideration should be or should have been given for experience. I think a number of states grandfathered everyone and began their process with " new boaters" or just applied the rules PWC operators. ( I think NY captures just PWC operators)
 
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