He would have been totally within his rights. AND, he would have been an a**H**le. If there was still a collision, he would have failed to follow the rules requiring him to take evasive action when the imminent risk of collision presented itself. At least a hail such as you mention would have eliminated any guesswork on the ferry captain's part as to what was required of him.

Part of the challenge for commercial vessels is that one 'hopes' that small craft wouldn't push the issue as it can be extremely risky and inconvenient. However, as a commercial mariner, I knew that failing to follow the 'rules' and hoping I wouldn't have to react was no defense if it came to a collision. The temptation is to 'wait and see', for as long as you dare, and hope that common sense and courtesy prevail. The problem is that the time from 'wait and see' to 'oh, s**t' is actually a very short window. I suspect that in this Puget Sound case, it was likely a matter of waiting merely 30-60 seconds too long to react. In hindsight, it was a mistake and one that could have career implications.

When I accepted the job of Master (and even as a watch officer), I accepted that it was up to me to make the best decision I could and that it might be wrong with potentially tragic results. You have to accept that when you take the job. I worked very hard to find the balance between relying on the other guy and covering my butt (successfully, I might add). But there were any number of high pucker factor watches over my career....!