Ref" lights and lghting
I grew up on a 26’ wooden sailboat, where we hung a kerosene (Fresnel lenses) in the fore triangle, clipped to the forestay and hoisted by the jib halyard.
When in crowed anchorages in my sailboats (62' and 46’) LOA, I would have the masthead light on, but also put one of the Davis megaliths in the fore triangle and also off the back stay or mizen boom. It seems that many folks cannot see the masthead light when at close quarters.
When sailing offshore and close to other shipping, we would sign a spotlight on the sail and spreader lights on if necessary to show our position. I never have been a fan of the tricolor light at the masthead. Instead we had very bright running lights on the bow pulpits and the aft white lite well up so it could be seen. I was not adverse to running a bright masthead light when sailing—even when not under power—because that could be seen by merchant ships, when the running lights were not. Always VHF radio contact. (Except in those cases when no one appeared to be on the bridge — or asleep on Watch!! ). Our experience 90% of Commercial shipping answered our VHF calls.
Bob, et al,
I disagree with you about tricolors. Small boats disappear in troughs and
get missed. Running a steaming light under sail is both misleading and
inadequate as it is blocked at least 1/3 the way around (plus headsail).
Altitude is your friend.
sail fast and eat well, dave
Dave Skolnick S/V Auspicious
AuspiciousWorks.com
On Thu, Jul 1, 2021 at 6:49 PM Bob Austin thataway4@cox.net wrote:
I grew up on a 26’ wooden sailboat, where we hung a kerosene (Fresnel
lenses) in the fore triangle, clipped to the forestay and hoisted by the
jib halyard.
When in crowed anchorages in my sailboats (62' and 46’) LOA, I would have
the masthead light on, but also put one of the Davis megaliths in the fore
triangle and also off the back stay or mizen boom. It seems that many
folks cannot see the masthead light when at close quarters.
When sailing offshore and close to other shipping, we would sign a
spotlight on the sail and spreader lights on if necessary to show our
position. I never have been a fan of the tricolor light at the masthead.
Instead we had very bright running lights on the bow pulpits and the aft
white lite well up so it could be seen. I was not adverse to running a
bright masthead light when sailing—even when not under power—because that
could be seen by merchant ships, when the running lights were not. Always
VHF radio contact. (Except in those cases when no one appeared to be on
the bridge — or asleep on Watch!! ). Our experience 90% of Commercial
shipping answered our VHF calls.
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Dave's point with r/g/w nav. lights vs. tricolor lights brings up an issue
that falls into the 'just because you can, doesn't mean you should'
category. Some Rules, rules-of-thumb or other ideas might be well suited
for off-shore or coastal cruising, but not for inland waterway cruising,
and vice versa. Thought needs to go into not just whether it is legal, but
whether it is the best choice for the circumstances.
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*BRINEY BUG-a 34' Sail-Assisted Trawler *
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Annapolis MD
I have given a longer answer to Dave personally. The reality is a vessel needs to be seen at sea. I have provided him with instances where I had both observed (not seen until the last minute) a tricolor light in rough conditions by 3 vessels with multiple watch standers, and on my own smaller (38’) vessel where my Tri Color was not seen by Navy ships, and commercial shipping.
I did not mention a steaming light—. I mentioned this only for offshore sailing. A dim red or green light is easy to miss.
I base this in my 70 years of sailing and over 200,000 miles offshore, plus following over 300 cruising boats which I had made medical kits for. Several of these vessels had been run down. I have lost friends due to being run down. I had to take evasive maneuvers over a dozen times. Today is easier with AIS. I always assume that the other vessel does not see me.
The Tricolor is often used to minimize power consumption on sailing boats on long passages. It also gets away from reflections off sails or parts of the vessel from lower running lamps. It is a topic which is widely debated in the offshore sailing world.
There is another option—which is Rule 25 C. All around: Red over Green Masthead, with standard under sail running lights.
On Jul 2, 2021, at 8:28 AM, Dave Skolnick dave@auspiciousworks.com wrote:
Bob, et al,
I disagree with you about tricolors. Small boats disappear in troughs and get missed. Running a steaming light under sail is both misleading and inadequate as it is blocked at least 1/3 the way around (plus headsail). Altitude is your friend.
sail fast and eat well, dave
Dave Skolnick S/V Auspicious
AuspiciousWorks.com
On Thu, Jul 1, 2021 at 6:49 PM Bob Austin <thataway4@cox.net mailto:thataway4@cox.net> wrote:
I grew up on a 26’ wooden sailboat, where we hung a kerosene (Fresnel lenses) in the fore triangle, clipped to the forestay and hoisted by the jib halyard.
When in crowed anchorages in my sailboats (62' and 46’) LOA, I would have the masthead light on, but also put one of the Davis megaliths in the fore triangle and also off the back stay or mizen boom. It seems that many folks cannot see the masthead light when at close quarters.
When sailing offshore and close to other shipping, we would sign a spotlight on the sail and spreader lights on if necessary to show our position. I never have been a fan of the tricolor light at the masthead. Instead we had very bright running lights on the bow pulpits and the aft white lite well up so it could be seen. I was not adverse to running a bright masthead light when sailing—even when not under power—because that could be seen by merchant ships, when the running lights were not. Always VHF radio contact. (Except in those cases when no one appeared to be on the bridge — or asleep on Watch!! ). Our experience 90% of Commercial shipping answered our VHF calls.
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I have given a longer answer to Dave personally. The reality is a vessel needs to be seen at sea. I have provided him with several instances where I had both observed (not seen until the last minute) a tricolor light in rough conditions by 3 vessels with multiple watch standers, and on my own smaller (38’) vessel where my Tri Color was not seen by Navy ships, and commercial shipping.
I did not mention a steaming light—. I mentioned this only for offshore sailing. A dim red or green light is easy to miss.
I base this in my 70 years of sailing and over 200,000 miles offshore, plus following over 300 cruising boats which I had made medical kits for. Several of these vessels had been run down. I have lost friends due to being run down. I had to take evasive maneuvers over a dozen times.
On Jul 2, 2021, at 8:28 AM, Dave Skolnick <dave@auspiciousworks.com mailto:dave@auspiciousworks.com> wrote:
Bob, et al,
I disagree with you about tricolors. Small boats disappear in troughs and get missed. Running a steaming light under sail is both misleading and inadequate as it is blocked at least 1/3 the way around (plus headsail). Altitude is your friend.
sail fast and eat well, dave
Dave Skolnick S/V Auspicious
AuspiciousWorks.com http://auspiciousworks.com/
On Thu, Jul 1, 2021 at 6:49 PM Bob Austin <thataway4@cox.net mailto:thataway4@cox.net> wrote:
I grew up on a 26’ wooden sailboat, where we hung a kerosene (Fresnel lenses) in the fore triangle, clipped to the forestay and hoisted by the jib halyard.
When in crowed anchorages in my sailboats (62' and 46’) LOA, I would have the masthead light on, but also put one of the Davis megaliths in the fore triangle and also off the back stay or mizen boom. It seems that many folks cannot see the masthead light when at close quarters.
When sailing offshore and close to other shipping, we would sign a spotlight on the sail and spreader lights on if necessary to show our position. I never have been a fan of the tricolor light at the masthead. Instead we had very bright running lights on the bow pulpits and the aft white lite well up so it could be seen. I was not adverse to running a bright masthead light when sailing—even when not under power—because that could be seen by merchant ships, when the running lights were not. Always VHF radio contact. (Except in those cases when no one appeared to be on the bridge — or asleep on Watch!! ). Our experience 90% of Commercial shipping answered our VHF calls.
To access the T&T List archives, go to https://lists.trawlering.com/empathy/list/trawlers.lists.trawlering.com https://lists.trawlering.com/empathy/list/trawlers.lists.trawlering.com
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Hi Bob,
I did not get your longer answer. I look forward to it.
I have long standing relationships with staff at CNO. Unfortunately ship
handlers don't get the career options they should in my opinion. The chain
of command between the bridge and comms has too many links. Unfortunately I
don't think US Navy bridges are exemplary of seamanship. The Seventh Fleet
mishaps over the last few years are indicative of that. sigh The Navy is
working on it. The Brits do a better job. The Germans in my experience have
been great.
For entertainment, I offer the following:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x91iciAYcw0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR0lWICH3rY
Obviously not real, but worthy of consideration: you won't ever get someone
on the bridge of a US Navy warship on the radio, certainly not the captain;
you'll be talking to some enlisted kid buried in the CIC. Probably hasn't
seen daylight in a week. Even so - the number of people involved in moving
information on a warship is MUCH bigger than shown in the comedy video.
Everything takes a long time. The Navy is working on that.
Language is an issue. Don't yell. Speak across the mic. Speak slowly and
clearly (loud is not clear). Use international phonetics, not cutesy made
up words. My wife learned the international phonetics in a week.
Bob: someone else mentioned running the steaming light even under sail.
That was what I was addressing.
A tricolor is no more dim than a deck level light. At 50 to 80 feet above
sea level on a small boat it is more visible than a deck-level light.
I don't have your time and distance. 40 years and a bit, and something over
100,000 miles offshore. Military (never in command), commercial, and
recreational.
sail fast and eat well, dave
Dave Skolnick S/V Auspicious
AuspiciousWorks.com