 | | | Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on Cruisers Forums. | | | | | | 13-06-2010, 12:12 | | | | few if any are fitted with masthead strobe lights. The seem popular with American .
I am planning to take my 9 meter trans Atlantic and if I look at sites such as that for the Singlehanded Trans Pac, I see that strobes lights are mentioned a lot. Do the guys use it to conserve or to make themselves more vissible?
What is the idea behind it, what do you use? Do you turn off your other lights when you turn on the strobe and rather be vissible than ?
Do they come in LED's?
Where do you mount them? What happens to your masthead tricolour?
My understanding has always been that strobes are contrary to COLREGS.
Thanks in advance,
Banjo. | | | | | 13-06-2010, 12:20 | | Boat: Beneteau 393 "Sea Life"
| .
I think the twit thinks its an light.
Everyone coming in thinks its a port marker. (USA read that in reverse)
Damn ding-a-ling.
| | | | | 13-06-2010, 12:39 | | Boat: Jaguar 22 mono called Arfur.
| in the wide oceans are best avoided electronically. or some sender that alerts an will give some protection from where there is a proper watch being kept. Otherwise a flashing white LED at the masthead gives the most effective visual signal but does need to be backed up, even turned off, in favour of the correct navigational for avoidance. If you are not prepared to keep a proper watch yourself than you will need to provide for a with range alert, or AIS system to rouse you when vessels are closer than you want them to be. power day time, or power night time. Perhaps the best option is to sleep in the day and maintain a visual watch at night if you really want to use the cheaper to provide the protection of radar/AIS watch during sunlit hours.
You will also need to be prepared to maintain a watch at fifteen minute intervals for sixteen out of the twenty four hours in friendly seas. It's hard handing safely!
Look at taking a crew man with you. , board and a return air ticket in exchange for free adventure! There'll be some takers if your is sound. Consider also where you rest position will be when on watch. A sheltered (from every direction) and comfy upright seat makes a great difference in wet and windy and should allow for both to be on together in bad or difficult situations. Good to see you thinking ahead. | | | | | 13-06-2010, 13:05 | | Boat: (Cruiser Living On Dirt)
| | 13-06-2010, 15:25 | | Boat: Vancouver 36 cutter????
| lights but know of no flag state that allows them to be used for lights. | | | | | 13-06-2010, 15:28 | | Boat: Jaguar 22 mono called Arfur.
| or the bridge because these modern vessels move so fast. Once the is in charge of our vessel then the LED should go off and the normal tri-mast go on. The point is to attract the attention of the oncoming vessel. Lights on the have a similar effect, and I've expressed before that careful choice of sail colours can help big ships spot us little ones as we meander on our way. | | | | | 13-06-2010, 16:11 | | Boat: Looking and saving for my next...mid-atlantic coast
| situation | | | | | 13-06-2010, 16:18 | | Boat: Research vessel for a university, retired now.
| activated strobe on lifejackets, the strobes on throwable devices, the strobes on an or the strobes on a life rafts.
Using a strobe for non-emergency purposes is an abuse of strobe lights. Its analogous to the Boy Who Cried Wolf.
Would you like to be the one sitting in a life raft at night evaded by a ship because they thought you were another sailboat with a strobe on their ?
Would you like to be on a sailboat at night with a strobe causing a ship to alter course towards you because they think you may be a or a person ?
Those are two really good reasons not to use a strobe unless its an .
If you need to attract attention then light up your sail with a really bright flashlight or turn on a spreader light. That's and safe and will let others know that you are a vessel under sail....unlike a strobe which leaves no positive indication that you are a vessel under sail. | | | | | 13-06-2010, 17:01 | | Boat: Maine Cat 41
| in a crowded anchorage. You might imagine a scenario where someone (SAR, drunken buddy, dinner guests, etc) are trying to find you and you say, "I'm the one with the strobe firing NOW!".
MarkJ, the guy with the red strobe must have spent a former life as a buoy, it's just karma. | | | | | 13-06-2010, 17:07 | | Boat: Research vessel for a university, retired now.
| lights to distinguish yourself. | | | | | 13-06-2010, 23:14 | | Boat: Beneteau 393 "Sea Life"
|
| | | | | 14-06-2010, 00:36 | | Boat: Swan 56
| signal (under Colregs - Annex IV)
So.... what purpose does it serve??
I see a strobe, I think "ahh, net"
MarkJ sees a strobe and thinks "ah, liferaft"
MarkJ heads towards you, I give you a wide berth....do you really want to be second guessing what the other guy will do after you activate your strobe?
I quite like it when other vessels maintain course & speed - a strobe is likely to change all that | | | | | 14-06-2010, 01:23 | | Boat: Boatless
| , which does get seen.
Anyone that uses one in an anchorage is going to be very unpopular..it's like living next to a lighthouse! | | | | | 14-06-2010, 04:21 | | Boat: Beneteau 393 "Sea Life"
| | 14-06-2010, 06:02 | | Boat: Cal 40 (sold). Still have a Hobie 20
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Why a flashing light at the top of the mast?  Distress or low visibility?  As I recall, technically there is no time when it is legal for a sailing vessel to use the flashing strobe. However, some folks like to have the strobe as a signal of last resort -- to make a larger vessel or SAR resources aware of their location when all else fails.  Yeppo. - CD  JRP is correct, there is no legal use for a non-emergency boat to have a strobe. However, they are often used to warn off or signal other boats. The OGM trianchor/strobe is a nice unit. I've had one on my boat for the last two years. The rule on strobes is different for US vs international waters. I think an strobe is okay for international distress. Steve, I'm not an expert on this question, but take a look at Rule 36 and Rule 37. They seem to suggest that exactly the opposite is the case, i.e. the strobe is only permitted as an emergency signal on Inland Waters of the US: Light Signals - Stobes  Just to add to the confusion some kayak fisherman in our area have taken to displaying red or green flashing strobes at night. First time I saw one outside the harbor I thought it prudent to hail him & make sure it WASN'T a distress signal. Having once worked in emergency services in a volunteer capacity (on land), I take an exceedingly dim view of the misuse of flashing lights. I would be registering strenuous complaints with the local marine authorities about that. Jim  I used mine once while leaving Newport at 3AM in near zero visibility. I was shepherding a number of boats that didn't have radar and trying to keep them close but not too close to me. I lighted the strobe so that perhaps they would see me before they hit me. May have been illegal but who else could have seen it and reported me?  Top Contributors this Month  | | | | | |
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