I would have thought that ANY hand signal would indicate that
something "out of the ordinary" was taking place. Therefore, sticking
out one's left arm would not normally suggest that you want the boat
to pass you on the left, otherwise one could mosey down the cut
sticking your left arm out at all passing boats!

On 14 Jul 2003 11:06:18 -0700, news@grannybuttons.com (Andrew Denny)
wrote:

>> And very few boaters understand the proper signals these days anyhow.
>> I think it is a real shame that people can't be bothered to learn the
>> recognised signals. Or maybe it is convenient to pretend not to
>> understand :-))
>
>I've been wondering recently - is there a recognised system of hand
>signals for inland waterways?
>
>For instance, once I was preparing to pull in on the left side of the
>canal to moor up, just as another boat came around the corner.  I want
>to signal that boat that I plan to stay on the left and he should pass
>me on my right (i.e. the opposite of the normal rule).  In that case I
>simply stuck out my left hand, but he didn't understand what I
>intended, and I confused him into an emergency stop.
>
>It would be handy to have a variety of recognised signals for such
>manouevres.