Achor light on a mooring buoy

I have no argument with that at all, and if somebody wants to do that then fine. Mind you somebody will probably be along in a minute to tell you that the light must conform to the requirements of the "COLREGS" for the type and size of your vessel! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I think at the end of the day, it comes down somewhat to where your vessel is moored, and the type of traffic that is using the waters around you. Where I am is a working port, but the commercial traffic uses the deep water channel, and other than fishing vessels has a Pilot on board when entering or leaving the port. The moorings that are adjacent to the channel, are far enough from it as to not be at risk of a collision.

Surely it all about common sense...isn't it?
 
Re: Achor light on a mooring buoy (Another can of worms!)

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If you had a floating brothal... what lights would that display? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

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Single all round white light at mast top, same as any normal yacht, except the vessel must display "Kudu" on the bows and transom.

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Dear Oh Dear!! over active hormones are a terrible affliction, do you suffer with zits as well!?? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Re: Achor light on a mooring buoy (Another can of worms!)

Haha. My little boat is quite innocent to be honest. She has never seen any of that sort of carry on, and probably won't. My mates have made awful messes of their woodwork, carving "notches", and I refuse to deface my boat like that /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Anyway, as for the answer to my question, peering past the crossfire I've concluded that there is no official line on the matter, but good seamanship and common sense should prevail, a sad oversight to think that any would be applied by most people, I think /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
Re: Achor light on a mooring buoy (Another can of worms!)

"shing"????

Is this a yoof word for something? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Damn your eyes, you beat me to it! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
One of the more interesting bits of the race around Anglesey, for the tail-enders at least, is the last stretch from Puffin to Menai Bridge. Beating through moorings in the dark requires careful interpretation of rule 5. If you don't have a man or woman with a torch on the bows in these circumstances you are not maintaining a proper lookout.
 
The point is the Colregs do not mention moorings or specify any lights to be shown. The spirit of the Colregs is, therefore, that you do not need to show lights. Colregs also says, elsewhere, that no light shall be shown that can be confused with lights specified in the Colregs.

I don't show an anchor light when moored for this reason but I accept that river bye-laws may supercede Colregs and that there is no particular harm in showing a light. Having said all that, there is - actually - one occasion when I show a light when moored, and that is when doing river Boat Watch. This is to show a) that Boat Watch is in action and b) allows the local police (Plymouth Military Police) where the Boat Watch guy can be found.
 
James

I must respect your authority but I cannot find in collision regulations any definition of mooring or, indeed of anchoring. I can find a definition of underway which means that a vessel is not at anchor, or made fast to the shore, or aground. By a similar process of elimination this must mean that a vessel on a mooring is underway, which is clearly nonsensical.

I don't really understand the resistance to having an anchor light. And I should have said that Rule 30 required it. The RYA would seem to agree. From their sea sense campaign:

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Give anchored craft a wide berth, help others help you - use your anchor ball

Whatever your choice of activity, there will be actions of others you appreciate and others that you deplore. Our request for consideration extends to when you are tied up in a marina or anchored and to vessels passing others at anchor. Remember your anchor ball or anchor light is a requirement under the colregs to indicate your status to others.


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This would seem to be an area where clarification of colregs is required.

Michael
 
alfie168 I wouldn't make a habit of cutting through the mooring trots at Cowes ;the Harbour master will be more than upset with you,due to damage of the buoys etc. as per a recent NTM in the Marina. Sorry for the slight drift here!
 
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The first time I sailed into Cowes (I was not skippering) it was dark, and there is a whole trot of moored keelboats on the east side of the river entry and they are completely unlit, and difficult to identify against the background light scatter.

We didn't hit them. But we might have done, and the odd light would have helped. I can only assume lights are not required as otherwise the Cowes harbourmaster would be crawling all over them. Before others leap at me...yes it was our error in missing a buoy and turning too early.

Whatever the regs say I'd have thought a solar powered light with a daylight cutoff is a perfectly reasonable and low cost item to have hanging around a moored boat. If it saves some poor bugger inadvertently crashing into your pride and joy, then its even more reasonable.

Tim

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It used to be one of my party tricks at night with newbies on board ! to go through the Dragons and others moored on those buoys ... there's loads !! They couldn't see how I did it ... one day I'll let on ! But it's all to do with indirect viewing angle.

But a good example.
 
A friend of mine has his boat on a mooring buoy on the Dart and was occasionally hit by a boat passing in the Dark I sold him a spare solar garden light adapted for haning from the crosstrees. He reported much later that it seemed to have stopped the impacts. It's a simple step to take, particularly since the newer garden lights are much brighter.
The Dart estuary, of course, has steep dark sides so you will not see a dark green boat against the background. For a white boat or a plain background a lamp is less likely to be useful.
 
"This would seem to be an area where clarification of colregs is required.

Michael"

No not really, just a bit of application of good seamanship and common sense. Where my mooring is a light just isn't needed, there is plenty of ambient light from a nearby road, plus showing a light whilst hanging on a mooring is not required, either by colregs, or my local harbour authority.

If it's pitch black at night where you moor your boat, and you feel that showing a light will be beneficial for you, there is nothing in colregs or anywhere else as far as I am aware that says you can't.

In my view, colregs are just a set of guidlines to help mariners to hopefully all sing from the same hymn book

I also contend that the "Colregs" are not the law of the land, or for that matter set in stone Rule 2b states...

(b) In construing and complying with these Rules due regard shall be had to all dangers of navigation and collision and to any special circumstances, including the limitations of the vessels involved, which may make a departure from these Rules necessary to avoid immediate danger.

This to my mind is saying, never mind what the rules are saying, you must do what you have to do to stay out of trouble.

A lot in the colregs seems to want to have it's cake and eat it.

In a nutshell, whilst I am mindful of the colregs, (because they help me to know what somebody else is likely to do in any situation)......I would sooner apply good seamanship and common sense, than attempt to follow colregs slavishly.
 
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I also contend that the "Colregs" are not the law of the land

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Well the IMO convention was ratified by the UK Government. Its provisions were enacted in the form of regulations by Parliament. These have been amended from time to time in order to comply with changes to the original convention and are published as statutory instruments. So I am not sure in what sense they are not the law of the land.

It is also interesting that several harbour authorities have published local regulations, as provided for in the International Regulations, which do make specific references to lights on moored vessels. (Incidentally there is interchangeability between the terms moored and anchored in these regulations). These generally seem to exclude leisure vessels from the requirement to display an anchor light when moored in certain areas of harbours. This seems to suggest that where such local regulations do not exist there is a requirement to display an anchor light when anchored or moored.

Are there no maritime lawyers reading this thread to cast light on our darkness?

Michael
 
"COLREGs are implemented in the UK by Merchant Shipping (Distress Signals and Prevention of Collisions) Regulations 1996 (SI 1996/75) made under the authority of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, s.85 which empowers the making of regulations for “securing the safety of United Kingdom ships and persons on them”, and “other ships and persons on them whilst they are within United Kingdom national waters”. Breach of COLREGs is a criminal offence in the UK."

According to Bruce Grant, Newcastle Law School.

http://webjcli.ncl.ac.uk/2006/issue2/grant2.html
 
I think that as far as leisure boaters are concerned, I would concider the colregs to be a bit like the highway code, ie. some of it is law, some of it isn't, I may well be wrong in this, but it seems to me that they are only invoked regarding leisure sailors when they mess up and cause others injury, damage or death. The idea that boats on permanent and charted moorings have all suddenly got to start displaying anchor lights, after centuries without, and no real problems is quite frankly a joke! Next thing you know some muppet will be suggesting that boats in marinas will have to do the same! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I don't know what it is about these forums, but there does seem to be an element that relishes all these rules and regulations, as if we didn't have enough already.

Personally I think it's best left for people to make their own choices as to whether they want to display a light on a mooring. Some locations just don't need them, and IF some muppet were to add to the already mountainous pile of rules and regulations, I doubt they would bother to try to ascertain where lights were really needed, it would just be one size fits all!

I haven't anything else to add to this thread, so I will leave it be now. Oh just one last thing, I go sailing to get myself away from all the nanny interference, and anal retentive rule merchants, bloody hell! it's one of the last freedoms we really have, and what with E-borders and so on, even that is being erroded at a great rate of knots.

Cheers! /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
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hi
when i anchor or moor up in or near any night movment i have four garden solar powerd lights,two front two stern,if very busy anchor ligt on as well,yes i have been ramed in the night befor !!

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Then you are in total contravention of the col regs. You should only show recognisable light signals. Anybody approaching you would have no idea what you were/are.

Bit like a vessel under sail showing it's tricolour as well - leads to confusion!
 
Haven't you seen ships at anchor? They have all their deck lights on. It makes seeing their anchor light rather unnecessary. But of course, they have their nav-lights switched off.
 
There is absolutely no need for such rudeness. What you advocate is a sort of anarchy. If you don't like laws it is your democratic right to seek to change them but, until you have, you cannot just ignore them. I suspect you would soon complain if someone caused you a problem by ignoring some law which didn't suit them.

All I have been trying to do is to clarify whether an anchor light is required when on a mooring. I don't want to fall foul of regulations or cause difficulty to others navigating at night. Why you get so hot under the collar about it I cannot understand.
 
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