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Correct navigation lights for a small boat ?


Dream Daisy

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Hi we have a small 16ft cruiser and want to up date the navigation lights to comply with the regulations for when using our boat at night or in low visibility. This is what we are currently looking at purchasing http://www.mailspeedmarine.com/navigation-search-lights/mailspeed-marine/combo-navigation-light-mast.bhtml ? would this be suitable ? Thanks in Advance

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Hi we have a small 16ft cruiser and want to up date the navigation lights to comply with the regulations for when using our boat at night or in low visibility. This is what we are currently looking at purchasing http://www.mailspeedmarine.com/navigation-search-lights/mailspeed-marine/combo-navigation-light-mast.bhtml ? would this be suitable ? Thanks in Advance

The requirements are in here

 

http://www.admiraltylawguide.com/conven/collisions1972.html

 

 

Light specs in annex 1

 

Howard

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Hi we have a small 16ft cruiser and want to up date the navigation lights to comply with the regulations for when using our boat at night or in low visibility. This is what we are currently looking at purchasing http://www.mailspeedmarine.com/navigation-search-lights/mailspeed-marine/combo-navigation-light-mast.bhtml ? would this be suitable ? Thanks in Advance

If you want your new lights to comply with the Col.Regs these won't do.The minimum visibility for the white(masthead)light is 2 Nm's. The all round white light is OK for a boat of your size but if you mount what looks in the picture to be a fairly short mast on the cabin top,then the white light will be dazzling you when looking ahead from the wheel.

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If you want your new lights to comply with the Col.Regs these won't do.The minimum visibility for the white(masthead)light is 2 Nm's. The all round white light is OK for a boat of your size but if you mount what looks in the picture to be a fairly short mast on the cabin top,then the white light will be dazzling you when looking ahead from the wheel.

Stick it on a pole to raise it up a bit Jack
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Not sure you need the full 2 n.m. visibility unless you are going into coastal waters also - e.g. Severn estuary, Wash etc.

 

The OP said they wanted compliant lights for inland and coastal work.

 

Howard

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Not sure you need the full 2 n.m. visibility unless you are going into coastal waters also - e.g. Severn estuary, Wash etc.

 

Coincidentally I've just been looking at the regs as my boat has navigation lights, but neither sidelight was working and the masthead light was mounted inside (!?!) the cratch, so I thought of replacing them.

 

The regs do say a minimum 2nm visibility for the separate masthead and stern light or the all around white light, which can be fitted to a small (short) boat in place of separate lights. And it appears the regs do apply to quite a few inland waters such as the tidal rivers and commercial waterways as well as coastal or esturies where lights are needed at night or in poor visibility. There are some relaxations of the strict COLREGS rules for narrow canal boats on some waterways, and the IWA has a list on their website. This online store has a good summary and explanation of the COLREGS. http://www.boatlamps.co.uk/contents/en-uk/d88.html

 

What was interesting is just how onerous the COLREGS are, being based on the length of the vessel. While a 2nm visibility will do for the masthead on the OP's 16ft cruiser, it specifies 3nm for boats over 12m, and 5nm for boats over 20m (66') long. The sidelights on a boat over 12m long must also have a 2nm visibility.

 

Even if they were working or I could find the spares to repair them, the existing lights on my 54' boat wouldn't come close to satisfying the COLREGS (3nm masthead, 2nm side, stern and all around anchor light) so I do wonder why they were fitted in the first place. Having looked at the regs, and the spec for the lights needed to satisfy them, I suspect the navigation lights on the great majority of canal boats are just decorative as well.

 

The question for me was; do I avoid going onto rivers like the Trent or the Lee or canals like the Sheffield and Keadby or the A&C (or just hope I never need lights) or if I do fit them, do I get lights that meet the regs? In the end I decided to get the proper lights.

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