COLREG Survey - Familiarity with sailboat day signals

[kent_island_sailor]

I’ll chime in on that. I hate the stupid regs that say one or the other. I hate tricolors for the exact reason that you can’t sort out what you’re dealing with on a foggy night. I also hate deck lights because A-Syms block them. Most of all, I hate that it’s against the rules to use both which would just solve the damned problem.

No, you get red over red "not under command" or green over green that is a dredge or minesweeper or something.
If you want legal lights, use your deck lights and then red over green at the masthead. I never use my tricolor except in open ocean, I discovered that the local powerboaters NEVER look up.
Speaking of, I would love a source of red over green lights.

 

[Monkey]

No, you get red over red "not under command" or green over green that is a dredge or minesweeper or something.
If you want legal lights, use your deck lights and then red over green at the masthead. I never use my tricolor except in open ocean, I discovered that the local powerboaters NEVER look up.
Speaking of, I would love a source of red over green lights.

It’s just stupid rules that need to be fixed. I like the boats who break the rules and run both. It’s pretty easy to figure out the size of the boat when you can see masthead and stern lights.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

No idea if it's true but there's a story of a powerboat hitting an anchored sailboat and claiming, "I didn't see a dayshape and thought I had the right of way". It ends with the sailboat paying for the damage to the powerboat.
Allegedly this happened in Ganges.

 

[minime88]

I think I saw a lot of boats in QLD using one. Maybe local enforcement?

Never seen it in my admittedly limited experience.

 

[El Borracho]

Super yacht captains I have sailed with were adamant about the use of the anchor ball. Especially in countries with extortion-based economies. Likewise, I on my modest yacht, always showed the ball when anchored in SE Asia and Oceana.

 

[The Q]

In our tidal waters in which I sail, the law states IRPCAS does NOT apply.
Though our laws are similar, hoisted shapes are not required or even mentioned. Fog horns and certain lights are. You are not allowed to anchor in the navigable channel except in an emergency .

 

[10thTonner]

My boat is 9,96 meters long, so I can get away with an all-putpose 360 degree white light on the masthead.

I think I am the only sailboat around here who displays an anchor ball, but I like to anchor quite close to the ferry routes sometimes. I have one of these lightweight inflatable black beach balls… The RC boats of ours and the other clubs use theirs all the time.

 

[Sail4beer]

This is probably true

In the US you don’t need any qualification , license to operate a boat… only the ignition keys

Many gold chain wearing guys around here with a new credit card mobo looking for info on what gear to get to fish 75 miles offshore at the Hudson Canyon. I tell them life insurance. They are often puzzled by that, but it matters to their family.

 

[slug zitski]

When you submit to a licensing procedure..In any country …it’s assumed that you already know all the rules
since you know the rules virtually all classroom work is about case studies, accident reports

you then learn the consequences of not obeying the rules

 

[Foredeck Shuffle]

I think I saw a lot of boats in QLD using one. Maybe local enforcement?

You drive in the fast lane at the speed limit don't you?

I drive a Honda or a Ford supercrew pickup towing boat(s), so I'm usually in the right lane. But when I do drive in the left lane I'm in ticket land. I'm a reluctant fan of the Honda because it holds two people, camping gear, sailing gear, food, beer, for a weekend, and can tow two Laser's, one inverted on the other, and do 85mph on I-95 and still get 37-38mpg doing it. And I'm in the right lane if the road is clear.

I've honestly only ever motor sailed once. Delivering a Mumm30 back from Block Island it was blowing in our face the entire way back to Stamford and slamming a Mumm that long doesn't seem prudent. So I put up the orange delivery jib (remember those damn pbo sails?) to keep the boat on its lines. No day marker. The boat only had the appropriate safety gear because I borrowed it for the delivery.

I'd rather sail if at all possible and if that's not going to work out, put the sail away and crank up the motor. I know about the marks and may have to purchase an anchor mark.

 

[Zonker]

"Speaking of, I would love a source of red over green lights"

You buy an all round red and green. Then you mount one in a little platform above the other with thin legs that do not obstruct the lower one too much.

 

[blurocketsmate]

We actually had, and sometimes used, a black cone for motorsailing. I remember hastily finding and hoisting it a couple of times, when approaching an area where we thought somebody might care. Ganges might have been one.

 

[El Borracho]

"Speaking of, I would love a source of red over green lights"

You buy an all round red and green. Then you mount one in a little platform above the other with thin legs that do not obstruct the lower one too much.

Without looking it up….I recall the problem with red over green on small yachts is that they must be separated vertically by an inconvenient distance: One meter? Half-meter?

 

[slug zitski]

Without looking it up….I recall the problem with red over green on small yachts is that they must be separated vertically by an inconvenient distance: One meter? Half-meter?

I’ve been sailing with red over green for most of my life

Superior visibility for other vessels and when the lights are illuminated they put a glow on the headsail allowing the helmsman to judge trim

 

[CapDave]

I have cone and ball dayshapes onboard, haven't used either one yet between Newfoundland and Grenada. You do see the megayachts use their anchor ball in the Caribbean. My boat had a masthead tricolor and deck level running lights wired together when I bought it. I haven't fixed it.

 

[FlyingCircus2]

I thought a cone means you're a top and a ball means you a bottom.

Then there's that x flag that says you aren't picky, you just need a tug.

 

[Rantifarian]

They do want you to use an anchor ball in Australia. When our southern neighbors see this thread they'll say "Of course you must use an anchor ball"

I don't see anchor balls here in tropical Qld outside commercial boats. I do see a few cones, but usually at deck level as part of a Gatorade saxophone.

Bigger risks around here are solo spear fisherman without a dive flag showing, and the lunatics in trawlers running without lights at all.

I came across a 7m powerboat spot locked with their electric motor one day, with skipper downstairs having a sleep. He sat there for the hour we were in the area, who knows how long he slept. What shapes should he show?

 

[charisma94]

I thought a cone means you're a top and a ball means you a bottom.

Then there's that x flag that says you aren't picky, you just need a tug.

Ahem. It's the Z flag you're referring to.

 

[Go Left]

I’ve been sailing with red over green for most of my life

Superior visibility for other vessels and when the lights are illuminated they put a glow on the headsail allowing the helmsman to judge trim

View attachment 557325

How many times have you hooked the leach of your headsail on that mess on your mast? Or a spinnaker?

At least with roller furling you don't have any battens to hang up the, as well.

All to turn on some lights that no one knows what they mean and that can't be seen to leeward or astern.

And driver's and trimmer's night vision improves without extraneous lighting.

 

[slug zitski]

How many times have you hooked the leach of your headsail on that mess on your mast? Or a spinnaker?

At least with roller furling you don't have any battens to hang up the, as well.

All to turn on some lights that no one knows what they mean and that can't be seen to leeward or astern.

And driver's and trimmer's night vision improves without extraneous lighting.

Never ..repeat never

…..that boat has a couple hundred thousand miles with more tacks than you have done in your lifetime

and your lack of knowledge is why licensing in needed