Ok, Ive put this together using my own words, no cut and paste etc. Turned out to not be as easy as I thought and Ive chopped it around alot.

Its intended for those in say Cockburn Sound, Dampier and Port Hedland where there is heavy commercial traffic (both volume and displacement)

Its NOT comprehensive and as skipper ONLY YOU are responsible for your safe navigation.

Im assuming that you know the basics in daylight, otherwise this will be total gobbledy gook.

There are others here who know more than me and may spot an error or  something missed etc, more than welcome to comment or better (to save confusion to others) shoot me a pm. That way I dont look stupid if Ive overlooked something as well

In the Colregs, there are some simple (ish) patterns to understand which once understood make it a lot easier to interpret not so much exactly what is going on but when you should stay back.

To make it simpler I am assuming you are just a powerboat with no other special circumstance and have a basic knowledge of the Colregs in daylight.

You should always make your intentions obvious and clear with course changes in plenty of time.

Keep VHF on 16, and if you hear 5 short blasts on a horn it means someone BIG doesnt know what someones elses intentions are-LOOK AROUND YOU NOW!!!

Any blasts for that matter.

1/ simple rule-in a close quarters situation GENERALLY, you should take evasive action to stb not port whether in the right or not.

Turning to port will usually make it worse as you will be turning into the other vessel whether crossing, headon or being overtaken.

2/ simple rule-any steady white light, give way.  

It is either a boat at anchor, or the stern light meaning you are overtaking. Either way you arent the standon vessel. It could also be a boat under 7 meters-but you should still be cautious due to swamping.

Lastly it could be the floodlite at the end of a jetty hence you should also give way :-)

A black ball from the mast is the day shape for anchored

3/ simple rule-if the mast (christmas tree on bigger vessels) has anything lit up other than a single white light-it is telling you something you need to know. STAY CLEAR and make it obvious you are. They are not party lights :-)

Could be restricted ability to manoeuvre-due to draft, towing, under pilotage, damaged steering etc. Its not important except that they are telling you to stay clear.

The most important thing with this though is to make your manoevers obvious and DO NOT pass behind without ensuring it isnt towing a barge. You likely cannot even see the tow wire as it will disappear into the water 10 meters aft and reappear at the barge. But it could be 50mm wire under 20-50 tonnes of tension, might as well be a brick wall.

If this vessel has to effect a crash stop in a channel due to your actions-the consequences are likely to be massive. Barge grounding or up the tugs ass, either way could easily be in the $1M's.

Read this report if interested

http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2010/mair/277-mo-2010-006.aspx

4/ simple rule-a steady red or green alone or one above the other should be a vessel under sail or similar.

It may also be confused with configurations in (3), either way STAY CLEAR

If you are just a powerboat he has right of way no matter if you see red or green or both.

If he is under power he must show a white light above it (steaming light) and is a powerboat regardless of whether his sails are up or not.

5/ There are no marine vessels which have any sort of flashing navigation light.

The only mobile flashing light I know of that is a possibility is a hovercraft, which isnt a boat as such. It will show a yellow flashing all round light.

Of course a Police/Patrol/Fisheries Boat may have flashing lights but these are not navigation lights.

So other than that if you see a flashing light of any colour except the above it is some sort of fixed navigation marker and not a boat-identify it from your chart or its configuration.

6/ At night ship bigger than 50 meters will usually have his sidelights and masthead (white) toward the stern in your typical aft wheelhouse bulk carrier. At the bow will be another white light which indicates it is probably over 50 meters.

He doesnt have any special priveledge other than if he is showing other lights such as restricted by draft/manoeverability etc. But let common sense prevail and give him a wide clear berth.

7/ Tugs in any harbour-may look quite small but carry serious horsepower and draft due to Zpellor drives that are vulnerable and may draw up to 6 meters. They may need to stay in the channel and could easily be showing lights to indicate this.

Recognising and avoiding a collision situation

Forget for a moment whether you are standon or giveway vessel.

1/ If you see a vessel coming closer to you but still well clear, hold your course, sit still in your seat and line him up against a part of your boat- window frame, corner of the bimini etc and after 30 seconds he is still in the general direction(relative bearing unchanged) you are going to come close to colliding eventually.

Doesnt matter which direction he is approaching you, this stands til someone changes course.

If he moves relative to you in either direction you should clear.

2/ As right at the start, unless there is a specific reason you shouldnt take evasive action to port for the following reasons 

-in just about any collision situation if you turn to port just as he does what he is supposed to do, the situation has been made worse and you may be blamed.

This goes whether head on or crossing from either direction.

3/ We've all seen it-some gumby coming up a channel on the port side because he doesnt know better. You move across and he goes further. Theres no use arguing, he wont realise he was wrong until after your all dead.

In my opinion the best bet is to stop, and let your vessel show him a port (red) sidelight.

If you cross to the wrong side and he goes to the right side-BOOM, your in the deep end.

You wont be able to go to stb unless you can leave the channel.

By stopping-the collision damage is reduced by both speed and making it a glancing blow, and he will hit where it is obvious who is at fault.