Mast Head lights and assumed distance

GHA

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My question still stands: could the watchkeeper not misjudge the distance of an elevated masthead light?

Possible, yes. Likely - no. If you're very worried go look on maib for incidents and put your mind at rest, there are none , that I could find anyway .

Remembering a masthead won't spend half the time hidden behind waves.
 

Graham376

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My question still stands: could the watchkeeper not misjudge the distance of an elevated masthead light?

Height of your light on a small boat shouldn't be of concern, a watch keeper on a large vessel will be looking down at you anyway at close quarters. If you're worried he's getting so close for that to be a worry, get out of his way. Don't expect a large ship to suddenly change course for you.
 

RupertW

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But life moves on, and sailing is all about managing risk, and I think that adding aids like AIS and radar responders significantly reduce the risk for relatively small amounts of money, compared to the cost of owning a boat, and the cost of getting it seriously wrong doesn't bear thinking about..
But the reduction of a tiny risk can only be a tiny risk reduction. Look at all the yachts in ship collisions around the UK pre-AIS and you will see the chances of it happening were too small to measure and therefore unless you fancy it you can’t justify AIS on risk reduction grounds.
 

Boathook

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Thanks for everyone’s input. I’m aware of navigational aids available to me and other ships.
My question still stands: could the watchkeeper not misjudge the distance of an elevated masthead light? I am aware that in some countries there is the school of thought to discourage the use of the masthead tricolour and encourage the use of nav lights and stern lights closer to the waterline for that very reason.
Very easy to misjudge the distance if the watch keeper can only see a red light and nothing else. Is it a big ships light many miles away or a yachts masthead only a few hundred yards away. A bit like sailing in fog and trying to work out the visibility imho.
 

STOL71

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Very easy to misjudge the distance if the watch keeper can only see a red light and nothing else. Is it a big ships light many miles away or a yachts masthead only a few hundred yards away. A bit like sailing in fog and trying to work out the visibility imho.

I would have thought that if the ship was astern and sees a white light then the sailing vessel could be mistaken as a vessel much further way away, especially near coastal waters where shore lights can be confusing.
 

GHA

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I would have thought that if .......
..... it was actually a plausible risk there would be many cases published on MIAB or other countries maritime accident statistics, couldn't find a single incident though without spending too long searching.

Better, imho, to look at the real world to see what happens in the real world. Then get at least an AIS receiver and keep a good lookout, ships tend to be very professionally run and really would rather not hit you.

Better trees to bark up :)
 

STOL71

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..... it was actually a plausible risk there would be many cases published on MIAB or other countries maritime accident statistics, couldn't find a single incident though without spending too long searching.

Better, imho, to look at the real world to see what happens in the real world. Then get at least an AIS receiver and keep a good lookout, ships tend to be very professionally run and really would rather not hit you.

Better trees to bark up :)

Unsure of the above as a reply to a valid question.
 
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