Ohhh Glad you responded from the commercial guys point of view. If I may add. Ships ARE deceptively fast and quiet. I personally have run a 28 knot 900 foot container ship. Thats faster than a lot of Boston Whalers. If you think you can get out of the way easily, think twice, a ship is 60 to 100 feet wide. Depending upon the ship, the view is obstructed to about 400 yards. You simply cannot be seen. Take a look at the towing rules and lights. Every summer someone tries to pass between a tugboat and the barge it is towing. Usually they get hung up on the 3 inch cable and smushed by the barge. Actually there was one case here where the guy running the smushed boat lived, his wife died, and he was charged with murder. There was cause to believe he knew exactly where the barge was and maneuvered in between the barge and tug then jumped over. Is that a scene from a Columbo episode or what? If the tug has 3 vertical white lights on the masthead, start looking for a barge behind. Good point on sticking with the letter of the rules of the road. Dont create your own rules. Thats why we have traffic lights; red lite means stop and green means go. Imagine if one town decided differently! The rules specifically say to shine a light so as not "to embarrass" another vessel. Thats politospeak for "dont shine your flashlight into someone elses eyes" (hey, youll ruin the night vision). I go out at night a lot but I can't seem to relax when I can hear an engine running. Lately I have been sticking really close to shore. It makes for some new exploring.
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Jonathan wrote; >I was shaking my head at this train of thought, and finally decided that >this looked like a good place to jump in. I was shaking my head too. Let me put on my commercial waterman's hat for a moment. If I see a strobe or flashing light where it shouldn't be I might treat it as an emergency signal, haul my nets or abandon them and come to your rescue. If it is a kayaker out for a pleasant evening paddle I may be mildly upset. I certainly won't be too concerned about counting the flashes. "HMMM that was only forty flashes per minute. Guess its just a kayaker or a kid playing with matches." I believe the international rules say that boats under oar or paddle can use either the flashlight/lantern or the sailboat lights. For kayaks a tri color mounted on a post extending over your head might be good for continuous lighting. Not sure if anyone makes one suitable for kayaks but the Aqua Signal portable lights could be rigged to work. I agree with Jonathon about mistaken identity but that may not be a bad thing (being confused with a sail boat under sail since they are not easily manoeuvrable nor can they easily get out of the way). Sailboats and kayaks have a lot in common. Mind, I am speaking from memory on the regs so maybe the international rules I remember are no longer valid. Correct me if I am wrong. Meanwhile I will check myself. As for paddling at night where there is power boat traffic you might want to consider paddling in groups. Boats so low as kayaks are often obscured by waves and a bunch of lights are much better than one. >On the other hand, NEVER nevernever............ point a high powered light >like a searchlight at the bridge of anything except in the last seconds, as >after that, they wont be able to see you or anything else and can't tell >which way to turn. AMEN. If you really want to piss off a fisherman hauling his nets shine your powerful hand held searchlight in his face to see what he is doing. >I also feel compelled to point out that your best defence is to find them >first, and remember that a rather large fast commercial boat can be really >dark and amazingly quiet, if you just heard the wake then it's way to late. Once again, AMEN. Simply put, kayakers rarely have a compelling reason to be in shipping lanes anyway. These are commercial lanes and the people in those ships are earning a living. If you must cross them look both ways and then look again. Then, if you see running lights reconsider. Ships are deceptively fast. I know paddling at night is fun and a unique experience but for the life of me I cannot understand why people who always wear their lifejackets even on a calm day would insist on paddling in or near traffic sea traffic lanes at night when they are at the mercy of people who not only don't expect you to be there but may not be able to do a whole lot to avoid you. My personal advice to night paddlers is to stay out of channels and only paddle at night in those areas not likely to have powerboat traffic. A collision at sea can ruin your night. Cheers, John Winters Redwing Designs Specialists in Human Powered Watercraft http://home.ican.net/~735769/ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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