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From: Lee Huddleston (no email)
Date: Sat Sep 06 2003 - 18:08:11 EDT
Norm,
Thanks for the reply. I do take your advice to heart. I must say that it
is very distrubing to think that there are many people out on the ocean
intentionally risking other people's lives because they are too lazy to
change a light bulb. It goes against everything that I thought mariners
have stood for. I know how much you detest governmental interference, but
that type of behavior makes me favor long prison sentences for captains and
obsenely high civil verdicts against companies that wantonly endanger
everyone else on the ocean just to grub a few more dollars.
You and others have cautioned against relying on other skippers, especially
those of large commercial vessels, to see, understand, or even give a damn
about my lights. On the other hand, other people who identified themselves
as commercial captains e-mailed me privately and commended me for doing
anything that I can to improve my visibility. I think that both opinions
are valid. So I will continue to assume that everyone else on the water is
crazy, lazy, or hazy and do all that I can to stay out of their way. I
will never expect anyone to honor my right of way when I have it but will
be pleasantly surprised and appreciative when they do. On the other hand,
I will do everything that I can within the regs to make my vessel more
visible to help out the few of you out there who are not crazy, just so
that you can stay out of my way when I fail to play with a full deck.
About 45 years ago I worked as a bellboy at Mamouth Cave National Park in
Kentucky (the longest cave in the World - over 1,000 miles discovered so
far). Some of the questions that I heard were really funny. Such as, "Is
all of the cave underground?" And, "When does the 3:30 bus leave?" But
one of the better ones that is a little more subtle was, "How much of
Mamouth Cave is unexplored?" Of course, the answer is, "Since it is
unexplored, we don't know." Some of you have given vivid examples of when
lights were ineffective and idiots ran right over obvious hazards. But,
how many colisions have been avoided by a skipper at least trying to be
responsible being able to see another boat's lights? How many disasters
have been averted by lights that were brighter than the legal minimum. Of
course we will never know because the colision or disaster was avoided. I
cannot control what happens in the world; I can only try to increase the
odds of success.
Under the current regs my options are punny sidelights or a combination
light right at the water level or a tricolor light at the peak of the mast.
Having two lights at the peak of the mast and upgraded sidelights at the
deck would at least seem to be an improvement. BTW the reason you can see
a white light farther usually is that the red or geen tint cuts down on the
visibility of a bulb give the same power. But I can match the intensity
and visibility of that white light with a red or green light as long as I
am willing to simply apply more power.
One more techincal question (assuming that I am crazy enough to waste my
money on better lights). Can I put my red over green lights on top of my
mizzen instead of the main so that I do not increase my vertical clearance
requirements? The reg says at or near the peak of "the" mast where it can
best be seen.
Since Truelove is a rather strong steel hulled boat I can relate to
Bandership with its ferrocement hull. Actually, Norm, we are burning our
lights to help others stay our of our way. ;-) It doesn't matter whether
a tupperware boat hits a steel boat or the steel boat hits the tupperware
boat, the tupperware boat is going to loose. So I am taking up a
collection from the local tupperware boat owners to pay for my upgraded
lights so that they can see me and escape. :-D
Lee Huddleston
s/v Truelove
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