On 7/31/07, John Huntington <jhuntington_at_fastmail.net> wrote: > > > OK, now I'm really confused. Why does every (equipped) power boat I've > ever seen have a white all around light, typically on a pole on their > stern? > > Because it's a power boat and, for a power boat, red/green on the bow PLUS a higher white 225 deg (forward) light PLUS a white 135deg (aft) light at the stern is legal. For a small powerboat the two white lights may be combined into one "all around" light but should also have side lights. Unless you put some sort of mechanical propulsion device on your kayak it will be a vessel "powered by oars". This should not be confusing. The Rules of the Road are designed to not just tell you another vessel is out there; they are designed to tell you what type of vessel it is (sailboat, powerboat) but also how big it is, which way it's going, and what it's doing (fishing, towing, not under command, etc.). We cannot take the lights that are legal for a speedboat and just willy-nilly mount them on our kayak. I agree that 90% of the powerboaters (and, apparently, lots of paddlers) might not recognize the various lights and what they mean. But I can assure you that, in the event of an incident, you will be expected to have understood them. Craig Jungers Royal City, WA *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Jul 31 2007 - 11:28:57 PDT
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