Nav lights running lights anchor light ???

happyjack

happyjack

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sorry can anyone please tell me what lights i must have on. I have a 5m cabin boat i have port and starboard lights and i have one bow faceing white pole light above and one all round white light at the starboard stern do i have all of these on while running or is one of these just a anchor light and if so what one
sorry for being so thick lol
 
Legally under 7m all you need is an all round white, but your set-up is better than this.

Sailing you need the red green - and white just visible from the stern.

Motoring - from the bow you will need to show red/green plus a white on top, and from the stern just one white.

Not sure I completely understand your description, but hope this helps!
 
An all round can be used as anchor light, but your description seems a little odd.

What is the purpose of the bow facing white light if the stern white is visible all round?

Otherwise you could have a dedicated stern light just seen from astern, and the bow white plus bow red/green, but you do not want two white visible from ahead, unless you are a supertanker in disguise.

BTW can yo confirm if this is for sailing and/or motoring?
 
Sorry its for motoring mostly fishing the the bow facing white light is above the red/green and the stern is lower and not visible from the bow as its lower than the cabin if that helps
 
If you are going out at night you will need to be able to recognise the correct lights that you see on other vessels or you won't know what those vessels are, whether you have to give way or whether they should give way to you. A bit dangerous, really. Can I suggest that you buy some kind of textbook, see if your almanac has this information or maybe do a short course?
 
Lemain is completely right in being very familiar with what you wear, and what you will see at night. Often you don't have long to think about it or the luxury of looking it up, especially on the Medway where you can meet things like tows fairly regularly.

There have been some good links posted on here before for this sort of thing, but I do not have them saved, but somebody else may.

As for your lights, you need to make sure that you cannot see 2 whites from any direction. You could switch them all on and walk round the boat to see what it looks like The sectors are often blanked off at the correct angles so it may be that the stern light is a true stern light and not all round? If it isn't then it should be.

As for using these as an anchor light my immediate reaction is no. You do not have a visible all round white light. I have never heard of two lights being used instead, but maybe somebody else on the forum has!
 
If you are under 7m AND capable of less than 7knts then you can show the all round white.

If you are capable of greater than 7knts, then you are not legal. Think of it as three sectors: red & green on port & starbourd sides to 22.5 degrees abaft the beam & white at the stern filling what's left of the circle. That's if you're sailing. If you're motoring, then an additional white should be visible mounted above the red & green and filling the same 2 sectors.

So from the port aspect, you should see red if sailing & white above red if motoring. Similary the starboard aspect should show green instead. Form the stern you should see a single white.

At anchor, you should show a single all round white.

So if you cannot do more than 7knts, you can show the all round white & the red, green and front facing white (steaming light) are redundant. Alternatively & better, add a rear facing white & you can use the full set. Think of it this way. Another boat sees you with a single white. You could be at anchor, headed away, headed towards and under 7m/under 7knts. With full set, anyone else can see what you are and where you're headed.

I totally agree with Lemain. Learn your lights if you're going out at night. Not only should you know what the other vessels are but you should be able to determine the correct course of action to avoid a collision. i.e. you see red & green separated horizonatally, plus 2 whites above and separated vertically. It's a motor vessel >50m in length headed right for you. Not something you want to see too often.
 
If i see red & green separated horizonatally, plus 2 whites above and separated vertically i will go to starboard asap i might even give him one short blast on my horn as well lol.
as i sed just got this boat and it has to be rewired as the old wiring was all out when i got it and wanted to know what switches to do what lights thanks
 
The alternative combinations of light for vessels under 12 m are in the diagram obtained by clicking the thumbnail below (Sorry it includes sailing vessels as well power driven vessels.

As already mentioned below 7m the minimum requirement is an all round white but the lights in the diagram should be shown if possible.

An anchor light is also an all round white mounted where it can best be seen. If you have the stern and masthead (aka steaming) light combined into an all round white then the same lantern can be used as the anchor light.

I suggest you also read the sections on lights in the "Collision regulations" There you will find the visibility requirements, the arcs of visibility and other information.

Collision regs

 
If you don't know what lights you should be displaying, I doubt that you know your colregs. I would suggest that you should get yourself a copy and read it.
 
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