Doh!!

[NoIllusion]

Was leaving the Beaulieu River today............not brilliant visibility .......very misty.......one of those days when the sky and sea melted into one..........I guess max vis about 2 miles......

I thought (as good practice) put the nav lights on ............only be to shouted at by one of our WAFIs that my "nav liights were on"........."Yes ........I know......I switched them on)!!


........questioned my sanity.......until I saw merchantmen transiting the Solent with their nav lights on......(guess I got it right).......


What would you have done?........lights on........lights off???

 

[superheat6k]

Quite right lights on. Not exactly headlights, but every little helps.

 

[AndieMac]

Always pays to enhance your own visibility to other vessels in failing light etc... but to be fair to the other guy, it may have just been a response like you would say to somebody leaving a car on a foggy morning with their park lights on, perhaps?

 

[benjenbav]

Was leaving the Beaulieu River today............not brilliant visibility .......very misty.......one of those days when the sky and sea melted into one..........I guess max vis about 2 miles......

I thought (as good practice) put the nav lights on ............only be to shouted at by one of our WAFIs that my "nav liights were on"........."Yes ........I know......I switched them on)!!


........questioned my sanity.......until I saw merchantmen transiting the Solent with their nav lights on......(guess I got it right).......


What would you have done?........lights on........lights off???

Colregs, 20(c): "The lights prescribed by these Rules shall, if carried, also be exhibited from sunrise to sunset in restricted visibility and may be exhibited in all other circumstances when it is deemed necessary."

Game, set and match to you, I think.

 

[prv]

I see I've been beaten to it, but yes, Colregs says lights must be on in restricted visibility (can't remember the definition offhand; your misty horizon may not have counted), but can also be on any other time if you want.

The merchant ships may have been a red herring, as I believe it's common practice in oceangoing ships to leave the lights on day and night. Bulbs are most likely to blow as you switch them on; if you never turn them off then you never have to turn them on again, so you get longer life. The electrical draw is so tiny as to be irrelevant, by ship standards.

Pete

 

[[2068]]

If in doubt, e.g. a bit misty, close to dusk, etc., it takes 10 seconds to hit the Nav Lights On switch.
Costs nothing, and is one less reason to get mowed down by a ferry.

I quite like hitting the On switch, as I get to check that the bulbs still work.

 

[lisilou]

Lights on!!

 

[matm]

Agreed - better safe than sorry. On our passage today it was nice and sunny but we had 2-3m Viz approx (from radar) - didn't feel like it was enough even then so would want to be seen!