Bright Green Lights at San Diego Harbor

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rfrye1

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Jun 15, 2004
589
Hunter H376 San Diego
A few nites ago I was leaving SD harbor about 4am headed for Catalina Is. I was about at buoy #7-5 looking back toward SD and there was this very bright 3 green lites shaped in an inverted "L" flashing in a sequence. I watched intently in the darkness thinking something was approaching really fast. But no it just stayed at the mouth of the harbor as much as I could tell. As if it was signaling someone? Really strange. As you know, the ocean is really black at nite. No other boats. Ther was a big freighter way out coming in, but he was at least an hour out.
Does anyone know what the green lites were? I have never seen them before. Maybe signaling aliens?

Bob
 
Ross

Ross

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Jun 15, 2004
14,693
Islander/Wayfairer 30 sail number 25 Perryville,Md.
Roadway traffic signals?
 
S

StinkBug

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Dec 26, 2012
359
MacGregor 25 San Diego
if they are the ones I'm thinking of they are marking the channel. I only remember there being 2 though.

They are on towers on Shelter Island, one above and behind the other. When they align one above the other you are in the center of the channel.

EDIT: Just did a little searching. They are called Entrance Range Lights. One is on a piling tower in the water just off the tip of Shelter Island, the other is on a tower on the island next to the Harbor patrol office. There are also similar lights in Glorietta bay over on Coronado mounted near the launch ramp.

Funny that the most pertinent info I found was actually a warning that one had been damaged :doh:

http://www.uscgnews.com/go/doc/830/995779/
 
Chris Patterson

Chris Patterson

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Oct 17, 2011
2,809
Ericson 29 Southport..
Range lights warm my heart in the middle of the night. Incredibly valuable nighttime navigation tool in unfamiliar channels. Range lights are prominently marked on the charts so that you can get lined up with them before you actually see them proper. My secret is to always steer toward the bottom light. If it starts getting out of line with the upper light, go in the direction of the lower and it'll line right back up.
The best one I've seen is the Charleston Maritime Center, where the lower range light is on top of the marina office. Hard to miss that one..
 
R

rfrye1

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Jun 15, 2004
589
Hunter H376 San Diego
Yes they were Range Lights. When I returned from Catalina last Monday after reading your replies, I purposely went toward the red/white channel marker indicator "signs" at the far end of the channel and there were the green lights I saw on top of the markers. It's funny that I have never noticed those lights before. They were SO bright at 3am as I was at abt buoy #7 heading out into the black abyss. The the marine layer I didn't have much depth perception, so I really couldn't tell if those lights were 1 mile or 1/2 mile away. I laughed at my buddy and said I hope it's not a UFO!
 
tkanzler

tkanzler

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Sep 5, 2007
689
MacGregor 26X Rochester
rfrye1 said:
Yes they were Range Lights. When I returned from Catalina last Monday after reading your replies, I purposely went toward the red/white channel marker indicator "signs" at the far end of the channel and there were the green lights I saw on top of the markers.
Click to expand
Technically, they're called Range Dayboards. They may or may not have lights, but AFAIK, if there are lights for this purpose, they're on top of range dayboards. The boards will have some sort of colored stripes, though the colors don't mean anything other than to contrast with the background, and both dayboards of a pair will have the same pattern, as some places can have more than one set for following a channel that takes a bend. Lights will also be the same color within a pair, but different pairs in close proximity will likely have different colors, for obvious reasons.

There's a small yacht club near me with a shallow, narrow channel you have to navigate to avoid grounding, even when the Lake is high. There are two sets of range dayboards to lead you in, and you don't have to be very far off to get stuck. It's ten times harder to get in when it's dark, at least if you haven't done it before. They're not on the charts, but they're on the 'how to get here' page of their web site. Marvelous things, those dayboards. :D
 
S

StinkBug

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Dec 26, 2012
359
MacGregor 25 San Diego
interesting. Never heard them called that. In the USCG memo about the ones in SD getting damaged they were simply referred to as range lights with no mention of dayboards, though you are correct, the lights are above painted signs.
 
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