Re: [Paddlewise] How to ruin a perfectly good paddling day...

> Well, of course one needs to be diligent and alert and not assume the other
> person is. Some of the issues you raise might be valid for navigation
> purposes, but my post referred to the legalities of navigation signals (they
> aren't all lights, you know) and liability issues after an incident. If the
> opposing team can show that your vessel, regardless of intent, displayed the
> wrong signals, they can move at least some of the liability to you.
> 
> Regardless of what you think are ambiguities in the rules, nothing is going
> to make an all-around white light legal on a moving kayak powered by oars.
> Even if you include red/green bow lights.
> 
> And remember that a vessel overtaking another vessel has an obligation to
> keep clear (is "burdened" in Rules-of-the-Road-speak) of the vessel being
> overtaken. If the overtaking vessel is going too fast to determine the
> status of any "white light" they see, then they are obliged to slow down or
> stop to determine the safe course before proceeding.
> 
> Craig Jungers
> Royal City, WA

As with many of the discussions on Paddlewise, I'm finding this one 
to be quite interesting.

As someone who paddles rarely at night, and then generally in quiet 
backwaters, I've not really paid much attention to night lighting. 
I've tried a headlamp, but they blind other paddlers when you turn to 
say something to them. I own one of the white light on a suction cup 
with a 6 or 8 inch "tower" that I've used on my back deck (too much 
light for me to have a hope of seeing anything outside of the small 
circle of illumination when it's in front of me), but that only works 
well when all the other paddlers are in front of me so they don't get 
blinded by it.

I've tried a flashlight, but I've not yet found one that I can put on 
a leash and tuck under the deck rigging in front of me in any 
convenient manner yet. (Although my search has been _far_ from 
serious, since, as I said, I don;t really do much night paddling 
anyway.)

I once read that kayaks ride too low for "normal" red/green running 
lights to be of much use. If they are seen, the other boats assume 
that they have spotted a power boat a long way distant, rather than a 
low kayak up close. The implied suggestion (as I understood it) was 
that it might be more dangerous to have the red/green running lights 
than not.

In any case, thanks for the discussion. Although I remain convinced --
 from personal observation -- that many of the powerboat and PWC 
operators know less about the "rules" than I do, it's good to have 
discussions like this bring the applicable rules and regs to our 
attention.

-- 
  Darryl
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