If you ever want to know how to maneuver down the River Styx with good seamanship and navigation skills, prepare to run your head against the wall as you enlighten yourself with the backwards logic and ungodly prose of this book.
The coast guard makes this legal text as easy as one possibly can for everyone from recreational boaters, fisherman, Navy vessels, to massive cargo ships. It's written by lawyers so it still requires some mental endurance to get through it. I've been in the Navy 6 years and didn't fully understand it until I took a course recently through the Maritime Institute where we covered the entire book as a part of a 100 ton vessel license. Every mariner should own this book.