OK I guess I need to "stand down" (punn intended) on this topic. Like I said I have no idea what boat is supposed to and also didn't know it's as basic as a red/green light is to driving. I will however tend to disagree about it's simplicity. I'd (almost) guarantee if you stood at a public launch site and asked 100 random boaters of all ages a MINIMUM of 40% would not know and no I'm not about to try it
Just for !@#$ kicks I'm going to ask my kid tonight, he took the course last year.