Cruiser killed in Grenada

[boatman61]

Its not just 3rd world countries.. in the UK Withy poles are common channel markers outside the main channels.. they are unlit but locals know them and travel with caution.. or they run aground.
Poole Harbour and up the river to Wareham being just one example.. dont blame the State.

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Paul,

Where did you buy this and who makes it?

Thanks

Ken

See Defender.com "Portable Navigation Lights"

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by Nani Kai

.....

I am very interested however in suggestions for properly lighting ones dinghy. In a typical inflatable there is no place to mount one on the boat....

Other suggestions from CF'ers would be greatly appreciated.

Our Bow Light:




Our Stern Light:




The mounting base for the bow light is glued to the bow tube on our inflatable, and has been for 10 years.

We do not use the mounting base for the stern light as, in my view, it would be too low placed atop the outboard cowling. Instead, I have a 40" length of plastic pipe that the base of the stern light fits into and is affixed with the clamping pins illustrated. The plastic tube itself simply slides into a 12" length of slightly larger plastic pipe that is screwed to the outside of the transom and is likewise held in place with a fast pin. The LED's are quite visible in the dark from a good distance off. When not in use we dismount the lights and keep them in a small day pack we carry with us that also holds a PLB, hand-held VHF, LED Flashlight, small flare launcher kit, hand held GPS (Garmin 76) and miscellaneous other "stuff" that might be useful/needed in the event we have difficulties with the dinghy while out'n about. When shore-side we cable lock the dinghy and take our gear bag with us.

Something else I have always done is use the handheld GPS to mark the position of our boat, when anchored, and record our trip to shore. I save the track as a route and then, in the dark or otherwise, if necessary, I can simply follow our track back to the boat. It works for us.

FWIW...

[Island Time O25]

I don't think that "proceed at your own risk" and "improve the visibility/safety of the marker" are mutually exclusive. Of course I would not blame or expect the gov't of a relatively poor 3rd world island to set a high priority to an item benefiting mostly some rich foreign cruisers. On the other hand I don't see any shame or downside of the same cruisers taking the initiative and improving marker's visibility, especially at a relatively low cost with relatively high usefulness results.

As to the "should've, would've, dead guy's own fault, etc." I get it. But I also get that it could've been your teenager kid on an emergency errand, or yes just being an excited teenager in love and racing to a date or what not. Or some worried cruiser taking his/her dog to a vet in a hurry. Feces happen and if you have a chance to abolish another potentially dangerous obstacle on your way to their happening so much the better. Common folks, $10 can of aerosol paint once a year vs. a human life, even if a drunk, reckless, undeserving of our pity human life, the choice is easy IMO.

[boatman61]

Now lets see if anyone does more than just talk about it and goes out to buy the paint and do it..
Or will everyone sit back and wait for someone else to like the last however many years..

[Dave22q]

I almost never see dinghies with navigation lights. When I see one at night if it has any lights it generally is a white 360 lantern on a pole. Those who speed at night with this set up do not appear to realize how much the glare impacts their vision. I have a similar set up but my 2.5 will not get to unsafe speeds. I have never understood the need to get on plane in crowded areas.

[lokityler]

You are right. I thought the same thing!!!

[NikiFoxE]

As we learned on the Grenada Cruiser's Net this morning, we are barking up the wrong tree by thinking this is a Coast Guard issue in this country. If anyone wants something official to happen with these markers, they are the responsibility of the Grenada PORT AUTHORITY.

This tragedy and ones that happened during many summers in our Pacific NW waters are about speed and adequate dinghy lighting after dark. No one puts reflectors on the log that washed off the beach or the partially submerged mooring balls or cans in a harbor. This was a preventable incident that cost someone his life.

[NahanniV]

We were anchored off the Calabash Beach until recently, a few hundred meters from where this accident happened.

I don't know anything about the circumstances of this accident.
I am sorry that someone lost their life, I feel for the family.

But, there are two problems that I would like to highlight:

1/ Many people are driving their dinghys too fast and paying too little attention. I can not understand why so many people get off of a sailboat that averages 6 or 7 Knots and feel that they need to go 20Kts to get to shore ?
I lost three anchor marker floats over the summer to dinghys that were going too fast to spot them. We also had several scares with our children swimming around the boat being buzzed by high speed dinghys.

2/ No one seems to care that obviously intoxicated people are operating high powered dinghys, most frequently at night. Just spend an hour on the dock at the Tiki Bar late in the evening and you will certainly see a few examples.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by travellerw

Hhhmmm I'm trying to figure this out.. Are you talking about the metal post that sticks out of the water (I'm assuming its a channel marker)?

I find it strange that someone would run into it. Was he new to the area? Anyone who has transitted that channel during the day knows where that post is and leaves it well to port or starboard.

Anyway... Very sad...

Once upon a time, I saw a small ski boat traveling at below wake speed, hit a channel marker/beacon on a sunny, summer day. Four people on board and they ran right into the marker/beacon which was a pilling with channel markers and I think it had a light on it too. How they could miss that thing is amazing but not one of four people on board did not see that massive thing sticking out of the water.

And no, they were not drunk, which makes it worse.

They were going slow so not damage to people, boat or marker.

Stuff happens.

Sad situation in Grenada.

Later,
Dan

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by Dave22q

I almost never see dinghies with navigation lights. When I see one at night if it has any lights it generally is a white 360 lantern on a pole. Those who speed at night with this set up do not appear to realize how much the glare impacts their vision. I have a similar set up but my 2.5 will not get to unsafe speeds. I have never understood the need to get on plane in crowded areas.

I have a head torch on, but don't turn it on, only if nessacary , lights on my dinghy screw up my night vision. I go slow and im very manuverable... right or wrong, that's how I do it.

[cyan]

Originally Posted by NahanniV

We also had several scares with our children swimming around the boat being buzzed by high speed dinghys.

Similar experiences with us.
This gives me nightmares.
I understand that a crowded mooring sometimes requires a close pass by dinghy.
I don't understand why a close pass can't be done SLOWLY.

We float the diver-down flag with the kids 10 feet from the swim step. One would think that this shouldn't be necessary.

[admiralslater]

At night we use an focused beam led flash light that we point in the water forward .It illuminates quite a large area . My wife does not really like flying through water on the dingy so speed is not an issue .
one unintended consequence is the sea life revealed ,we seen turtles ,rays and the needle fish go bananas

[Nani Kai]

Originally Posted by Paul L

I use one of these. It clamps to the outboard cover via a magnetic clamp. Not perfect, but pretty good. It is simple enough that I actually use it at night and remove it in the day time.

Thanks to everyone for the helpful responses to my question about how others light their dinghies at night. I followed up on the "navisafe" light above via Defender's website and found that Navisafe makes a complete kit.

This to me looks like an excellent solution. High mount all around white at the stern on a pole. Red/Green at the bow mounted to what looks like a hypalon type material ostensibly to be glued onto the dink's bow. Stowable in a convenient box. Now all that remains is to figure out how to mount this temporarily on a chartered boat's dink AND how to secure the stowage box while ashore. Methinks a beat up looking metal toolbox with locking hasp then secured with the dink cable or chain to the transom or outboard mounts might handle the stowage problem. Another option would be a photographer's backpack with interior compartments that you carry with. A "c" clamp bracket should make for a temporary transom mount. Possibly some kind of clamp that would squeeze two blocks above and below the bow handle would work as a base for the bow light mount. Fun problem to ponder.

[Nani Kai]

When not in use we dismount the lights and keep them in a small day pack we carry with us that also holds a PLB, hand-held VHF, LED Flashlight, small flare launcher kit, hand held GPS (Garmin 76) and miscellaneous other "stuff" that might be useful/needed in the event we have difficulties with the dinghy while out'n about. When shore-side we cable lock the dinghy and take our gear bag with us.

Something else I have always done is use the handheld GPS to mark the position of our boat, when anchored, and record our trip to shore. I save the track as a route and then, in the dark or otherwise, if necessary, I can simply follow our track back to the boat. It works for us.

FWIW...[/QUOTE]

Very good points. Especially like the "survival kit" idea and marking the return track to the mother ship. Lots of stuff to lug about though. I wonder if you put everything in a waterproof case (like a Pelican), weighted it and dropped it on a line underneath the dinghy if it would be safe? Maybe on a cable running from bow to stern that is lockable. Box stays underwater out of sight. Just remember to bring it up before getting underway.