|
Group: Administrators
Posts: 811,
Visits: 148
|
Thoughts on safety at sea:
The Communications Team is starting a new monthly feature based on robust discussions on the OCC Forum, mostly centred on Safety at Sea. We’ll include short snippets to provoke thought in the eBulletin and then continue the discussion on the Forum. Dick Stevenson, our diligent and thoughtful Forum Moderator, starts us off this month with a piece on tillers. Please contribute your experience and thinking for the benefit of all.
- Daria Blackwell, Vice Commodore, Web editor & PR Officer
Vice Commodore, OCC
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Posts: 970,
Visits: 1.3K
|
+x+xTo Be Seen Checking that your navigation lights illuminate at commissioning is a good start, but may not be good enough. Walking around a boatyard or marina; one item pops out at me: how inadequate many boats’ navigation lights are. Many, not all, were adequate at purchase, but their lenses are by now so crazed as to be mostly opaque. When was the last time you compared your lens to a new one? I would probably suggest that 10 years is about swap time for plastic lenses: sooner if in the tropics. Now, some might say they never (or rarely) run at night, but I would contend that a cruising boat should always be ready to run safely at night. In addition to running a safe seaworthy boat, there is the fact that: were there a nighttime collision, one of the first things to be looked at will be the adequacy of your lighting. A lens heavily crazed will not pass regulation’s muster. I say this with some emphasis as we observe poorly lit or illegally lit recreational vessels at least once a year: each time it causes unnecessary anxiety. I believe most quality manufacturers sell lenses separately or: perhaps better yet, swapping the whole fixture ensures you have a replacement in spares. While doing, check the wiring for water intrusion and change bulbs. Please also leave your comments, additions, thoughts, disagreements etc.: they are welcome. My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy Hi Dick We did just that when we recently replaced the rigging on our boat. I had always thought our nav lights seemed a little weak and the bulbs kept disconnecting or failing. We now have new LED lights sized correctly for our vessel, and they are VERY bright - whi we had the chance we also replaced all the wiring. We also did Mast top tri-colour/anchor light combo with a deck level backup for the nav lights - old fixtures with new LED bulbs. The latter also seem much brighter than their incandescent predecessors. I suppose it also helped that we cleaned the glass lenses from the inside. :) All the best, Alex Blackwell, S/v Aleria Hi Alex, Those all sound like wise moves. And you are also wise to attend to before and after observations of your nav lights brightness as it always nice to get feedback that good work makes a difference. Bright nav lights are just much easier to see at night and quicker to notice: a big increase in vessel safety. Like so much in the marine industry: meeting the standards, the regulations, is, to my mind, just generally not good enough. One step, maybe two, above the recommendations/requirements is often good judgment. I suspect you know this well from your work on anchoring and ground tackle. BTW, were they actually glass lenses, or plastic. If glass, can you specify the manufacturer? My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
|