rotating orange light

Rotating Orange Light

So Fisherman has got one because people don't take any notice of his fishing lights and shapes.

And I bet his fishing day shapes are black net and are spliced into the rigging so that they are (a) practically invisible until you're within a quarter of a mile and (b) displayed all the time, even when alongside in harbour.

Why, oh why, is this forum so full of people boasting about how they flout the colregs?
 
timbartlett said:
So Fisherman has got one because people don't take any notice of his fishing lights and shapes.

And I bet his fishing day shapes are black net and are spliced into the rigging so that they are (a) practically invisible until you're within a quarter of a mile and (b) displayed all the time, even when alongside in harbour.

Why, oh why, is this forum so full of people boasting about how they flout the colregs?
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That is an unfair generalisation! First, you don't know Fisherman and his vessel, and as fishermen earn their living from the sea, it is in their interest to stay safe, and even though sometimes their shapes are permanent fixtures, they are obvious as a general rule. Fishermen seem to be constantly castigated for not working to the letter of the ColRegs, but for racing yachts it is assumed they won't and accepted. And they do it for fun!

I'm not saying that the ColRegs should be ignored, but when I see a trawler dredging for shell fish in Carlingford Lough, I know to stay out of their road as they are not able to manoeuvre so well, makes sense really!
 
spynappels said:
That is an unfair generalisation!
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Hmmm. I think it's actually quite a fair generalisation. It may not be true of the poster here, but I think if you measure by observation you'll find that the majority of fishing boats do show their shapes permanently (I can post a picture showing 6 out of 7 boats tied up alongside as an example). I don't have a great issue with that, it's pretty obvious they aren't fishing, but there are times when the wrong shapes or lights causes confusion which could lead to an accident.

I watched a fishing boat coming in shortly after dark recently that was showing masthead lights for a sailboat. As it happens, it was someone I knew and when I mentioned it to him he was very surprised, and a little concerned. He told me the next day that it was a short circuit which had now been fixed and thanked me for letting him know. (He is one of the skippers who leaves his day shapes permanently hoisted, by the way)
 
My point is that "Fisherman" claims that he "needs" to show illegal lights because ships don't give way to him when he's fishing.

But ship's watchkeepers know -- probably even better than most of us -- that the majority of fishing vessels show their fishing lights and shapes all the time, regardless of whether they are actually fishing or not. So it is understandable if some watchkeepers get into the habit of ignoring the lights and shapes until they get so close that they can actually see that there is fishing gear in use.

I'm not saying it's right, but I am saying that it is understandable... and that showing random other illegal lights does nothing to improve the situation.
 
timbartlett said:
My point is that "Fisherman" claims that he "needs" to show illegal lights because ships don't give way to him when he's fishing.

But ship's watchkeepers know -- probably even better than most of us -- that the majority of fishing vessels show their fishing lights and shapes all the time, regardless of whether they are actually fishing or not. So it is understandable if some watchkeepers get into the habit of ignoring the lights and shapes until they get so close that they can actually see that there is fishing gear in use.

I'm not saying it's right, but I am saying that it is understandable... and that showing random other illegal lights does nothing to improve the situation.
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Fair enough, but those who are out fishing know that often watchkeeping on ships is less than perfect too. Granted, this does not excuse anybody, but anybody drawing attention to themselves is better than them being run over because a watchkeeper was complacent about the shapes they had hoisted! This is not an issue here in the Lough, as all ships coming in and out are being conned by a local pilot who knows the boats operating here, but in a busy shipping lane where often radars are not even switched on, (check other threads for anecdotes) a flashing beacon can be equivalent to throwing a stone at the window and shouting "I'm here". I'm not saying it is fine to ignore the regs, but I'd rather be safer than absolutely correct personally, and in some cases a flashing light DOES improve the situation if it makes someone aware of someone else! IMHO of course.
 
I don't like people driving to close to the back of my car at night, so I've decided to fit a couple of big white lights to the back of my car so that they can see me better.
But in spite of that, someone tried to overtake me on the inside last night, so now I think I'm goiung to have to fit a flashing blue light on the roof to draw attention to myself.
Oh, and I'm always worried about dazzling oncoming traffic, so I've decided to take the bright white bulbs out of my headlights and fit much dimmer red ones instead. An obvious little courtesy, I think, and I'm surprised more people don't do it.
 
timbartlett said:
I don't like people driving to close to the back of my car at night, so I've decided to fit a couple of big white lights to the back of my car so that they can see me better.
But in spite of that, someone tried to overtake me on the inside last night, so now I think I'm goiung to have to fit a flashing blue light on the roof to draw attention to myself.
Oh, and I'm always worried about dazzling oncoming traffic, so I've decided to take the bright white bulbs out of my headlights and fit much dimmer red ones instead. An obvious little courtesy, I think, and I'm surprised more people don't do it.
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Good Luck Mate!

What part of the country did you say you hung out in? Just want to give it a wide berth....... like vessels with flashing orange beacons.

Enjoy your boating anyway!
 
timbartlett said:
My point is that "Fisherman" claims that he "needs" to show illegal lights because ships don't give way to him when he's fishing.

But ship's watchkeepers know -- probably even better than most of us -- that the majority of fishing vessels show their fishing lights and shapes all the time, regardless of whether they are actually fishing or not. So it is understandable if some watchkeepers get into the habit of ignoring the lights and shapes until they get so close that they can actually see that there is fishing gear in use.

I'm not saying it's right, but I am saying that it is understandable... and that showing random other illegal lights does nothing to improve the situation.
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ONLY IF ships don't give way.....

Well you lost your bet about the fishing signal, it's black plastic opposed cones. If you had ever been hauling gear and having a container ship coming straight at you, you would understand how difficult it can be to get away, and if I let him get close enough to see the gear in use I'm dead. I've had to cut my gear away and run, then get the creep over to pick it up again, only to get another ship trying to run me down when I've just hitched the lost gear. I show my signal all the time, I'm often only ten minutes between sets of gear, but I never let the signal force another vessel to give way: i.e. I always give way in good time if not actually hauling.

You must take signals at face value, as I do when I see sails but no motoring cone. Imagine explaining to the insurance company: "I just assumed..."

It's a bit like the constant discussions about colregs, but if you are driving along an empty road do you take a chance and go round the roundabout the wrong way?
 
Re Fisherman
For all I know, you might be the only fisherman in the country who takes his cones down when you're not actually fishing. If so:-
(a) congratulations for sticking to your principles
(b) my apologies for having maligned you
(c) and my commiserations that your efforts do not reap their reward.

But I'm afraid the plain fact is that the fishing community in general has chosen to devalue the fishing signal by such widespread misuse that it has become almost meaningless.

Having got into this situation by wholesale disregard for one of the colregs, I really don't see how breaking another one by showing the lights allocated to a hovercraft or submarine is expected to help.
 
ok so i still dont know what it would be doing on a 50 ft cruiser that goes 20knts and doesnt haul gear.
 
Amber flashing light...at sea!

An amber flashing light is only fitted to a Hovercraft....as already stated, and a Submarine on the surface in transit. The latter I have had to fit raise and test on many occasions....but very rarely used on the basis of attracting attention.
 
Old Glow In The Deeps said:
An amber flashing light is only fitted to a Hovercraft....as already stated, and a Submarine on the surface in transit. The latter I have had to fit raise and test on many occasions....but very rarely used on the basis of attracting attention.
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But it's not only fitted to a hovercraft etc.... it's also fitted to a 50ft river cruiser!
 
Old Glow In The Deeps said:
An amber flashing light is only fitted to a Hovercraft....as already stated, and a Submarine on the surface in transit. The latter I have had to fit raise and test on many occasions....but very rarely used on the basis of attracting attention.
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So why does a sub have to identify itself as such, and not just act, and be lit as any motor vessel?
 
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