NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Lights etc.
From: Trevor Kenchington
Date: 2003 Oct 9, 22:25 -0300
From: Trevor Kenchington
Date: 2003 Oct 9, 22:25 -0300
Doug Royer wrote: > Stephen stated in his post of his "all around white light"on his mast he > uses while underway.I've been reading more of this practice in other papers > and I am witnessing it more on small sail and power vessels when I am at > sea.Did the rules change or am I misunderstanding something?I looked in my > copy of the rules and the only "all around white light" on a mast alone and > not used in combination with other lights is to be used while anchored or > aground with running lights out, not while underway.Can someone > explain?Apperently it's legal to do. I don't think anything has changed for the past good many years. Rule 25(d)(i) of the U.S. version of the international ColRegs allows vessels under sail of less than 7 meters length, and vessels under oars of any length, to show a white light in sufficient time to avoid collision, in lieu of side and stern lights. (The U.S. inland rules allow the same thing. So do the Canadian and I think most other versions of the ColRegs.) Continuous display of an all-round white light would seem to meet that requirement. Also, Rule 23(c)(ii) of the U.S. version of the international ColRegs allows a powered vessel of under 7 meters length with a maximum speed of under 7 knots to display only an all-round white light. That does not seem to be allowed in U.S. inland waters. It is not in any Canadian waters and I think not in British waters either. > To end the story my vessel at 1 point was surrounded by 18 yachts within a 1 > nm radius.Most alot closer than that.I'm showing the lights for a tow > 200 > m,barely underway and RAM to boot.The whole crew is up now with spots and > flares if needed.I had 1 small boat(18-22 ft)go between the tug and tow > under the tow cable while never heading the ch. 16 warnings!All the other > close yachts turned from thier courses only when they were less than 1/8 nm > from the tow or tug! > This is one reason I have not that much patience or respect for most small > boat drivers.Some have no idea what rules or lights mean nor do they seem to > care if they do. There certainly is an unacceptable level of ignorance -- among small-boat commercial fishermen as well as the recreational side. But that isn't the whole story. Many small powerboats can turn on a dime and get out of the way quickly. A skipper who is alert can get close to a big ship (_very_ close from the perspective of the man on the bridge of the big fellow) and yet can turn away with no danger at all -- except to the blood pressure of the men responsible for the big ship. It is a shame that we don't have a single-letter signal that would say: "Maintain your course and speed. I waive my right of way and will keep clear of you." Then again, perhaps there should be a flag signal for: "This ship does not alter course or speed to avoid any vessel of less than 10,000 tons." Some captains could just paint it onto their superstructures -- much like commercial fishing boats come from the shipyard with their fishing daymarks (two cones, points together, or a fish basket) permanently mounted in the forward rigging, and some recreational dive boats leave the dock already flying code flag Alpha. Trevor Kenchington -- Trevor J. Kenchington PhD Gadus@iStar.ca Gadus Associates, Office(902) 889-9250 R.R.#1, Musquodoboit Harbour, Fax (902) 889-9251 Nova Scotia B0J 2L0, CANADA Home (902) 889-3555 Science Serving the Fisheries http://home.istar.ca/~gadus