Page:Small-boat sailing; an explanation of the management of small yachts, half-decked and open sailing-boats of various rigs; sailing on sea and on river; cruising, etc (IA smallboatsailing01knig).pdf/273

 When employed in the latter capacity the coloured glasses are removed. In the case of rowing boats, even when under canvas, side-lights are not obligatory (see Article 7, subdivision 4).

It is laid down in Article 15 that a vessel of 20 tons and over must be provided with bell and mechanical fog-horn to sound signals in thick weather. For small yachts the ordinary fog-horn sounded with the mouth is all that is needed, as (see last paragraph of Article 15) no special form of sound signals are obligatory for vessels under 20 tons.

The flags of the international code of signals, with the code-book, are not obligatory, but should be carried on every yacht that undertakes long cruises.

The rules of the road are now clearly defined in the new regulations; but the skipper of the small boat must bear in mind that his craft is handier and quicker to turn than a large steamer or sailing vessel, that in narrow channels, as in the Thames, there is but little room for them and plenty for him, all the more so that with his tiny craft he can safely sail over the shoal water on either side of the buoyed channels. Thus he will rightly be expected to keep out of the way of the large craft, and he must not make himself a nuisance by sailing across the bows of an ocean steamer (for example, in Greenwich reach), relying on the rule of the road that gives his, as a sailing vessel, the right of way. There must be a give and take when