Too many flashing, alternating, occulting, isophase,blue, red, yellow anchor lights

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mocruising

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Every year we see more and more anchor lights that do not comply with the regulations. We had one last night entering an anchorage in Turkey alternating flashing blue and white. In addition too many patio lights that you can only see at about 500 m. With the power consumption of LED's it can't be a power thing, although we observe most of the culprits are on sailing yachts. In addition to your regulation anchor light may be hang a red flashing light off your davits and bow sprit in a crowded anchorage. What's wrong with the good all round white light as specified by the regulations or am I just getting old.
 
Totally agree it can be very confusing at time , at a distain a flashing red light can look like a buoy although patio lights as well as an anchor light can only help to be seen , this is coming from some one who twice s have been hit by fisherman in small boats drifting about early hours in the morning .

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Quite agree, mocruising, but what can you do?

Are all those silly flashy things actually sold as anchor lights, or something else?

It's perhaps more surprising that so many people make such effort to adhere to the Colregs, considering that to most intents they're not policed (except retroactively if something goes wrong).
 
We have an all-round white LED bulb in a Lalizas anchor light. It is hung up from a jib sheet in the fore triangle and plugged in to a socket in one of the forward cabins. It can be seen all around for at least three miles (so OK with regard to Coll. Regs). The masthead light has never been used and I am contemplating re-using that circuit for something else. However, should I "park" anywhere in the vicinity of the big boys, outside Piraeus for example (not ever so likely) then I might consider switching it on even though it draws over 2.5 amps just to mark my presence at their bridge heights.

We were once anchored between the Sivota Islands nr Mourtos when the local cosatguard came around telling those with "patio lights" to "put something proper on" and they weren't talking about indecent exposure either! Probably the skipper of the ferry wchich runs too and fro between Mourtos Town Quay and the large German hotel had complained since that is an otherwise well out of the way anchorage.
 
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I agree with the OP, it's getting so you have no idea what you're looking at as you creep into an anchorage in the dark. Personally I like masthead anchor lights on yachts (we have an LED bulb up there) because close yachts with masthead anchor lights show up against the black sky whilst all those lower down can easily be mistaken for shore lights, even when close to them.

Slightly OT, but this reminds me of a story (possibly apocryphal) that was told by a fellow yachtie who used to do Day Skipper training (back in the days when anyone with a Yachtmaster ticket could teach that stuff). He was coming into Dover (I think it was) and he saw the yellow flashing light of the hovercraft about to leave. Quick as a flash he pointed and asked his students what that light was. None of them answered, so he proudly told them it was the hovercraft, a non-displacement vessel, hence the flashing yellow light. "Well why is it emptying dustbins then?" one of the students asked.....
 
Probably just getting old. Anchor light regulations are entirely relevant for boats and ships anchoring in odd or unlikely places where there's traffic especially in shallowish seas like around the UK where you can anchor anywhere in the English Channel. But for "anchorages" for small crusiy boats where there's no ships or through-traffic on passage, not such a big deal.
 
Well I was watching a boat that had appeared in a crowded French anchorage. It had been a long haul that day and my sundowner was a little stronger than usual but I was fairly compes mentis.

This boat seemed to be moving slowly and was showing me both red and green so heading directly towards my anchored boat. when it turned turtle. Well what else could cause the red and green to swap sides.

Big adrenaline hit and I get the searchlight out. Yup you guessed it a [f#French] boat with LED garden lights of the type that change colour. They alternated red and green.

Took another sundowner to calm me down.
 
Probably best if your anchor light is at, or slightly above, the eye height of any boat that is likely to run into you. So if you are anchored in a shipping channel (:confused:) then by all means use a masthead light. If, as normal, you are anchored in a yachty anchorage, a lower light makes much more sense.
 
Got seriously spooked a few years ago. I was about a hundred odd miles, north east of Sicily heading for Corfu, middle of nowhere, middle of the night, Dead calm, when I started seeing flashing lights over the horizon.
Put the radar on, nothing...checked the chart..nothing, even dug out Hiekell...still no clue as to what it could be.
After about an hour's motoring towards the lights, starting to feel very nervous.....
Daaraa...a bloody net fisherman in a tiny ten foot boat, with strobe lights on his net, every 20 or so meters.....
What he was doing so far away from land, on his own, I'll never know.
 
mocruising said:
Every year we see more and more anchor lights that do not comply with the regulations. We had one last night entering an anchorage in Turkey alternating flashing blue and white. In addition too many patio lights that you can only see at about 500 m. With the power consumption of LED's it can't be a power thing, although we observe most of the culprits are on sailing yachts. In addition to your regulation anchor light may be hang a red flashing light off your davits and bow sprit in a crowded anchorage. What's wrong with the good all round white light as specified by the regulations or am I just getting old.
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All round white in the fore triangle to be correct of course
 
Steve C Cronin said:
That is where I put mine but I believe that the regs say "In the fore part of the vessel where it can best be seen" not especially "in the fore triangle"

SCC
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Rule 30. (b) A vessel of less than 50 metres in length may exibit an all-round white light where it can best be seen I would think that most on here are less than 50 metres.
 
Cariadco said:
Got seriously spooked a few years ago. I was about a hundred odd miles, north east of Sicily heading for Corfu, middle of nowhere, middle of the night, Dead calm, when I started seeing flashing lights over the horizon.
Put the radar on, nothing...checked the chart..nothing, even dug out Hiekell...still no clue as to what it could be.
After about an hour's motoring towards the lights, starting to feel very nervous.....
Daaraa...a bloody net fisherman in a tiny ten foot boat, with strobe lights on his net, every 20 or so meters.....
What he was doing so far away from land, on his own, I'll never know.
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Worked though ;)
Long liners sometimes do the same on their 5 mile long lines.
 
NormanS said:
Rule 30. (b) A vessel of less than 50 metres in length may exibit an all-round white light where it can best be seen I would think that most on here are less than 50 metres.
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I often think that if anchored in a sheltered bay, where one might expect to be wind rode and therefore presenting one's a r s e to the entrance, that a light hanging from the end of the boom might be the best option.
 
Steve C Cronin said:
I often think that if anchored in a sheltered bay, where one might expect to be wind rode and therefore presenting one's a r s e to the entrance, that a light hanging from the end of the boom might be the best option.
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Funny you should say that, my LED anchor light hangs on the end of the boom.
 
We have our all round white anchor light hoisted up with the main halyard (mostly) otherwise with the spin halyard at a decent height above the waterline so it easy to see for any approaching boat.
Too many boats anchored here in Sweden show no light at all, horrible for those of us arriving after dark..
 
Spotted a French boat recently in ria de Arousa with 2 slow flashing red/green lights. They had slightly different frequencies and so had red/red, red/green, green/red and green/green. I hadn't seen that before, perhaps it's a French trend (post #9 mentioned similar thing).

I woke up last night to see a reddish glow in the cabin. Got up to see if it was some odd coloured nav. light. Nope, forest fire on hills just behind the shore and not another variety of anchor light in ria de Muros. Still going strong in the morning and looked pretty close to some houses. Fortunately, 2 planes arrived and repeatedly skimmed the ria to pick up water before dropping it on the fire.
 
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