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Fitting and Installing Navigation & Exterior Lights


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1 hour ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

Many boats have nav lights installed in baffle fittings - you can see the starboard one here, just under the windscreen - to prevent light straying over the centre line. As others have noted, there will be a small cone - maybe a few degrees around dead ahead - where you can see red and green lights.  If you can see neither then  you will be only a few feet away and your lookout has already failed...
 

 

Agree about the lookout, but you would still see the steaming light but nto be able to see the stern light so the lit vessel is either at anchor or coming straight at you and within a few yards,  especially in the case of a narrowboat.

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11 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

The anchor light is a white light visible for the full 360 degrees, so, at least you know there is aboat there, just not which way it is facing.

But if it’s at anchor and therefore not moving it doesn’t really matter which way it’s facing….

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  • 6 months later...
5 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Does the team think this navigation light is mounted in the correct orientation

 

No

 

 

6 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

or should it be horizontal.

 

 

Yes

 

6 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Secondly, this is a hard one looking at a photo, is it suitable for a 57 foot Narrowboat

 

I don't think it complies

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27 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Does the team think this navigation light is mounted in the correct orientation or should it be horizontal. Secondly, this is a hard one looking at a photo, is it suitable for a 57 foot Narrowboat

image.png.1529344938f38cb02782410f249a9539.png

That light would be quite good for illuminating the towpath, when you are moored...

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On 25/07/2020 at 11:00, Onewheeler said:

Full nav lights are a PITA in tunnels as you can't tell if the white light in front is a stern light or a boat with just a tunnel light.

In a tunnel I put a white light on the deck where I am standing at the stern so any boater behind has a chance to slow down, and recognise my profile. I have a tunnel light bouncing off the roof so it cannot blind on coming vessel.

 I have  fairly small port and starboard brass lights on the sides, well  forward which is not Colregs compliant because there is a gap between the lights, so showing a blank gap if a boat is steaming directly towards me.

I would avoid night navigation on commercial waters.

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On 25/07/2020 at 10:14, dmr said:

We have nav lights that almost meet the regs, mounted towards the back of the boat at the engine room. They meet the spec for boats up to 20m but we are just over 20m (like you) so they might not be compliant. They get right in the way when I walk down the gunnel so replacing them with something a bit smaller is on the todo list. Not sure what the regs would say about smaller lights with brighter bulbs in them.

 

.............Dave

Colregs specify the visiblity distance not the dimension of the lights. I don't suppose those silly little lights as used by canal boats would have been tested for anything, mine seem remarkably bright, but they are not LED, which I think would be more reliable on a long passage.

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5 minutes ago, LadyG said:

Colregs specify the visiblity distance not the dimension of the lights. I don't suppose those silly little lights as used by canal boats would have been tested for anything, mine seem remarkably bright, but they are not LED, which I think would be more reliable on a long passage.

I think you probably will find they are tested but not for 57 foot craft.

 

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A head torch thingy on your nut facing behind would make a good stern light in a tunnel or at night. In fact several of em could be mounted on your nut shining out all around on all points of the compass like a halo or like old Cleopatera's or Nero' bangle things they wore on their heads.

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2 minutes ago, bizzard said:

A head torch thingy on your nut facing behind would make a good stern light in a tunnel or at night. In fact several of em could be mounted on your nut shining out all around on all points of the compass like a halo or like old Cleopatera's or Nero' bangle things they wore on their heads.

 

I guess we could get rid of nav lights, as they do get in the way, and just have a hat with red, green and white lights suitably mounted, but it would be important to keep your head very still.

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Just now, dmr said:

 

I guess we could get rid of nav lights, as they do get in the way, and just have a hat with red, green and white lights suitably mounted, but it would be important to keep your head very still.

That's it and get mistaken for a UFO.

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1 hour ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

That light would be quite good for illuminating the towpath, when you are moored...

It would be suitable for finding your boat when you are walking back to the boat at night, it would be better if it was pointing downwards to illuminate towpath, or even in the conventional position, with the lamp pointing forwards for pretend nav lights.

 

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9 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

I guess we could get rid of nav lights, as they do get in the way, and just have a hat with red, green and white lights suitably mounted, but it would be important to keep your head very still.

... and stand on the roof, keeping a good lookout forward.

Edited by LadyG
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3 minutes ago, LadyG said:

It would be suitable for finding your boat when you are walking back to the boat at night, it would be better if it was pointing downwards to illuminate towpath, or even in the conventional position, with the lamp pointing forwards for pretend nav lights.

 

I think it may show back and forward as well as down mounted like that and makes the grass look greener. The boat is less than 3 years old and an award wining vessel 

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11 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I think it may show back and forward as well as down mounted like that and makes the grass look greener. The boat is less than 3 years old and an award wining vessel 

Yes of course, the 2020 award for innovative energy saving lightbulbs on narrowboats 

Edited by LadyG
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40 minutes ago, LadyG said:

Colregs specify the visiblity distance not the dimension of the lights. I don't suppose those silly little lights as used by canal boats would have been tested for anything, mine seem remarkably bright, but they are not LED, which I think would be more reliable on a long passage.

 

Colregs specify distance and directionality, but also suitable lights are certified, so messing with bulbs, like putting in LEDS, will loose any certification even if the lights are bright enough. Nav lights look really good when locking at night and this is their main use on the cut, I don't think colregs say anything about this 😀

28 minutes ago, bizzard said:

That's it and get mistaken for a UFO.

 

That would be bad, the Americans might then shoot me down (on the second attempt) with a missile costing £10million 😀

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6 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

Heathen!  They're mainly for the Christmas lighting effect in tunnels ...

 

Sorry, you are correct, have not done a good proper tunnel for over a year, but hopefully heading for Scarecastle in a couple of months time.

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