Do not get "rattled," whatever you do, but keep your eyes "skinned" and your head clear.
Skippers of ferryboats often try to show off their smartness by steering as close as possible to small pleasure boats and then giving them the benefit of their wash, sometimes swamping their unfortunate victims. It is fun for the fellow in the ferryboat's pilot-house, but it is the reverse of pleasant to the man wallowing in the seething water. Therefore, do not court danger by approaching too near these unwieldy marine brutes, but if you are so luckless as to get into their wash handle your boat so that she shall not get into the trough of the waves, but take the sea on the bluff of the bow, where it will do the least harm.
Navigation by daylight in fine, clear weather is easy, but when it is dark and foggy special precautions must be taken or collision is inevitable. I do not propose to reprint in this little book the full text of the international regulations for preventing collisions at sea, but I have prepared an abstract, which will be sufficient for the practical purposes of an amateur sailor.
Between sunset and sunrise the following lights shall be carried by a steamship when under way:
At the foremast head a bright white light, visible on a clear night at a distance of five miles, showing the light ten points on either side of the ship from right ahead to two points abaft the beam.
On the starboard side a green light showing from right ahead to two points abaft the beam, visible at a distance of two miles.
On the port side a red light similar in all respects, except color, to the green light.
To prevent these green and red lights from being seen across the bow they must be fitted with inboard screens projecting at least three feet forward from the light.
Steamships towing other vessels shall carry two white masthead lights in addition to their side lights.
Sailing vessels when under way or being towed shall carry only the green and red lights as provided for steamships under way.
Small vessels that cannot carry fixed side lights in bad weather must have them on deck on their respective sides ready for instant exhibition on the approach of another vessel.
All vessels at anchor shall show where it can best be seen, at a height not exceeding twenty feet above the hull, a white light in a globular lantern of eight inches in diameter, visible all round the horizon at a distance of at least a mile.