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Sea Kayaks Techniques Bulletin Board
Re: What is so hard!!!
Posted By: Brian Nystrom In Response To: Re: What is so hard!!! (LeeG)
Date: Friday, 30 July 2004, at 4:58 p.m.
: Brian, as I understand the regs you have a "white light" to shine
: to avoid collision but otherwise you paddle blind/unlit OR you paddle with
: red/green running lights and a 360 white light. The first makes NO sense
: and the second eliminates the flashlight to avoid collision. Do I have it
: right yet?No, you don't. NH inland waters are under the jurisdiction of the state, not the Coast Guard. The state requires a 360 degree white light, regardless of what the Coast Guard requires. The point I was trying to make is that different jurisdictions have different regulations. Even the CG is not consistent. When we met with them, they told us that as far as they were concerned, blue lights or those red, white or amber led bike lights that cycle back and forth were perfectly acceptable. Their primary concern is that we are visible to other boaters, not that we follow the letter of the regs. They felt that the worst case situation is that other boaters might investigate non-standard lights. Best case, they would give them a wide berth. In the case of blue lights, they laughingly indicated that other boats generally head in the opposite direction when they see them! I don't think it would be a good idea to use them in a major port, as the local CG and police might not take kindly to it.
I'm not sure if it was at that meeting or not, but I've been cautioned AGAINST using red/green lights on a kayak, as it would be likely to cause confusion among other boaters due to a kayak's small size and closeness to the water. Personally, I just do what I have to in order to meet the regs (whatever they happen to be), but I rarely paddle at night.
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