Steaming Lights

[Jon 412]

I hope not, I just fitted a steaming light so I can display what you describe.

Can they be seen from on the water ?

[Fish 0]

Can they be seen from on the water ?

I bet they are great for mowing the lawn by after dark...

[Steve 48]

L

no, those lights are absolutely correct.  

 

the discussion was around the option of having an allround white at the masthead for anchor or steaming & Stern.

You still need a stern light for when you are sailing.

Unless you have a tri lite.

So an all round white at the masthead plus port and starboard at the bow for motoring, then a trilite for sailing means you can do away with the stern light at deck level altogether (if under 12m)

Bugger it, I’ll remove the stern light as well.

[grant 44]

L

Unless you have a tri lite.

So an all round white at the masthead plus port and starboard at the bow for motoring, then a trilite for sailing means you can do away with the stern light at deck level altogether (if under 12m)

Bugger it, I’ll remove the stern light as well.

true

[DrWatson 382]

L

Unless you have a tri lite.

So an all round white at the masthead plus port and starboard at the bow for motoring, then a trilite for sailing means you can do away with the stern light at deck level altogether (if under 12m)

Bugger it, I’ll remove the stern light as well.

Leave the stern light on its own circuit. Then you have the option of sailing with prt/stb and stern. light down where people will see them when you’re coming up the ditch or close to other back ground clutter.

 

Use prt/stb and masthead all round for motoring.

 

Masthead tri when further away from others.

 

At least that’s the setup on my boat. And the port.n starboard sidelights are aft on the sides of the push pit

[AJ Oliver 155]

Generally during our night races, and for those of us sailing at night, . .  

 

we run with every light we have illuminated - steaming, anchor, running - all of them 

 

often we are able to spot a converging boat first by their masthead light (white, tri, whatever) 

 

Let there be light !!

[Island Time 1,294]

Really?

So you are happy to display the incorrect lights, and have others make course decisions including collision avoidance, based on the (wrong) lights you are showing?

 

Apart from being a breech of the collision regs, and most sailing instructions, it probably voids your insurance as well.

 

If you are afraid you'll not be seen,

 

1. Get Better lights
2. Get Better lights
3. Get an AIS (or get better lights)

Please use the right lights, so others know what you are, and what your course is. This is what the colreg lights were designed for!

[Ex Machina 390]

I’ve lost a bit of faith in masthead tri colour after a very far ken close call with two old gents at 5.00 in the morning coming into Whangarei harbour masthead A sail up . They were in a rayglass with Bimini top on coming at us about 10 knots from port 90 degrees no nav lights and both of them glued to the fish finder . We heard them before we saw them and started yelling when we saw them about 30 metres out . They didn’t see us until last 10 metres and came within 5 metres of T boning , if we had deck level navs I reckon they would’ve seen us earlier .

[Island Time 1,294]

If you have a decent masthead light, you can see it from one boat length away without looking up. However, if no-one is looking.....

[Ex Machina 390]

If you have a decent masthead light, you can see it from one boat length away without looking up. However, if no-one is looking.....

They had a narrow field of vision by the time they looked up so I reckon they couldn’t see the mast head lights because of the Bimini/canvas canopy that went almost to the windscreen

[Island Time 1,294]

They would have to be within 1-2 boat lengths of you for that to be potentially an issue. People often say this is an issue, but when you work out the angles, they have to be MUCH closer than most realize.

 

If a seated person is about twice the object's (the anchor light) height away from its base, the viewing angle is about 25 degrees. This is the normal field of vision for color, without raising your eyes. Also, if the bimini or hardtop is 500mm above the eye height, and one m forward, same thing - you can see it without looking up. 

 

Anyone who gets within 2 boat lengths of a boat displaying a decent anchor light, even at the masthead, is simply not looking. IMO.

 

Figures are approximate.

[DrWatson 382]

Masthead anchor lights are great but on dark nights can easily be mistaken for stars or for houses in the background. I always hang a little LED lantern in the cockpit as well.

Cheap insurance.

 

Mast head port light can also be mistaken for a car or taillight on the land, hence why lowers are a nice alternative thing to use instead when there’s a lot of background light pollution and clutter.

 

Also, I think AJ is sailing on the Great Lakes. Not sure if they have the same lighting rules.

 

At the end of the day, it’s best to show the right lights, but it’s better to be seen. I’d rather show the wrong lights if it made the difference between some idiot seeing me or me having the right lights and that idiot T-Bonning me and causing damage or injury.

[Island Time 1,294]

The lights are the same everywhere. The International Colregs.  The only difference is buoyage, IALA area A or B. Lights are the same.

 

I do agree that background clutter can make things more difficult. But I've NEVER mistaken a masthead light for a star, and I think that's an urban legend. If you are worried, have an anchor light in the for triangle, thats the old fashioned way, and is still in the colregs. You can use deck lights as well if you are worried, but you CANNOT use other nav lights. Use the correct ones, and good quality, and you will be seen. Deck lights that light the superstructure are permitted.

 

I do know of several vessels that have been hit, and one run over, while brightly lit, deck lights and all. 

[Freedom GBE 27]

I look on the water for danger, seldom look up, Anchor lights, steaming and even stern light are useles to me. Red port and green SB light on the bow is all that I look for. The new LED ones are superb compared to the old bulb ones.

[Myjane 40]

So will my red green at the top of the mast an white on the windex still be the deal I also have a riding light at the hounds

[1paulg 20]

Last year when I was offshore our masthead tricolour failed so I used our deck nav lights at night and on the few occasions we had boats nearby in a 2-3 m sea I felt that we were definitely less visible ( we still had AIS) - it was one f the first things I fixed on return.

[Island Time 1,294]

I look on the water for danger, seldom look up, Anchor lights, steaming and even stern light are useles to me. Red port and green SB light on the bow is all that I look for. The new LED ones are superb compared to the old bulb ones.

The whole issue here is that you DON'T NEED TO LOOK UP, unless you are within 2 boat lengths of the other vessel. You can see all the nav lights, including masthead, while looking horizontally - its within you field of vision.

 

The whole point of colreg lights is to enable a vessel to be seen. 

[splat 57]

Yip, if you have to look up...you are too close and not keeping a proper watch

[Black Panther 1,767]

Why would a stern light be useless? You've never overtaken another boat?

[wheels 544]

Yip, if you have to look up...you are too close and not keeping a proper watch

 

As IT said, it's about you being seen. Most importantly, it is about making intentions clear to others. It's information. They tell others the direction of travel for one. They also tell others the size of vessel and if under power or sail. Thois helps with letting others know your manouverability and a slight judgment of speed. Large vessel under power is likely to be fairly quick.

If you don't have a lot of use for lights or don't need to see them from a distance, then you have not done much traveling on a pitch black moonless night. And on that thought, even an anchorage on a moonless pitch black night, it is very hard to spot another boat in the dark.