Light

Aug 1, 2011
3,972
Catalina 270 255 Wabamun. Welcome to the marina
It is my understanding that the ColRegs do not require a masthead light on a mooring. This is not, in my opinion, the same scenario as an anchor light.
Any input?
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
COLREGS do not use the terms masthead and anchor light. While at anchor they call for a 360 degree white light. And yes in a mooring field you do not need to show.
 
Last edited:
Mar 1, 2012
2,182
1961 Rhodes Meridian 25 Texas coast
COLREGS do not use the terms masthead and anchor light. While at anchor they call for a 360 degree white light. And yes in a mooring field you do not need to show, while on an actual mooring or at anchor.
IF it's a designated anchorage- if just anchored out, best show it - Particularly in Florida waters
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
IF it's a designated anchorage- if just anchored out, best show it - Particularly in Florida waters
Yep, but even this can be wierd. Here is the huge mooring field just off the Coconut Grove YC in Miami. Note there is no designation on the NOAA chart, but for sure these boats sit with lights off.

C281F28D-57CB-4BE2-91EE-FC0A13DA5355.jpeg
 
Aug 1, 2011
3,972
Catalina 270 255 Wabamun. Welcome to the marina
The question was not about an anchorage, it was specifically targeted at a mooring field, and there’s no real chart, so there’s no real say as to what is and what is not.
What it really amounts to is one individual who seems to think he owns the lake and can dictate, which we all know doesn’t deserve the time of day.
My concern is that IF we were to install some solar night lights, it wouldn’t solve the core issues, tomorrow it would be something else.
 

capta

.
Jun 4, 2009
4,766
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
Why wouldn't someone want to light their boat, whether on a mooring or in an anchorage? I can't think of a single reason I'd be out on the water, underway or not, and not do everything possible I can to insure everybody out there who is moving about, be it in a dinghy, sailboat, power boat or seaplane, can see my boat!
PS. And that doesn't include a number of those silly LED solar garden path lights! Those stupid things are no alternative for a proper anchor type light, wherever one might display it. In addition to, sure, but NOT instead.
 
Last edited:
Jun 11, 2011
1,243
Hunter 41 Lewes
RULE 30
Anchored Vessels and Vessels Aground

(a) A vessel at anchor shall exhibit where it can best be seen:
(i) in the fore part, an all-round white light or one ball; and
(ii) at or near the stern and at a lower level than the light prescribed in subparagraph (i), an all-round white light.
(b) A vessel of less than 50 meters in length may exhibit an all-round white light where it can best be seen instead of the lights prescribed in paragraph (a) of this Rule.
(c) A vessel at anchor may, and a vessel of 100 meters or more in length shall, also use the available working or equivalent lights to illuminate her decks.
Vessel

RULE 30—CONTINUED
(g) A vessel of less than 20 meters in length, when at anchor in a special anchorage area designated by the Secretary, shall not be required to exhibit the anchor lights and shapes required by this Rule.

*Designated is a note on the chart.
 
Aug 13, 2012
533
Catalina 270 Ottawa
please note that what @uncledom posted applies to US inland waters (esp. the part about the designated anchorages and the Secretary). @Meriachee talks about Lake Wabamun in Alberta.
 
Jun 11, 2011
1,243
Hunter 41 Lewes
Very true, it only applies to US controlled waters. But he did ask about ColRegs and the answer is correct according to them. A mast head light on a sailboat is used when the machinery is engaged. That would include motor sailing but not when the vessel is stopped that would be a deck light which is usually part of the mast head light on most modern sail boats.

Lights and Shapes
RULE 21
Definitions

(a) “Masthead light” means a white light placed over the fore and aft centerline of the vessel showing an unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of 225 degrees and so fixed as to show the light from right ahead to 22.5 degrees abaft the beam on either side of the vessel, except that on a vessel of less than 12 meters in length the masthead light shall be placed as nearly as practicable to the fore and aft centerline of the vessel.​
 
Jun 11, 2011
1,243
Hunter 41 Lewes
Meriachee the ColRegs can be downloaded here
https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/navRules/navrules.pdf
and the answer would be two part, unless that mooring field is considered a "special anchorage" and is marked so on a chart you would need to display your anchor light at a bare minimum from sunset to sunrise, and a day shape of one ball. I have yet to see a sailboat with a day shape even though it is technically required when anchoring.
 
Last edited:
Aug 1, 2011
3,972
Catalina 270 255 Wabamun. Welcome to the marina
I am familiar with the documents. I also clearly stated that the lake is not charted and a mooring is not the same as an anchor.
It’s not like there are any marked channels and there are no commercial or legal markers of any kind.
 
Apr 8, 2010
1,942
Ericson Yachts Olson 34 28400 Portland OR
Your 360 degree "anchor light" on your masthead makes you legal. But another similar light hung from the forestay six feet above the deck (or alternatively under the boom) much improves your odds of avoiding a collision with a distracted dinghy driver at midnight.
Actually, it's harder than most neophytes would imagine... to find their own boat... rowing back 'home' after happy hour on a friend's boat....... in the dark.... with little anchor lights twinkling on mastheads all around the anchorage area! :)
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,996
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
to find their own boat... rowing back 'home' after happy hour on a friend's boat....... in the dark
I thought that is why they made those "Lisa" lights. You can hang them in the cockpit and have them on/flash/colors. Or you can try one of the LED light packs.

Bought them for $20 at Costco. They can be stuck any where you please. Then take the remote with you to the party. On your way home flick the switch and you can light up the boat in colors giving you a bright beam welcoming you home.
 
May 7, 2012
1,338
Hunter e33 Maple Bay, BC
a mooring is not the same as an anchor.
Meriachee is this your opinion or do you have a reference? The COLREGS do not seem to make a distinction between anchored and moored. I always thought them to be synonymous.

Here are the International COLREGS with Canadian Modifications:
http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/C.R.C.,_c._1416/page-3.html#h-8

Logical does not always (usually???) equate to legal. I am not sure that this forum can answer your specific question. Logically I would agree that anchored or moored, in your case, would not require an anchor light. But I agree with capta, why not? However, I think that it could only legally be resolved in a court of law. Good luck.
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,996
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
I think that it could only legally be resolved in a court of law.
Whooaa. This is much better than any court of law... We have the court of boaters opinion. Much more fun and the rules are relaxed. I say we just decide what is right and then put into practice. If enough folks start thinking like we do well it reminds me of a song...
"You can get Anything you want, at Alice's restaurant." And walk out.
You know, if One person, just one person does it they may think he's really sick and They won't take him. And if two people, two people do it, in harmony, They may think they're both faggots and they won't take either of them.
And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in
Singing a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. They may think it's an Organization.
And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day, I said Fifty people a day walking in singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and Walking out.
And friends they may thinks it's a movement.

And that's what it is , the Alice's Restaurant Anti-Massacree Movement, and All you got to do to join is sing it the next time it come's around on the
Guitar With feeling.​
The No Light Needed for @Meriachee Movement.
 
Mar 1, 2012
2,182
1961 Rhodes Meridian 25 Texas coast
when anchored in our coastal waters, I always have felt that a mast head light it the WORST place for an anchor light. I want that 0500 fishermen to see the light and avoid me. Or the crew returning from a party in their dinghy- Up high would work for ships, but I don't anchor in waters ship could run in.

Here's what I used to use. NOW I use an all round LED fixture I got fro a great place called Bebi Electronics. Sadly now out of business due to government bureaucracy (not our government)
anchor-light.jpg
 
  • Like
Likes: jssailem
Oct 22, 2014
20,996
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Charlie. That looks like a cool old school light. Is there a manufacturer's name on it?