SESKStuff Everyone Should Know
SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/boat-sternlight-only-overtaking

At night you see only another boat's white sternlight, no red or green. What situation is this?

You are overtaking it, so you keep clear.

  1. Meeting head-on
  2. Crossing
  3. Overtaking ✔

Why: Inland Rule 13 says you're overtaking when you come up more than 22.5 degrees behind the other boat's beam, where at night you'd see only its sternlight. The overtaking boat must keep clear.

Huh, didn't know that: Rule 13 says if you're in any doubt whether you're overtaking, assume you are.

The dad joke
Why did the fish get bad grades? It was below sea level.
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Sources

  1. 33 CFR 83.13 Overtaking, Inland Rule 13 (eCFR) https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-33/section-83.13

Test yourself in the game

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That's stuff everyone should know.