Nav lights

[John V]

continue the big adventure 050 by mudlarker2, on Flickrcontinue the big adventure 051 by mudlarker2, on Flickr

 

I admit sometimes I break my own rule !!!

[Loafer]

I agree completely with that. On the odd occasions I've met narrowboats in the dark in the Trent the sidelights and sternlight were utterly pointless and we only saw them from a way off because they had got their headlights on . . . . which very effectively buggers up your night vision to the extent that it's then impossible to be sure that there isn't another one behind them without his headlight on.

 

Headlight mustn't be on, when complying with COLREGS. Headlights are purely an inland waterway thing for tunnels, and maybe seeing where you're going.

[Keeping Up]

Not sure about this. I might be wrong but don't the regs step up at notch at 20m which makes suitable side lights a bit more difficult on a full length boat.

I believe ours do comply and they are big jobbies that get in the way a bit when I walk down the gunnel, also mounted at the engine room rather than the front. I do agree about the steaming light.

 

.........Dave

I changed our side and stern lights to Perko series 0170 which are only fractionally larger than the usual ones that you see on many narrowboats. The series as a whole is advertised as suitable only for boats up to 20m long because the steaming light is only visible for 3 miles but all the other lights in the series fully meet the regs for boats up to 50m long. Given the impracticality of mounting the steaming light at a height of 20ft above the hull I have settled for the token gesture of using the Perko steaming light and mounting it 8ft above the hull which at least meets the requirements for a boat up to 20m (our boat is 20.4m long but I believe it shrinks by at least 0.4m when it meets the coldness of tidal or salty water) and also meets the Port of London Authority regs because they make a specific concession on the mast height so that boats can pass under the bridges.

[bizzard]

If you keep zooming up and down in an aeroplane facing east at sunrise you can keep making it set when it trying to rise. Also in the evening you can make the sun rise again when its trying to set in the west. Colour blind navigators can be a bit dangerous at night.

[Tony Dunkley]

 

Headlight mustn't be on, when complying with COLREGS. Headlights are purely an inland waterway thing for tunnels, and maybe seeing where you're going.

No, it certainly shouldn't be on, but nobody seems to have told some of these folk who have decided to try out the Trent and Aire and Calder in the dark . . . and it's not just narrowboats either . . . I've been dazzled badly quite a few times by pillocks in motorized soap dishes bombing along with a searchlight sweeping across from one bank to the other.

[ditchcrawler]

No, it certainly shouldn't be on, but nobody seems to have told some of these folk who have decided to try out the Trent and Aire and Calder in the dark . . . and it's not just narrowboats either . . . I've been dazzled badly quite a few times by pillocks in motorized soap dishes bombing along with a searchlight sweeping across from one bank to the other.

See the last line of this post http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=72113&p=1452866

[Dharl]

Actually late evening and early morning cruising are some of the best times to cruise.

 

We cruised down the coast from Grimsby to Wells leaving Grimsby at 3.30am, about a half hour later the sun started to appear over the horizon, simply magical experience.

Couldnt agree more, best time of day is hour before dawn. Spent many happy hours drapped over a bridge wing with a mug of tea watching the sunrise.....

[Guest]

Most nav lights on narrowboats contravene col regs.

 

They are just a token gesture at best.

True on my NB. They are either side of the tunnel light. Been all over with them like that and nobody has bothered yet. Will get some magnetic battery ones if ever I come unstuck.

[Proper Job]

 

Headlight mustn't be on, when complying with COLREGS. Headlights are purely an inland waterway thing for tunnels, and maybe seeing where you're going.

 

You need one to transit Suez and Panama - no tunnels on them

[NickF]

 

 

Carinya has two Nav lights on port and starboard. A pair of red and green at the front of the cabin and an additional set of red and green just in front of the engine room.

 

 

If another boat approached from the side (not sure how this could happen on a canal) they would interpret two lights as two separate vessels and may try and navigate between them!

[Proper Job]

If another boat approached from the side (not sure how this could happen on a canal) they would interpret two lights as two separate vessels and may try and navigate between them!

 

It's a worry

[ditchcrawler]

How many boats do you meet when boating in the dark, I once met one and sent Diana to the bows with a torch as I didn't have a tunnel light fitted.

[Naughty Cal]

How many boats do you meet when boating in the dark, I once met one and sent Diana to the bows with a torch as I didn't have a tunnel light fitted.

Quite a lot.

[ditchcrawler]

Quite a lot.

I know you do and you probably dont travel with a tunnel light on. I was referring to the inland canal system

[Dave_P]

Plenty of boats travelling along the canal in the middle of Birmingham after dark. Especially at the weekend.

[nebulae]

I believe there have been several posts on this subject in the past. I have tried to meet the regs as nearly as possible .The only way I could get close on a 50ft narrow boat, was to have a removeable mast with a bi colour port and starboard and mast head light mounted to it. The lights are the correct ones for the boats lenghth and are much to cumbersome to leave rigged for canal work.The mast allows transit on the G & S etc.An extention then fits between the P&S lights and masthead where air draft permits.(Still not high enough to meet the regs)The stern light rigs on the back of the cabin.Stern lights mounted on the hull are useless.Nav lights fitted to most narrow boats are for decorative purposes only. When in transit on a tidal waterway,a narrow boat is only a spec in the distance.I notice that a lot of working boats(tugs service launches etc) run with nav lights on,even in daylight.

[howardang]

I believe there have been several posts on this subject in the past. I have tried to meet the regs as nearly as possible .The only way I could get close on a 50ft narrow boat, was to have a removeable mast with a bi colour port and starboard and mast head light mounted to it. The lights are the correct ones for the boats lenghth and are much to cumbersome to leave rigged for canal work.The mast allows transit on the G & S etc.An extention then fits between the P&S lights and masthead where air draft permits.(Still not high enough to meet the regs)The stern light rigs on the back of the cabin.Stern lights mounted on the hull are useless.Nav lights fitted to most narrow boats are for decorative purposes only. When in transit on a tidal waterway,a narrow boat is only a spec in the distance.I notice that a lot of working boats(tugs service launches etc) run with nav lights on,even in daylight.

The reason why many commercial vessels leave their nav lights on through the day is a beleif that it is best leaving them on to reduce the possibility ofcondensation within the lamp body.

 

Howard

[Keeping Up]

For a 50ft narrow boat the regulations are covered by this statement:

 

"The masthead light of a power-driven vessel of 12 metres but less than 20 metres in length shall be placed at a height above the gunwale of not less than 2.5 metres"

 

This is eminently achievable on a canal such as the G&S or on a typical tideway, although of course it would not fit through most canal bridges so it is a good thing that these regulations do not apply on such canals.

 

OTOH for a full-length narrow boat the height must be "at a height above the hull of not less than 6 metres"

 

where "The term “height above the hull” means height above the uppermost continuous deck"

[George94]

Not sure where you would put the mast light

 

........... at the end of the barge pole?

 

You do what the barges do. The high forward facing white light is fitted to a lowerable mast in a way that allows the light to rotate on the mountings and keep pointing forward when the mast is lowered.

 

A mast could be made out of an old piece of pipe, and often is.

No, it certainly shouldn't be on, but nobody seems to have told some of these folk who have decided to try out the Trent and Aire and Calder in the dark . . . and it's not just narrowboats either . . . I've been dazzled badly quite a few times by pillocks in motorized soap dishes bombing along with a searchlight sweeping across from one bank to the other.

 

That's the RNLI looking for bodies.