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Cal. HNC § 283

This is the official text of Cal. HNC § 283, part of California’s Harbors and Navigation Code — regulates ports, harbors, and boating.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Official statutory text

A steam vessel navigating a narrow channel shall, whenever it is safe and practicable, keep to that side of the fairway or mid-channel which lies on its starboard side, and a steam vessel when passing another in such a channel, shall always leave the other upon the port side.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.