Sound signals

The horn code boats use to declare intentions: one short, two short, five for doubt.

The horn talks in shorts and prolonged blasts. One short: I intend to pass you on my port side, port to port. Two short: starboard to starboard. Three short: I am backing up. Five or more short: danger, or I do not understand you, the water's air horn of profanity. Agreement is answering with the same signal.

A prolonged blast announces you at blind bends and when leaving a berth, and repeated prolonged blasts are your voice in fog. The whistle the law requires aboard is exactly this vocabulary in your pocket.

Head to head works like a country road: both boats move right and slide past left side to left side.

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Put the words to work

Vocabulary is easier at the helm.

The free South Carolina boater safety course teaches all of this in twelve chapters with a sixty question practice exam, and when you are ready for the water itself, one form gets you rental quotes from local operators.

Take the Free Safety Course Check Pontoon Availability