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It's happened again

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Initially Posted - 09/29/2008 : 08:37:21

[url="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008212041_boatingfatal29m.html"]Woman dies in Lake Washington boating wreck[/url]

David
C-250 Mainsheet Editor

Sirius Lepak
1997 C-250 WK TR #271 --Seattle area Port Captain --

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 09/29/2008 : 13:00:27

So let's see... The driver turns out to be the Police Chief's son, and the skipper of the anchored sailboat is charged with murder due to allegedly failing to have disco lights above his cockpit...

Edited by - on

Steve Blackburn
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
1091 Posts

Response Posted - 09/29/2008 : 14:19:13

Saw the news last night and said to myself "here we go again". The boat was at anchor and it was dark when it was hit. I really hope the anchor light was on and they had nothing to drink or else Dave's prediction might come true!

Forgetting to turn the anchor light on at dusk and having drinks while it's getting dark is very plausible. In fact, I see everyone of us suseptible to this. Suddenly automatic anchor lights seem like a real good idea. The logic would be that if the anchor is in the water and it's dark outside then turn it on. Maybe a button on the anchor locker, with a light sensitive switch at the mast?

Edited by - Steve Blackburn on 09/29/2008 14:28:12

redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3476 Posts

Response Posted - 09/29/2008 : 15:30:32

Yepper .. I vote for the disco ball..

http://rayswords.com/temp/sailnight.htm

We went to the moon before we put wheels on luggage...

Edited by - on

redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3476 Posts

Response Posted - 09/30/2008 : 10:51:45

https://secure.orcagreen.com/xcart/product.php?productid=16142&cat=0&bestseller

Automatic Anchor Light. Self contained, comes on at night, solar powered.

Just $150 Bucks... Expensive but always on. I've always wanted one of these but it will hafta wait until I'm a bit more well off..

regards.ray

Edited by - on

dmpilc
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4593 Posts

Response Posted - 09/30/2008 : 14:28:56

I've got a pair of solar powered garden lights hanging on each side of my stern pushpit rails. Cost = about $20-$25 each at Ace Hardware, can also get them at HD or Lowes. Also have an LED lantern that I can secure to the forestay at head height using the jib halyard or attach to our whisker pole mast ring. Three lights are a lot harder to miss than one anchor light.

Edited by - on

KD4AO
Navigator

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USA
202 Posts

Response Posted - 09/30/2008 : 15:47:55

The situation as described seems to indicate the following; a sailboat anchored off the west shore of Lake Washington, meaning plenty of small lights on the shore and up high on the hill, thus allowing the anchor light to blend in with them, add a speeding powerboat and a dark night and there is plenty of reason for the powerboat operator to not see the sailboat. Bang, never saw it coming. From my time on Lake Washington several years ago, I would have never anchored on the lake at night. There used to be some docks you could tie up to, but not nearly enough, especially on the west side. The blame will probably go to the powerboat operator for going to fast for conditions.

Visibility of a small anchor light up high, against a hill with only homes really is a recipe for disaster and we should all think about this when we drop the hook at night. Very Sad.

Edited by - on

GaryB
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4304 Posts

Response Posted - 09/30/2008 : 19:42:55

Another factor, 17 year old male giving 16 year old female a ride in dad's boat. My guess is he probably wasn't as focused on looking for lights as he was for "love"!

It's so sad for everyone involved. All will have scars that will effect the rest of their lives.

Edited by - GaryB on 09/30/2008 19:45:56

redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3476 Posts

Response Posted - 10/01/2008 : 07:10:39

In concept, I'm still only up to:
The bottom half of a mirror ball, without any mirrors reflecting directly down, built into the wind indicator and one light pointing up into the mirrors.

Something that gives off light in a completely different way, to be noticed by the eye.

We put a man on the moon before we put wheels on luggage.

regards.ray

Edited by - on

britinusa
Web Editor

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USA
5404 Posts

Response Posted - 10/01/2008 : 07:23:48

Just got latest issue of 'Trailering' from BoatUS.

On Page 16, in the article on 'What to do when the technology fails' is a note referencing USCG Navigation Rule 6(Section 1, Part B):
"Every vessel shall at all times proceed at a safe speed so that she can take proper and effective action to avoid collision and be stopped within a distance appropriate to the prevailing circumstances and condition."

From that it would seem that the powerboat opperator doesn't have a leg to stand on!

Paul

Edited by - on

redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3476 Posts

Response Posted - 10/01/2008 : 07:41:57

I can remember coming up the intercoastal at night in a johnboat and having to turn off my lights because I could not make sense of what I was seeing, or not seeing. My channel markers and lights were not there. As I looked out ahead all I could see was it was getting blacker.

Suddenly a barge turned it's spot light on me an I realized I was heading directly towards it ..

Maybe a cluster of LEDs below the mirror ball which rotates with the wind vane.

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 10/01/2008 : 08:46:11

How about a four-sided neon sign with the letters:

B O A T

Edited by - Dave Bristle on 10/01/2008 08:47:46

redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3476 Posts

Response Posted - 10/01/2008 : 09:17:32

I was kinda hoping for the sound acquisition device that points a laser. I think we have the technology.

Edited by - on

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 10/01/2008 : 09:42:46

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by redeye
 Suddenly a barge turned it's spot light on me an I realized I was heading directly towards it...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

At night, if I hear a boat or see some lights that I sense may be coming in my general direction, I'll take my gazillion power flashlight and light up my sails for a few seconds. If I get concerned that a recreational boater might still not have seen me, I'll point that same flashlight in his direction.

Truth be told, I wouldn't trust my dinky anchor light to protect me from a collision. When in open water with only blackness as a backdrop, I can pick out a lighted boat in a heartbeat. When coming back from open water with land, and its lighted houses, streetlights, factories,...etc, its a little harder to pick out that obscure little anchor light.

Edited by - on

SCnewbie
Navigator

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166 Posts

Response Posted - 10/02/2008 : 07:51:19

redeye, I too have tried to run down a barge before. That is very easy at night in an area with a ton of shore lights. I thank that tug captain every night for seeing us and shining his spot on us. I light people up with my spot briefly if I get nervous.

Edited by - on

redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3476 Posts

Response Posted - 10/03/2008 : 09:03:03

Charleston... That must be wonderful place to sail. Lots of traffic I'd bet, and big traffic with lots of lights from the city/developments.
Lots of room I would guess. Funny how each place you sail can be so different. I'm Sailing on Lake Lanier now and it is very small and full of stinkpots. But it is so small you can go out in a storm ( and we often do. ) Lots of people die in this lake every year, so it really is a issue of how to keep your boat lit up.

Maybe I can learn something from this lake that could help others.

Edited by - on

redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3476 Posts

Response Posted - 10/03/2008 : 09:27:09

Here is what I'm dealing with and Yes, I'd like a bigger light on my boat...

Article on Lake Lanier entitled "How Safe is Lake Lanier" reguarding 4 deaths over the last 4th of July weekend:

"You can’t quantify safety," he said. "We have seven and a half million visitors (in a typical year), and a handful of them don’t make it home. We’ll never know how many people actually heard the water safety message."

The corps only knows about the ones who didn’t hear the warnings, or didn’t heed them.

On Friday afternoon, Ariel Cotuc Chaudjay, 17, of Duluth, drowned near Little Ridge Park in Forsyth County. Late Saturday afternoon, Dago Bento Mejia, 14, drowned near Bell’s Mill Bridge, off U.S. 129 north of Gainesville. Mejia was visiting from East Meadow, N.Y.

The two teens died in a similar manner, according to investigators. Each had been wading in a shallow area and suddenly slipped into a steep drop-off. Neither of the victims knew how to swim, nor were they wearing life jackets.

Lake Lanier’s designated swimming beaches have gradual slopes that are safer for swimmers. But with the lake level now 15 feet below full pool, all of the beaches are dry. If people want to swim, they must venture into parts of the lake where dangerous drop-offs are common.

The low lake level also may have contributed to two more deaths late Saturday night. Nine people, none of whom had a life jacket, were riding in a rented pontoon that got stuck on a sandbar near Port Royale Marina in Forsyth County.

Two men jumped overboard to try to dislodge the boat from the sandbar. Fighting a severe thunderstorm, they both slipped under water and did not resurface.

The victims were identified as Lung Mang, 21, and Tha Thang, 23, of Alpharetta. Their fellow passengers told investigators that the men did not know how to swim.

All four people who died in Lake Lanier over the holiday weekend fit the typical profile of drowning victims in recent years. They were male, in their teens or early 20s, did not have strong swimming skills, and came from an ethnic background where English was not their first language.

People in this demographic have always posed a challenge for the corps, because they generally aren’t consumers of newspapers and other mainstream media.

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 10/03/2008 : 09:32:42

Illuminating your sail is a good idea as long as it (or anything else you do) doesn't diminish your own night vision. You don't really know when that's happening, because you generally don't know what you can't see. We don't want to hear about a C-25 running over a rowboat with two lovers out enjoying the moonlight!

Under way, the less light in the cockpit and on deck, the better.

Edited by - on

redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3476 Posts

Response Posted - 10/03/2008 : 09:44:44

That has always been a problem, how to illuminate the boat well and legally without disturbing your own night vision. You need to be able to see out as much as be seen.

I'm hoping for the bottom half a disco ball ( without the bottom center ) on the bottom of the wind vane with a cluster of LEDs pointed up at it.

I guess I'll wait until the LEDs get brighter.

Edited by - on

redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3476 Posts

Response Posted - 10/03/2008 : 09:46:42

Hmmm.... spreader lights that point up?

Edited by - on

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 10/03/2008 : 12:42:23

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Dave Bristle
 Illuminating your sail is a good idea as long as it (or anything else you do) doesn't diminish your own night vision.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

I'll take a temporary loss of night vision over the possibilty of a speeding powerboat sharing my cockpit everytime.

Edited by - on

redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3476 Posts

Response Posted - 10/03/2008 : 13:13:34

You need the night vision as much as possible in a lake 18 feet down to keep an eye out on the rock outcroppings, as well as the "Love Boats".

Maybe red LEDs pointing up from the spreaders would stand out in reflection on the sails/mast without disturbing your night vision or others. I'm sure the disco ball would risk being a good shooting target, as annoying as it might be to others.

The Disco ball would still be a fun project.

regards.ray

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