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Old 28-01-2022, 11:22   #121
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Re: Is an all-in-one masthead light legal?

I"m not sure where I first learned this, but ... Actuating your required navigation lights must be done in one motion.

In other words, Actuating several switches to secure your required light configuration is not acceptable.

Ergo, having an electrical switch configuration that complies with Sailing requirements and with Powering requirements is necessary. As to whether, when one is Sailing, one is using deck lights or masthead tricolor, that may be a separate selection, providing either is, in itself, acceptable.

See attachment for what I have on my boat.
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Old 28-01-2022, 11:30   #122
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Re: Is an all-in-one masthead light legal?

I have a slightly better arrangement.
I have a 2pole 4position rotary switch, 90* indexing.
Switch position
Up - sails up
Forward - motoring forward
Down - anchor down
Backward - all off.
Unfortunately the switch came with internal and external jumpers. I took it apart to remove the internal jumpers but I can’t reassemble. To make it work I needed to remove 1 jumper. Will try with a new switch.
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Old 29-01-2022, 00:05   #123
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Re: Is an all-in-one masthead light legal?

Here is an interesting paper on navigation lights from World Sailing. It includes recommendations to IMO for changes to the Colregs.

https://www.sailing.org/tools/documents/IR3bIMONavigationLightReportVerFinal-[25572].pdf
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Old 29-01-2022, 02:36   #124
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Re: Is an all-in-one masthead light legal?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Adelie View Post
As somebody that wants lights all around high & low I’m adding Amber LEDs, 2 each side and 2 on the stern corners. Amber is not a color used for any other purpose so it can’t be confused for lights of a different purpose.
Yellow is used for towing lights

Yellow is used for a whistle light


Amber can be easily confused with yellow


Quote:
Originally Posted by Martkimwat View Post
SOLAS is International, national rules cannot override them, all countries have to comply with SOLAS. Europe is no different from the rest of the World.


That isn't strictly true. There are significant differences between international rules and the rules in various countries and in some cases between bodies of water within a country. USA doesn't have separate rules for vessels constrained by draft. In the USA in the western rivers upbound sail gives way to downbound power which appears nowhere on the colregs themselves. Europe has goofy rules on rivers for using a blue flag when passing on the opposite of the usual side.
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Old 29-01-2022, 03:01   #125
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Re: Is an all-in-one masthead light legal?

Quote:
Originally Posted by goboatingnow View Post
national laws can and do override SOLAS conventions, note SOLAS is not a "law", there is no such thing as international law, merely an " agreement " that signatory nations will abide by the convention

several countries have not ratified SOLAS 1974 and some are not accession or signatory countries either
I stand corrected up to a point but it certainly does not apply in this instance because Europe and the UK are all signatories to SOLAS.
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Old 29-01-2022, 03:19   #126
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Re: Is an all-in-one masthead light legal?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jammer View Post
Yellow is used for towing lights

Yellow is used for a whistle light


Amber can be easily confused with yellow






That isn't strictly true. There are significant differences between international rules and the rules in various countries and in some cases between bodies of water within a country. USA doesn't have separate rules for vessels constrained by draft. In the USA in the western rivers upbound sail gives way to downbound power which appears nowhere on the colregs themselves. Europe has goofy rules on rivers for using a blue flag when passing on the opposite of the usual side.
I believe that you can have additional rules at local level (national) but they must not conflict with SOLAS which override national rules and since the EU and UK and North America are signatories to the SOLAS convention that SOLAS trumps local rules. A constrained by draught signal does not conflict with SOLAS signals nor does upriver/downriver traffic requirements nor flying of coloured flags. In Europe at least, they have the CEVNI requirement which I believe covers the additional signals and rights for navigating Europes river ways. In UK we have additional requirements in busy port regions such as the Solent/ Southampton waters and these are promulgated in LNTMs (local notices to mariners) available online.These local requirements have come about to make things safer and are not 'goofy' just because you have not come across them before.
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Old 29-01-2022, 03:53   #127
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Re: Is an all-in-one masthead light legal?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Adelie View Post
I have a slightly better arrangement.
I have a 2pole 4position rotary switch, 90* indexing.
Switch position
Up - sails up
Forward - motoring forward
Down - anchor down
Backward - all off.
Unfortunately the switch came with internal and external jumpers. I took it apart to remove the internal jumpers but I can’t reassemble. To make it work I needed to remove 1 jumper. Will try with a new switch.
Might be possible/easier to do this with diodes instead of switches. For example, my Willard 36 trawler is less than 12m and I recently rewired. I wanted to use the anchor light as an all-around steaming light. With just one anchor light bulv/wire, challenge is preventing sidelights from being energized when anchor light is turned on. A diode prevents current in that direction when anchor switch is turned on. Obviously more complicated when a third option (sailing) is added, but likely possible.

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Old 29-01-2022, 05:34   #128
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Re: Is an all-in-one masthead light legal?

Quote:
Originally Posted by mvweebles View Post
Might be possible/easier to do this with diodes instead of switches. For example, my Willard 36 trawler is less than 12m and I recently rewired. I wanted to use the anchor light as an all-around steaming light. With just one anchor light bulv/wire, challenge is preventing sidelights from being energized when anchor light is turned on. A diode prevents current in that direction when anchor switch is turned on. Obviously more complicated when a third option (sailing) is added, but likely possible.

Peter
I used diodes in my setup as well. My masthead light has a 225 and 135 degree sectors. So the nav light switch lights the side lights, stern light and the forward 225 of the masthead. The anchor light switch lights the masthead as a 360. Each feed to the 225 portion has a diode so the anchor light circuit doesn't back feed the rest of the nav lights and the nav circuit doesn't feed the 135 part of the masthead light.

Relays can be used for similar effect as well.

The rotary selector isn't a bad option, but I'd add an additional switch to turn off the steaming light, allowing you to use either set of nav lights for sailing.
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Old 06-04-2022, 12:30   #129
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Re: Is an all-in-one masthead light legal?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jammer View Post
Yellow is used for towing lights

Yellow is used for a whistle light


Amber can be easily confused with yellow

…...


White over yellow is not used COLREGS which is what would be presented.



What is a whistle light?
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Old 06-04-2022, 14:05   #130
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Re: Is an all-in-one masthead light legal?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Martkimwat View Post
I stand corrected up to a point but it certainly does not apply in this instance because Europe and the UK are all signatories to SOLAS.
It's clear that some posters know not of what they speak
There's considerable confusion in several recent posts between

1. COLREGS
2. National Inland Rules in accordance with COLREGs Para 1(b)
3.SOLAS

They are three very different sets of rules. COLREGs is the primary reference and is pretty much all we should all be talking about with regard to vessel lights on an international forum.

(SOLAS is totally irrelevant - nothing in there about nav lights)
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Old 07-04-2022, 12:49   #131
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Re: Is an all-in-one masthead light legal?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Adelie View Post
White over yellow is not used COLREGS which is what would be presented.

Inland rules [usa].


Quote:

What is a whistle light?

Light that illuminates when the whistle (horn) sounds, so that the vessel sounding the horn can be identified in congested waters.
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Old 07-04-2022, 13:00   #132
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Re: Is an all-in-one masthead light legal?

Quote:
Originally Posted by tdgaffney View Post
I"m not sure where I first learned this, but ... Actuating your required navigation lights must be done in one motion.

In other words, Actuating several switches to secure your required light configuration is not acceptable.

Ergo, having an electrical switch configuration that complies with Sailing requirements and with Powering requirements is necessary. As to whether, when one is Sailing, one is using deck lights or masthead tricolor, that may be a separate selection, providing either is, in itself, acceptable.

See attachment for what I have on my boat.



So, I don't know where you heard this, but this definitely not a thing. There is no requirement to turn on your required light configuration with the flip of a single switch. It is quite standard on commercial vessels to have separate switches for most of the nav lights.
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Old 07-04-2022, 13:13   #133
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Re: Is an all-in-one masthead light legal?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jammer View Post
Inland rules [usa].





Light that illuminates when the whistle (horn) sounds, so that the vessel sounding the horn can be identified in congested waters.
Where in the Inland rules?
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Old 07-04-2022, 13:15   #134
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Re: Is an all-in-one masthead light legal?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Adelie View Post
Where in the Inland rules?

Rule 34(b)
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Old 07-04-2022, 13:39   #135
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Re: Is an all-in-one masthead light legal?

I just perused the Inland rules looking for yellow lights and tow lights.
There are yellow flashing lights above white on a hovercraft
There are 2 yellow lights vertically for seiners. Flashing both may be required
There yellow lights arranged horizontally along a pipeline
Yellow whistle light is in 83D but this is intermittent not steady.
Government & safety vessels may use flashing & alternating red & yellow, 88.07
Yellow towing light same sector and range as stern light Colregs 21

For towing behind a yellow towing light, same sector as sternlight, must be displayed ABOVE the sternlight and there shall be 2 or more white lights above. Colregs 24
For towing alongside or ahead, 2 towlights, one over the other, is required at the stern. Colregs 24

There is no arrangement of lights where a single yellow is below white except for seiners where there are white lights are above AND below.
There is no horizontal arrangement of yellow lights except on pipelines where those yellow lights must flash. Inland rules
There is no horizontal arrangement of yellow lights where there is another color above except at the ends of pipelines where there must be 2 red lights in a vertical line above the yellow. Inland rules

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-3...t-83/subpart-C
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-3...t-83/subpart-D
https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageNam...gamated#rule21
https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-id....1.88&rgn=div5
https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageNam...gamated#rule24
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