What should you do if you encounter an obstacle while navigating?

When navigating and you encounter an obstacle, changing your course if it is safe to do so is the recommended action because it allows you to avoid the hazard while maintaining control and minimizing risk to yourself and others on the water. Safe navigation requires constant awareness and the ability to make adjustments based on your surroundings.

Choosing to change course helps to ensure that you can safely pass the obstacle without colliding with it, which is critical for both your safety and the safety of other boaters. It is important to assess the situation carefully to verify that the change in course does not create a new hazard, such as navigating too close to other boats or shallow waters.

The options of accelerating to pass quickly, staying the course and sounding the horn, or stopping completely may introduce unnecessary risks. Accelerating might lead to a loss of control, staying the course could result in a collision, and stopping could leave you vulnerable to other vessels not anticipating your sudden halt. Hence, the most prudent and safe action in this scenario is to change course when it can be done safely.