Fully agree with the strobe..... the point is to be seen.
For cruising sail, use the masthead tricolor....also more visible.
High powered search light..... shine on sails and everyplace else BUT
ship's wheelhouse




Larry wrote in
:

Peter Hendra wrote in
:

The interesting thing is, I have got a lot of criticism from other
yachtees who say that it is not "regulation" is a distress signal
that ships will detour to investigate and so on. Someone even called
me "selfish and arrogant in flaunting the rules". I wonder if any of
these people have spent much time on passage, especially at night as
they are commonly used to mark ends of fishing nets and long-lines as
well as being displayed by fishing boats having a braek.


If is saves one life, to hell with the rules. If they get
curious...they can TURN ON THEIR RADIOS AND ASK!....which is what I
wanted them to do in the first place.

Speaking of radios, do you chat with ships you can see out beyond land
on Channel 13? Most sailors treat that radio as some kind of plague
they're required to carry. I'm an old ham operator, so like to chat.
Coming home from Florida, off the GA coast a hundred miles or so, we
had 14 active "checkins" to "The Channel 13 Ship Net" at 1AM on the
midwatch. One of the 1st Mates wanted to trade me Lionheart for a
containership, but I had to turn him down...(c; They're really BORED
TO TEARS up on those tall bridges in the dark, I found. Having a chat
on 13 perked everyone, including me all red-eyed and a little seasick
in the slop. Oddly, though we could see lots of other yachts, both
motor and sail, we couldn't raise them on 13 or 16 or get them to
respond to our calls for a chat. Maybe it was that old "hermit
syndrome" so may yachties have, trying to leave the whole world on
another planet. You know them, I'm sure.

The big 12V quartz-iodine 55W searchlight with the big reflector can
also make anyone stand up and take notice.....especially if they are
headed right for you. After a quick sweep across to make a big flash
pointed at them, shine the beast up on their side of the mainsail,
lighting up the whole sail rigging like day so they can't miss that
you are a SAILBOAT and expect to be treated like same. Deck lights on
the spreaders can't hold a candle to the beast lighting up the sail
for visibility to some idiot banker on his Hatteras 58. Lionheart
looks like the tail of a Delta 757 taxiing its tail billboard
around....(c;

Larry