Solo sailing ban in the US?

[dlandersson]

Solo sailing ban in the US?

[kmclemore]

I could find absolutely no reference to an "Article 14" or any sailing "physical competency mandate" on a Google search. I suspect this is bogus.

That being said, all pilots and captains have always been bound by COLREGs in terms of proper lookouts, navigation, collision avoidance and safety. Keeping a proper watch, as a solo sailor, has always been a challenge.

[rsvpasap]

"I have uploaded below the transcript of a YouTube video. Please verify the accuracy of this information and provide any citations to support it."

https://chatgpt.com/share/69a1d389-3364 ... 9778c9c48e

[Be Free]

So let me get this straight...

Someone posted a video on Youtube that was obviously narrated by an AI and based on the repetitive content probably created with AI assistance (possibly ChatGPT).

RSVPASAP asked another AI (ChatGPT) to fact check the first AI's accuracy. According to ChatGPT, the other (unknown) AI's artificial pants are on (artificial) fire.

Now we are all taking time to research and discuss the situation.

My question is simple: What are the AI's actually up to while they distract us with this stuff?

[kmclemore]

"I have uploaded below the transcript of a YouTube video. Please verify the accuracy of this information and provide any citations to support it."

https://chatgpt.com/share/69a1d389-3364 ... 9778c9c48e

So, essentially, it took ChatGPT about 8 pages of fluff to say what I said in my brief post...

I could find absolutely no reference to an "Article 14" or any sailing "physical competency mandate" on a Google search. I suspect this is bogus.

That being said, all pilots and captains have always been bound by COLREGs in terms of proper lookouts, navigation, collision avoidance and safety. Keeping a proper watch, as a solo sailor, has always been a challenge.

Gotta love AI.

[dlandersson]

Seriously good point. I should have researched it more before I posted.

So let me get this straight...

Someone posted a video on Youtube that was obviously narrated by an AI and based on the repetitive content probably created with AI assistance (possibly ChatGPT).

RSVPASAP asked another AI (ChatGPT) to fact check the first AI's accuracy. According to ChatGPT, the other (unknown) AI's artificial pants are on (artificial) fire.

Now we are all taking time to research and discuss the situation.

My question is simple: What are the AI's actually up to while they distract us with this stuff?

[kmclemore]

Seriously good point. I should have researched it more before I posted.

No worries, mate! Made for a fun conversation!

[dlandersson]

I confess it triggered me. I love to sail solo.

Seriously good point. I should have researched it more before I posted.

No worries, mate! Made for a fun conversation!

[Be Free]

The question of whether it is possible for a solo sailor to comply with COLREGS rule 5 on a long voyage has been argued extensively on cruising sites for years. The argument always hinges on the question of whether or not using an external alarm (AIS, RADAR, or even a timer) to wake a dozing solo sailor meets the watch-keeping requirements and how effective a (possibly) drowsy watchkeeper may be.

Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper look-out by sight and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision.

There are a lot of qualifiers in that rule and plenty of wiggle room for interpretation. In the end, the rule is most likely to be applied retroactively as there are no "look-out police" who will pull you over if they don't see your watchkeeper on deck. The practical application is that it completely removes a defense of "I did not see the hazard" in the case of a collision and implies a presumption of compliance as long as there is no collision.

In my opinion, solo sailors can be in compliance with rule 5 but I am just as firmly convinced that if they are involved in a collision that they will have to justify how they complied and why they were unable to avoid a collision.

While it is not my regular practice to engage in overnight solo sails I have done so on more than one occasion. I don't think that I was a danger to myself or anyone else while doing so.

As an aside: ignoring the fact that a vessel on a long passage may spend days on the same course with no appreciable change, if a law like the one alluded to in the original post were ever to be passed it would be a trivial matter to program your autopilot to make appropriate course changes so as to not trigger the law's algorithm.

[dlandersson]

Not gonna lie. More than once I've sailed a few miles offshore, pointed my X towards the middle of Lake Michigan, and snoozed in the cockpit. Very relaxing.

to wake a dozing solo sailor

[OverEasy]

So AI has a sense of humor in that it can generate a controversy and walk away from it without batting an eye as it were!


The watch rule is an interesting conundrum for the solo sailer….
== When the sleeping sailor causes his boat to collide with the tanker or cargo ship at night because the sailboat didn’t show on radar or AIS then who hears the crunch?
== When the sleeping solo sailor runs into a shipping container which punches a hole in the hull leading to a distress at sea who go to rescue?
== When the reef reconstructs the hull geometry cause the sleeping sailor didn’t awake to adjust course who cleans up the mess?

I don’t personally know the answer but I suspect the sailor is gonna get wet (with few options to get dry again).

Best Regards,
Over Easy

[Be Free]

So AI has a sense of humor in that it can generate a controversy and walk away from it without batting an eye as it were!


The watch rule is an interesting conundrum for the solo sailer….
== When the sleeping sailor causes his boat to collide with the tanker or cargo ship at night because the sailboat didn’t show on radar or AIS then who hears the crunch?
== When the sleeping solo sailor runs into a shipping container which punches a hole in the hull leading to a distress at sea who go to rescue?
== When the reef reconstructs the hull geometry cause the sleeping sailor didn’t awake to adjust course who cleans up the mess?

I don’t personally know the answer but I suspect the sailor is gonna get wet (with few options to get dry again).

Best Regards,
Over Easy

Outside of a few particularly dangerous areas where the sailor should never enter or cross when his watchkeeping is in any way compromised, the tanker or cargo ship would be required to avoid the sailboat. A prudent mariner will have a radar reflector and/or an AIS to alert other vessels of his presence.

A prudent sailor will also have his own AIS set to alert and wake him if said tanker or cargo ship on a collision course get within radio range (which is likely well beyond visual range). There is no excuse for the sailor to still be asleep with a target that has been identified as a possible collision hazard.

Solo sailing at night in an area where you might encounter commercial vessels without AIS or RADAR reflector is a Darwin Award waiting to happen.

It's interesting you would bring up the subject of shipping containers. The IMO actually did issue new regulations that went into effect this year regarding lost shipping containers.

• Mandatory Lost Container Reporting (Effective Jan 1, 2026): Shipmasters must report any container loss, including the number, location, and whether they contain dangerous goods.

• Sighting Reports: Vessels that observe drifting containers must also report them.

Sources disagree but it would be safe to say that worldwide less than 2000 containers are lost yearly (unless the new requirements to report up the estimate). What is undisputed is that they are notoriously hard to see even with professional watchkeepers. I don't think that our hypothetical solo sailor is going to change those odds awake or asleep.

Finally, the solo sailor who sleeps while his boat is in an area where it might run aground is guilty of gross negligence. The hypothetical above implies that being awake would have made a difference so either the reef was marked in some way that would allow the sailor to avoid it at night or the sailor had some local knowledge that would have allowed him to avoid it if awake. There is no excuse for sleeping while underway in those circumstances.

On a personal note, there is an area that I regularly transit if I'm sailing south of my home port. There is a well-marked reef there which requires me to be at least 12 miles offshore to avoid trouble. I have both local knowledge and up-to-date charts and would not hesitate to sail through there at night while napping in the cockpit. During the day there are at least two spots that I can slip through even at low tide that are much closer to shore but I would not try it at night or on autopilot.

I also know that about 15 miles south of this reef there are a large number of shrimp boats that will be crossing my path at night and that even though they are required to be fitted with and use AIS I have NEVER seen them do so. I will not nap in that area unless I can see them on either horizon .

[NiceAft]

Re: Solo sailing ban in the US?

Unread post by Be Free » Sat Feb 28, 2026 11:47 am
The question of whether it is possible for a solo sailor to comply with COLREGS rule 5 on a long voyage has been argued extensively on cruising sites for years. The argument always hinges on the question of whether or not using an external alarm (AIS, RADAR, or even a timer) to wake a dozing solo sailor meets the watch-keeping requirements and how effective a (possibly) drowsy watchkeeper may be.

Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper look-out by sight and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision.

This post made me recall an experience I had several decades ago.

A friend was an instructor at the Naval War College in Rhode Island. He had a 32' sailboat, and was bringing it down to Ocean City, NJ. I got onboard in Manhattan, NY to crew for him on that last leg. We motored the 90 miles or so through the night, each doing four hour shifts at the helm.

On one of my shifts, early A.M., black night, another sailboat goes by me northbound. It was close enough for me to notice that there was no one at the helm. Either my being awake, and at the helm, or luck, was the only thing preventing a collision, if by chance, that craft and I were on a collision course.

[OverEasy]

Good point Ray!

Working a crossing or transit as a team provides the resources to have an awake individual to manage the situation or at the very least raise the alarm.

Some folks I’ve been associated with sleep so soundly that they haven’t awakened to ‘fireworks’ just outside their open window.
In at least one instance of a car wreck I serviced there was a guy still asleep in the back seat! He had no clue that there had been a collision!

Yes I’ve read about solocrossings several times. They have been significant undertakings and such but personally I don’t think in good conscience that I could ever sleep while on a solo journey … I’d wait to do it with a partner or a team. I guess I’ve had enough instances of observing that things can, and often do, go wrong at the worst possible moments. Something about Murphy’s Law….

Locally I’ve seen some of the shrimp boats cruising by without radar reflectors nor have the wheelhouses had anything more than a VHF radio and a simple GPS map for electronics. No AIS, no radar, nada… I’ve also encountered other shrimpers on auto pilot, without anyone apparent in the open wheelhouse. Compared to a Mac26X one of those things are huge! And that’s in somewhat protected waters!

It’s not just the solo sailor that is involved… it’s other people too. The people that might be on another vessel, people in the water, folks at home, the people who might get called upon to respond to an incident. It’s selfish IMO to only think of it being the solo sailor…there will always be other people involved when there is an incident.

I didn’t intend to ruffle any feathers… it just that the solo sailor is the one most apt to get wet if/when things don’t work out.
I’d personally rather not… so I can well understand the sentiment of avoiding the solo sailor extended crossing/transit scenario.

Best Regards,
Over Easy

[Be Free]

In case there is any doubt: No feathers have been ruffled on this end.

Solo sailing is not for everyone; long distance continuous solo sailing even less so. Solo sails and, to a greater extent, overnight solo sails require additional planning and preparation. That is where the aforementioned disagreement arise. Some say that solo overnight sails are never justified in the face of the additional risks involved while others believe that those risks can be sufficiently mitigated. I can appreciate the sincerely held beliefs on both sides of the argument.

While solo sailing is by far the norm for me (95% or more), overnight solo sails are likely in the low single-digit percentages. It is my preference to anchor out at night during a long voyage but I am always prepared to sail through the night if that turns out to be the more prudent course (no pun intended).

Ray and his friend did it right for their trip between Manhattan and Ocean City. There is no way I'd do that alone at night.



This is where I do most of my sailing. It is over twice the area and has a small fraction of the traffic. At night (other than shrimp boats) it is unusual for me to see more than one or two other boats all night. Most of the time I don't see or hear anyone.


The orange line is an area used by loopers. They almost always have AIS transmitters. I've never seen a looper make the crossing to Steinhatchee at night but there is no reason why they couldn't. The ones that do cross at night are heading for Tampa or points south and will be 50 miles or more offshore for most of the journey.
The yellow line is where the shrimp boats run at night. They never use AIS transmitters (although they all have them). Fortunately they follow a set course and schedule coming and going, they are lit up like a small city, and you can hear them approaching miles away.
The blue arrow points to the land-based AIS receiver in my workshop that helps to build this map.