RE: [Paddlewise] Kayaks and Visibility

Peter & Craig

 

I also paddle along a coast with lots of bright, white house lights
on-shore. I soon realised that the white all-round light I then used was
largely invisible against this background of 'light pollution'. Not all
fishermen drink too much beer before zooming back to the ramp in the
evening, but there are a few...

 

I wanted something that stood out, but I wanted to avoid becoming 'part of
the problem' - which I felt I might do by using a red, green, yellow or
strobe light, all of which are meaningful in a maritime context and could
cause someone else to come to grief. 

 

So I hunted for a light that was not yet spoken for. The one I have built,
used and found to be very effective over the 5 years I've deployed it - is a
blue light. Not a flashing blue - that is reserved for our police vessels.
The non-flashing blue is not reserved for any other task in NZ law or in our
local bylaws. In the Int.ColRegs, non-flashing blues are reserved for UN
food vessels, but luckily we don't have any.

 

If small & slow vessels (targets, speed-bumps - call them what you will) are
seriously endangered by faster vessels that don't see them, then there is a
very easy solution to that. Given the challenge to make such vessels (power,
sail & human-powered - maybe restricted to less than 7 knots) standout in
light-cluttered environments, cheaply, easily and certainly - the solution
isn't particularly hard. Something multi-coloured and rapidly flashing.

 

As LED technology and clever light-control circuitry gets cheaper & more
easily programmed, the world of maritime lighting could standardise on a
small-vessel signal consisting of a number of colours alternating rapidly -
something that cannot be confused with a strobe red or green - or anything
else. The technology is nearly here (well it is here, but still a bit
expensive for one-offs) but I see no sign of any Maritime Safety authorities
wanting to get their technology advanced beyond the oil-lantern stage.

 

Best Regards

Paul
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