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Masthead light or all round white light?


blackrose

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Do the colregs say either/or? (approx 1m above the port & starboard lights + stern light).

 

If so, if you have an all round white light can that be used as an anchor light with the port, starboard & stern lights switched off?

 

So what's the point of a masthead light if you can use an all round white light on the move which has additional functionality as an anchor light? Or have I got this all wrong?

Edited by blackrose
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6 minutes ago, blackrose said:

Do the colregs say either/or? (approx 1m above the port & starboard lights + stern light).

 

If so, if you have an all round white light can that be used as an anchor light with the port, starboard & stern lights switched off?

 

So what's the point of a masthead light of you can use an all round white light on the move which has additional functionality as an anchor light? Or have I got this all wrong?

 

I thought your boat was over 12m but under 20m.

 

If that's correct, you can totally ignore the combined masthead rules as they don't apply to your boat.

 

Have a cheatsheet:

 

https://www.rya.org.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/cruising/Web Documents/Regulations and Safety/Lights-and-shape-summary.pdf

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If so, if you have an all round white light can that be used as an anchor light with the port, starboard & stern lights switched off?

That is exactly what I have done (36 ft / 11 mt)

 

 

 

 I took my white mast head light out the the Nav lights circuit and replaced it with a 360 degree white light on a separate circuit, I now need to switch on two lights for cruising in poor visability, and then turn one (the Red & Green) off, leaving just the all-round white on.

 

 

 

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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Just now, blackrose said:

Thanks. I could read that one. 

 

There seems to be some ambiguity.

It states:

Vessels 12-20 metres / 40-65 feet in length:

 

White, Red, Green All Round lamps, 2 miles
Masthead lamp, 3 miles
Port and Starboard lamps, 2 miles
Stern lamp, 2 miles

 

Keep scrolling - there's diagrams further down.

 

 

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3 minutes ago, blackrose said:

Thanks. I could read that one. 

 

There seems to be some ambiguity.

It states:

Vessels 12-20 metres / 40-65 feet in length:

 

White, Red, Green All Round lamps, 2 miles
Masthead lamp, 3 miles
Port and Starboard lamps, 2 miles
Stern lamp, 2 miles

You are not allowed a single all round white, tghe use of additional lights is to signify length as well as to be 'seen by'.

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44 minutes ago, Bacchus said:

Size is important...

 

You can only use an all-round white on a vessel of (I think) 11m or less

 

you can't show an all round white and port/starboard on the move, the white has to be at the stern

 

And at the bow, or at least showing forward? (Masthead light)

Edited by blackrose
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On the canals my boat is registered as 20.4 meters long but fortunately due to contraction in the cold of tidal waters, and the galvanic effect of salt water, it shrinks by nearly 0.5 meters so the lighting requirements are slightly easier than they would otherwise have to be.

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12 minutes ago, Keeping Up said:

On the canals my boat is registered as 20.4 meters long but fortunately due to contraction in the cold of tidal waters, and the galvanic effect of salt water, it shrinks by nearly 0.5 meters so the lighting requirements are slightly easier than they would otherwise have to be.

Well I'm blinded by the science, though not necessarily by the light! :D

 

  • Haha 1
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16 minutes ago, Keeping Up said:

On the canals my boat is registered as 20.4 meters long but fortunately due to contraction in the cold of tidal waters, and the galvanic effect of salt water, it shrinks by nearly 0.5 meters so the lighting requirements are slightly easier than they would otherwise have to be.

probably doesn't hurt with the mooring fees and if you were more consitent maybe some licence fees either

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It is difficult to meet colregs on a narrowboat I have a telescopic mast mid roof so mast down airdraft allows most bridges and mast up masthead light is 2 metres above the sidelights, which are mounted too low as only 90cm above the gunnel, stern light is even lower, but that is as high as they can go, they are well back from the bow to avoid smashing on tunnels/bridges. I have a seperate all round anchor light. Nobody has ever checked and I suspect nobody ever does unless there is an accident.

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10 hours ago, colmac said:

I take it you are on tidal waters ?

Tidal or not, does it matter?

Colregs Rule 1 - Application.

(a) These Rules shall apply to all vessels upon the high seas and in all waters connected therewith navigable by seagoing vessels.

 

So, simply put, the rules apply in all waters connected to the sea that are navigable by any seagoing vessel.

 

 

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18 minutes ago, MarkH2159 said:

Tidal or not, does it matter?

Colregs Rule 1 - Application.

(a) These Rules shall apply to all vessels upon the high seas and in all waters connected therewith navigable by seagoing vessels.

 

So, simply put, the rules apply in all waters connected to the sea that are navigable by any seagoing vessel.

 

 

Subject to rule 1(b). "Nothing in these rules shall interfere in the operation of special rules ..... for inland waterways  ...." In other words the CRT byelaws where they apply take precedence over Colregs.

 

Vaguely on subject, I rather liked this extract from a rather good book on Colregs that I am reading at the moment. 

2021-01-03_212847.jpg

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I always use the sound signal of 3 short blasts followed by 4 short blasts then 2 short blasts and a long blast. To mariners this means "I am going astern, I am out of control, I need to pass the wrong side of you, GET OUT OF THE WAY" but to those who understand Morse Code it simply means "SHIT"

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6 hours ago, Detling said:

It is difficult to meet colregs on a narrowboat

 

Indeed it is. Most of the nav lights you see on narrowboats are meant for boats of under 12m in length even when the boat is well over that. I use the same lights on my boat. They're not compliant as not 2m visibility but I think you just do what you can to make yourself visible.

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