IALA and nav lights.

[KayZee]

I live in an IALA B area. Recently seeing a boat that showed a green nav light on the port side made me wonder. Are the vessel nav light colors in IALA A zones also reversed?


TIA,


Kurt

[rslifkin]

No, nav lights are the same everywhere. A green on port is just someone who put the lights on wrong and doesn't know better.

[JoeRobertJr]

Vessel nav light requirements are described in the 72 COLREGS, and do not change with IALA zones.

Here is one source of the rules in a printer-friendly version amalgamated with the US Inland Rules.
https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageNam...lesAmalgamated

[KayZee]

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. My slip is near a fairway and I see a LOT of mislit vessels. I'm glad this trawler was in the fairway and not one I was trying to make sense of on a dark night.


It's phenomenal to me how many sailors mis-light their boats around me. Usually it's around the use of the steaming light. Last week I saw a boat motoring in with the strobe on instead of a steaming light. There's a boat running unlicensed Facebook charters that routinely comes in showing the 360 anchor light above the lit steaming light and deck level side light. I've seen no steaming light on vessels with no sails up and steaming lights lit on vessels that were clearly (seen at close range) under sails alone.



I'm not the shiniest piece of brass on the boat but getting the lights right seems to me to be one of the easiest parts of sailing to get right.


Kurt

[DeValency]

Maybe capsized?

[BigBoater917]

I'm guessing they had their "Green over white fishing at night lights" on.