Bridge Etiquette / Rules of the Road?

[Vince_nj1]

Looking for feedback and some colorful comments. :grin:



So here is the scenario: You are traveling against a 10 knot current and come to a bridge that you can not go under until it opens. You are the first boat to arrive and you request a bridge opening. You have to wait 15 minutes. During this time 4 other boats arrive and are waiting for the bridge to open. 2 are on your side of the bridge and 2 are on the opposite side of the bridge. You notice that one of the boats on the other side of the bridge is a sail boat and is struggling with the current.

The bridge starts to open.. What do you do? :huh:

 

[Presentation]

Well, if you are going against the current then you are going upstream.

The downstream vessels have the right away.

Whose been waiting longer does not matter at all.

 

[tobnpr]

Yup. Least maneuverable vessel has the right of way.

 

[Henry Boyd]

Least manuverable and or downstream vessel wins around here. Our bridge tenders also make a habit of acting as traffic cop and instructing who gets to go first.

Henry

 

[fc3]

Almost correct. Based upon what I have seen multiple time, NJ State Police vessels always have the right of way. Even when their K-Mart lights are off. Upstream, downstream, other boats already under the span, it doesn't matter. He's got the gun and the ticket book so get the @#$@ out of the way!

Best regards,
Frank

Oopsie! Almost forgot!

You're wrong. You're an idiot. And you're ugly, too.

 

[Vince_nj1]

My experience seems to be that someone usually wiggles to the front of the line and then it becomes a game of chicken to see who is going to go first. Usually the bigger boats or commercial fishing boats take advantage of their size.

For those North Jersey boaters, it is always fun to watch boats go through the infamous train bridge in the Manasquan inlet.

 

[comsnark]

Best regards,
Frank

Oopsie! Almost forgot!

You're wrong. You're an idiot. And you're ugly, too.

Too funny!

For those North Jersey boaters, it is always fun to watch boats go through the infamous train bridge in the Manasquan inlet.

Very true. I have been on a sailboat in tight quarters. . .and it isn't fun going fast downstream through a bridge. If your boat is already moving at 6 knots due to current. . .you have to be moving faster just to maintain steerage (and steerage can be very important when going under a bridge!). You could easily be outside your comfort zone.

 

[osd9]

....... (and steerage can be very important when going under a bridge!).....

Ya' think?......

 

[comsnark]

occassionally. . . . .

 

[tc410]

Oopsie! Almost forgot!

You're wrong. You're an idiot. And you're ugly, too.

You forgot about wanting to pee on a picture of his face in a urinal.

 

[fc3]

You forgot about wanting to pee on a picture of his face in a urinal.

Eh. Doesn't do anything for me. My dog, on the other hand, loves to pee on stuff. Every freeking rock, leaf, twig, tree, etc in a hundred acre woods behind the house has to get a squirt.

Best regards
Frank

 

[tmhudson2]

That sailboat struggling to maintain his place heading downstream is using his engine, therefore under the law he is a powerboat and he should be treated as such. He has ROW because he is downstream-bound and therefore less maneuverable, not because he has rags and strings on a pole.

 

[Y.O.L.O.]

That sailboat struggling to maintain his place heading downstream is using his engine, therefore under the law he is a powerboat and he should be treated as such. He has ROW because he is downstream-bound and therefore less maneuverable, not because he has rags and strings on a pole.

I have had to inform sailboats of this fact more than one occasion... always gets a chuckle from the bridge tender and other power boaters