Anchor Ball Needed?

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...I can understand the keelboats not being lit, but it would have very helpful if they had been...

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But they are on established moorings and there is no requirement for them to be lit - many of them are day boats that don't even have lights fitted.

The Harbour Master gives very clear advice - "Visiting craft should not go through these lines of swinging moorings, unless specifically with the intention of proceeding to a mooring, as a full appreciation of tidal set is necessary to avoid being set down onto moored yachts".

I go through them in daylight with adequate local knowledge, but during darkness in peak season I would only do so in ideal conditions.
 
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I was trying to state an observation - so many people don't use anchor balls that it can no longer be used as a meaningful signal - it's like a law that is not upheld, it ain't a law no more. No matter how right or wrong that is, it is a fact that we all live with and use our common sense to deal with.

I actually have an anchor ball, but will only use it when it may not be clear that I'm anchoring eg. somewhere like the Tregier river when the anchorages are effectively in the fairway. To my mind this is the real purpose of an anchor ball, to make it absolutely clear you are at anchor, when there could be cause for confusion. Like others I think an anchor light is far more important than a ball.

What I do find quite amusing is that in a crowded anchorage if one person puts a ball up others tend to follow out of guilt or something; the very situation where it's bleeding obvious that people are anchored.

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Sadly, your post is loaded with your own contradictions, a rule is a rule, it,s not really up to you, or me, to choose when to comply with it? Surely that is common sense!
If you read back in my previous posts, I have seen it enforced in one place.
The correct signals you display, are not solely for your benefit, but as much for the benifit of the rest of us, so we know what you are intending/doing.
Unlike TWITS who should, but don,t know better!
 
Re: Anchor Ball Needed? ... What about NUC and Aground then?

I have to admit that when I went aground putting a day shape up never even crossed my mind /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
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I was trying to state an observation - so many people don't use anchor balls that it can no longer be used as a meaningful signal - it's like a law that is not upheld, it ain't a law no more. No matter how right or wrong that is, it is a fact that we all live with and use our common sense to deal with.

I actually have an anchor ball, but will only use it when it may not be clear that I'm anchoring eg. somewhere like the Tregier river when the anchorages are effectively in the fairway. To my mind this is the real purpose of an anchor ball, to make it absolutely clear you are at anchor, when there could be cause for confusion. Like others I think an anchor light is far more important than a ball.

What I do find quite amusing is that in a crowded anchorage if one person puts a ball up others tend to follow out of guilt or something; the very situation where it's bleeding obvious that people are anchored.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sadly, your post is loaded with your own contradictions, a rule is a rule, it,s not really up to you, or me, to choose when to comply with it? Surely that is common sense!
If you read back in my previous posts, I have seen it enforced in one place.
The correct signals you display, are not solely for your benefit, but as much for the benifit of the rest of us, so we know what you are intending/doing.
Unlike TWITS who should, but don,t know better!

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmm, well...

I'm not familiar with the South coast of England, but in Scotland we tend to use common sense. In a well recognised anchorage (Puilldobhraoin, say) the chance of any confusion is minimal: a stationary boat is almost certainly anchored. So black balls are very rarely hoisted. A number of boats use a light at night, but that's more to assist the dinghy trip back from the pub than to "show that they are anchored".

If anchored somewhere unusual, where people might not expect you to be, then a ball / anchor light clearly makes sense and I would expect the prescribed shapes / lights to be deployed.
 
Not to mention attracting the attention of the police maritime who went around an anchorage telling people off for not displaying said ball, not having ensign flying, and even for having past their best courtesy flags (alright the last one was mine and it was only slightly bedraggled but my ball was up.) Around the anchorage balls were rapidly raised and ensigns unfurled
 
Well I hail from the Midlands so maybe I've got a middling amount of commonsense, and with what little I've got may I ask you a question?

Say I'm round your neck of the woods. I've never been there before and I haven't got the faintest idea whether this spot is an established anchorage or not, these things not always being marked on the chart.* How am I supposed to spot your blacked-out boat at anchor as I enter the area on a cold, dark night? You and your compatriots may well know the place like the back of your hand, and therefore not need to be told that somewhere is a popular spot.

The rest of us, commonsense suggests, could do with a bit of warning. That's surely what the all-round white is for?

*PS Even when marked, I'm not even sure it's reasonable to expect people to do much more than note the fact that there might be boats at anchor there. Okay, so they're being extra alert, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'll spot your boat before it's too late.
 
Maybe I didn't explain very well. My example (Puilldobhrain), like most other well known all-weather anchorages, is effectively a cul de sac. The only reason for going into it is to anchor. So it will hardly be a surprise to come across others doing the same. (And the odd moored FV that certainly won't be lit.)
 
I understand that, but the question's still the same I think. On a dark night, how can I be sure what's a shadow and what's your boat if you don't leave the all-rounder switched on?

I don't claim vast amounts of experience in entering anchorages at night, mind. But on those few occasions that I have done - two or three at most - I found that when concentrating on a specific point, such as the spot ahead where I thought I was going to drop the hook, the white lights all around me remained in my peripheral vision, giving me a general sense of where every boat around me was. Naturally I would be alert to the possibility that your darkened boat might be in there too, and I'd like to think I'd see it before I side-swiped it - probably just in the instant before I side-swiped it. I think you need the light on.
 
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a rule is a rule, it,s not really up to you, or me, to choose when to comply with it?

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Take that to extremis when you are told what time to get up, what to wear, what to eat and what you are allowed to do then say again ..

Rules are there for guidance and not blind obeyance ... ok 95% of rules should be followed, but there are always exceptions ...

As has been said - use some common sense - it's refreshing to take responsibility for your actions!
 
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a rule is a rule, it,s not really up to you, or me, to choose when to comply with it?

[/ QUOTE ]
Take that to extremis when you are told what time to get up, what to wear, what to eat and what you are allowed to do then say again ..

Rules are there for guidance and not blind obeyance ... ok 95% of rules should be followed, but there are always exceptions ...

As has been said - use some common sense - it's refreshing to take responsibility for your actions!

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I assume you and the other independant/irresponsible "free thinkers" on here are so Honest!, that you/they will of course! immediately, admit you/they had no signal displayed at the time of the collision when the insurance claims are submitted. where there is NO sense, there is no reason. imho
 
We were on a friends boat, a good friend but one who is very parsimonious with his electricity, we anchored in a well known anchorage, hung the ball, but when it came to the Anchor light, it wasn't going to go on until we pointed out the insurance implications of being run down at night by someone coming into the anchorage.

Light on we all turned into our pits for some alchohol induced kip.

At 0200hrs we were rudely awakened by blue flashing lights and sirens around the boat. We had dragged, across the anchorage, across a busy shipping lane and perilously close to rocks on the other sides. We were spotted only by a passing ship seeing our anchor light.

Lesson learned!
 
Recently in the marina I was testing a new fixing for my black ball when to my astonishment another boater stopped and asked me what the black ball was for!!!!!!!! I explained and recommended that he read ColRegs.

I hope that this individual was a one off but have to wonder how many boats that do not show black balls are through ignorance rather than any "common sense". Personally I always display a black ball when at anchor.
 
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a rule is a rule, it,s not really up to you, or me, to choose when to comply with it

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If it is not really up to you or me to follow then why do so many not follow the rule???.....you just introduced you own contradiction!

Your sort are bringing the country to ruin with this zealous rule creating/following that denies people of personal responsibility. The correct point you made was to say "so we know what you are intending/doing", which is exactly what I use to assess whether to use a ball or not.

If you look at most charts where an anchorage is indicated, you will now find that it is full of moorings (particularly France/Brittany). Since there is no obvious sign that a boat is on a mooring, can I assume that you are therefore likely to hit it????

You need to get real the "TWITS" are out there, so you are no better off with the rule.......

As to your insurance situation, the COLREGS also make it clear that it is the duty of all to avoid a collision, whatever the rule - thank god COLREGS have a rule for common sense and personal responsibility!!!
 
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Your sort are bringing the country to ruin with this zealous rule creating/following that denies people of personal responsibility. The correct point you made was to say "so we know what you are intending/doing", which is exactly what I use to assess whether to use a ball or not.

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Or is it <u> your sort </u> who believe they are above the law. In this case Martime law which through the IRPCS requires a vessel at anchor to exhibit an anchor light or ball.

I assume you adopt the same attitude to all other civil and criminal laws and are quite happy to suffer the consquences of dissregarding them, pay the fines and serve the prison sentences.

Frankly society would be better off without you!
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thank god COLREGS have a rule for common sense and personal responsibility

[/ QUOTE ] or is it a rule that caters for arseholes.
 
The apparent lax attitude about the value of displaying an anchor ball goes some way to explaining the poor awareness of anchored boats some skippers demonstrate. It is not expected or looked for by many.

The anchor ball is of particular value when used outside of the "recognized cosy anchorages" that leisure boats normally congregate in. A common example of this is the "I wouldn't anchor here so I don't expect anyone else to" approach I have been on the receiving end of, particularly on the routes E & W between Poole and Weymouth. There are areas off the Dorset coast in about 30m of water that are recognized fishing marks and often have angling boats anchored there, a large proportion of which WILL display an anchor ball. Unfortunately many boats on passage in this area completely ignore the signal /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif and if a raggie expect the (anchored) power boat to give way or if a mobo pass too close at speed. Many appear to be on auto-pilot and not keeping a good lookout. Last year a raggie only avoided my anchored boat at the last minute after being given 5 blasts on the foghorn and a lot of supporting verbal direction /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif Make no mistake, in the event of an insurance claim I would have been very explicit about the displayed anchor ball.

Those that don't even carry an anchor ball should consider the consequences if/when they have to anchor unexpectedly, maybe with engine failure and/or becalmed.

A.
 
If a boat has an anchor ball raised it gives me a degree of confidence that they know at least a little bit about what they are doing. I gain even more confidence if I see them set the anchor after dropping it, and even more if they reset it each evening before sunset.

In short, apart from it being a requirement, it's good practice, and lets others know that you know.

If you do it regularly, you will evolve a system for making it simple and quick, so it's not a big deal.
 
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