How good are your boat running lights?

Under law, the liability is for the skipper/owner to have lights that meet legal visibility requirements. It can be vital at night, for the safety of you, your crew and boat to be seen early and at maximum distance. To be seen, not only calls attention to your position but just as important your direction of travel and whether you are under sail or power.

How good are your boat's lights? Do a simple test, at night in the marina or harbor, switch the running lights on and walk away from the slip or dinghy away from the mooring. Can they be seen at a distance, particularly against bright shore lights?

Take the white stern light, does it point dead astern unobstructed, or to one side, to the stars, to the water? It can only safeguard you if it can be seen over the entire 135 degree stern sector at 2 nautical miles, the legal minimum.

Suppose it can only be seen for 1/2 a mile, and you are underway at say 8 knots at night with a large commercial ship coming up astern at his sea-speed of 15 knots, and his sea-speed is not a maneuvering speed. This ship is only four minutes away from coming on board your boat. If you think four minutes is a long time, you are ignoring reality. Your light/s have to be 'seen', 'identified' and 'reacted' too.

Most large ships today are diesel powered with no clutch. To put the engine astern, it must first be stopped, the cam shaft shifted and the engine re-started to turn the other way. Re-starting is done with a blast of compressed air but it is not only the weight/inertia of the engine to be overcome, there is also the force of water against the propeller.

For the Captain, there is no more terrifying sound than standing on his bridge, desperately needing a start, to hear nothing but blast after blast of compressed air.

But to return to your sternlight, is its light 'unobstructered' and does it 'cut-off' at 22.5 degrees abaft the beam?

A hand bearing compass helps here. As the stern light 'cuts-off' the colored sidelight should 'cut-in', green on starboard side, red on port side. If there is a sector of no light being seen (white stern 135 degrees + green side light 112.5 degrees + 112.5 degrees red side light = 360 degrees), you have a problem that (at night) you cannot be seen from another vessel from that angle

If you can see both stern and side lights shining brightly at the same time, you are also at risk. Another boat won't know whether they have an 'overtaking' (where they must keep clear) or a crossing situation in which you may be the yielding boat.

With powerboats or sailboat under power, the 225 degree masthead (steaming) light should match the red and green side lights in cut-off.

With a powerboat or sailboat under engine of less than 12 meters (39.4 ft), the white stern and white masthead light may be combined in an all-round white light. This white 360 degree light has to be at least 3.3 ft above the sidelights. The reason for requiring this vertical displacement is for the white light to be clearly seen at a distance of at least of 2 n.m. - without this 3.3ft vertical displacement the masthead white light will at a distance merge with the port or starboard colored sidelight's and neither may be recognized as nav light's on a boat.

As vessels get larger they are required to have running lights visible for longer distances, a commercial ship (depending on size) may have a 5 n.m. or even a 6 n.m. masthead [steaming light] this in turn requires much greater vertical displacement to avoid the masthead white light merging with the colored port & starboard side lights.

Now check your sidelights from dead ahead. Can you see both red and green? Within 1-3 degrees you should see only one. If you continue to see either the red over the starboard bow or the green over the port bow, you are a hazard. How can others know your heading? Remember the jingle 'when two lights you see ahead, turn your helm and show your red'. You will continue to show red and green as if you hadn't altered course.

It is vital to be seen early and at a distance, not only to call attention to your position but equally important to your direction of travel.

If you have what is often termed in the trade 'Christmas tree lights' 'sparkling but functionally useless', don't be out at night, as even the best professionals on a vessels bridge can do little to save you from your folly. Under law, the liability is for the owner/skipper to have lights that meet legal visibility requirements........