G'Day Paul and Craig, Thanks for this discussion and Paul for the lighting analysis and potential solution, something to think about. Back to ColRegs: - If there's no room for interpretation by a local maritime authority then ColRegs seems to be imposing two unsafe alternatives on kayakers. Either run the risk of night blindness in a group because of multiple lights capable of being seen at 2 to 3 miles. Or use a torch or lantern and trust that in choppy water in the dark, it can be found and switched on in time to avoid a collision with a fast moving sail or powerboat. I use two lights fore and aft because that way I get 360 degree illumination while retaining an ability to roll. As mentioned previously, these are relatively low luminance torches to avoid night blindness in myself and my paddling buddies. This complies perfectly with our club regulations, those of NSW Maritime and with ColRegs because of rules 1 and 2. Thank heavens that NSW Maritime and our local insurance company allows this. Fortunately it's also very clear that the ColRegs allows the use of local judgement and doesn't intend to encourage unsafe practise. Reference Rules 1 and 2 of ColRegs "Application" and "Responsibility" copied below:- Rule 1 Application (a) These Rules shall apply to all vessels upon the high seas and in all waters connected therewith navigable by seagoing vessels. (b) Nothing in these Rules shall interfere in the operation of special rules made by an appropriate authority for roadsteads, harbors, rivers, lakes or inland waterways connected with the high seas and navigable by seagoing vessels. Such special rules shall conform as closely as possible to these Rules. (c) Nothing in these Rules shall interfere with the operation of any special rules made by the Government of any State with respect to additional station or signal lights or shapes or whistle signals for ships of war and vessels proceeding under convoy, or with respect to additional station or signal lights for fishing vessels fishing as a fleet. These additional station or signal lights or whistle signals shall, so far as possible, be such that they cannot be mistaken for any light, shape, or signal authorized elsewhere under these Rules. (d) Traffic separation schemes may be adopted by the Organization for the purpose of these Rules. (e) Whenever the Government concerned shall have determined that a vessel of special construction or purpose cannot comply fully with the provisions of any of these Rules with respect to number, position, range or arc of visibility of lights or shapes, as well as to the disposition and characteristics of sound-signaling appliances, such vessel shall comply with such other provisions in regard to number, position, range or arc of visibility of lights or shapes, as well as to the disposition and characteristics of sound-signaling appliances, as her Government shall have determined to be the closest possible compliance with these Rules in respect to that vessel. Rule 2 Responsibility (a) Nothing in these Rules shall exonerate any vessel, or the owner, master, or crew thereof, from the consequences of any neglect to comply with these Rules or of the neglect of any precaution which may be required by the ordinary practice of seamen, or by the special circumstances of the case. (b) In construing and complying with these Rules due regard shall be had to all dangers of navigation and collision and to any special circumstances, including the limitations of the vessels involved, which may make a departure from these Rules necessary to avoid immediate danger. All the best, PeterO *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
[Please remove all old content that is not pertinent to your reply including old headers and footers. It's list policy.... this post was modified to meet policy] Peter Thanks for the insight on the situation in NSW. As I understand it, the NSW (State) Government has put out a 'Code of Conduct' for rowers & paddlers which, although un-enforced, explicitly claims to be a standard for 'good seamanship'. Having stated this officially, there is little doubt that any civil or coroner's court would frown an anyone not meeting this C-of-C's standards. That is an interesting approach - and one I've not encountered before. In this area, regulators usually set themselves up to issue deterrents of the 'speeding ticket' type - of an immediate & painful nature - rather than simply wait for a court to chastise the survivors ;-) Do most night-time paddlers comply ? Do your 'relatively low-luminance' lights meet the 0,54 nm (1 km) requirements ? Do you find them effective at keeping other boats at bay ? Best Regards Paul *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
On Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 2:03 AM, Paul Hayward <pdh_at_mmcl.co.nz> wrote: > > Do most night-time paddlers comply ? > Do your 'relatively low-luminance' lights meet the 0,54 nm (1 km) > requirements ? > Do you find them effective at keeping other boats at bay ? > > The answer to these would be interesting. I'd also like to know how these lights affect their vision at night (and the vision of anyone paddling near them). But I cannot see how any steady light mounted anywhere on a kayak could help but interfere with night vision. Your blue light is great for being seen but terrible for your night vision, by the way. There is a reason we have red lights on the bridge at night. I have a lot of problems with these disparate local regulations. One problem is that it makes it more difficult to know what rules to follow. Another problem is that they are seldom written by people who have any experience in the field they are attempting to regulate. But my major problem is that it seems that local jurisdictions are finding it easier to target kayakers than to target powerboaters. Imagine the uproar if a municipality decided to require all pedestrians to wear special vests during the day and lights at night because that made them more visible to drivers. Requiring a kayak to have TWO white lights seems to me to be targeting the potential victims because targeting the potential perpetrators is too great a task. And it's easy because to the average citizen (and even, apparently, to some kayakers) it's just common sense to make a kayak have lights; and the more the better. But there are already rules requiring mariners to operate their vessels at safe speeds and in a safe manner. Why not just enforce these? Politicians certainly love paper solutions. They can point to their "solution" and proudly claim that they did something to stop the problem of kayakers being run over by powerboats. Then they can use that to get re-elected. The average person already thinks kayakers are crazy people too stupid to know how to be safe so we make easy targets. This is why I prefer to have one set of rules (the ColRegs) applicable everywhere. It eliminates the knee-jerk reaction of passing a rule after a local accident. Once you have international regulations you can then use education - and the enforcement of existing rules - to begin to solve the problems. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA www.nwpaddling.net *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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