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Originally Posted by pmj
NightWing said:
Nightwing: Are you saying that portable lights are not legal?? If I have a dead battery and I use portable r/g light afixed to my bow and a white portable afixed to my stern then I am not legal? Why wouldn't these be proper? I wasn't aware of this.
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I didn't say that portable lights are not legal. I said that the light unit described did not represent proper lighting for his canoe.
A canoe need display a white light that is visible for 360° around the horizon for 2 miles. That is the requirement for a manually powered vessel. Red and green are navigation lights for a power boat. In no case is a white
strobe light considered proper lighting.
As a point of interest, those short, suction cup mounted white lights are not adequate because they do not show above the operator and therefore are not visible for 360° around the horizon. If you must use one, mount it on a pole and keep fresh batteries on hand.
The act of gliding along in the dark with your fanny at water level in an unlit boat is absolutely insane. If you want to stargaze in the dark, do it from shore. If you want peace and tranquility in dark water, run a bath and soak by candlelight. The chances of getting run over by a 300 horsepower meat cleaver on shore or in your tub are very small indeed.
I almost hit a canoe operated by a husband and wife several years ago. The canoe was dark green to blend in with everything. They were wearing dark clothing and were crossing a river, perpendicular to shore. Pitch dark, no moon, nothing to indicate they were there. They didn't even call out as a warning, just kept paddling along to cross right in front of me.
When I finally saw them, they were probably 5 feet in front of me. I slammed into reverse so fast I took half the river over the transom. They looked at me and continued to paddle to shore.
I won't go into great detail about what happened after, but I gave them a verbal Boating Ed lesson that they probably heard in the next county.
They didn't even have the decency to offer bathroom tissue so I could clean up..................................
Don't drive a boat at night without proper lights.....................please.