In article 7901bd9b-0cb9-4527-8952-0be26ba6a9a8
@l25g2000yqd.googlegroups.com, says...

On Mar 21, 3:21*pm, Wayne.B wrote:
On Sun, 21 Mar 2010 09:49:22 -0700 (PDT), Tim
wrote:

Pick up a copy of the Inland/International navigation rules or read
them online - you can also download a copy in PDF format I believe.

http://www.amazon.com/Navigation-Rul.../dp/0939837498

http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/mwv/navrules/rotr_online.htm

Thanks for those links, Tom. I will be doing some studying. I suppose
the reason I'm asking all these questions about Nav. Lights is I want
to update my boat *to better standards and make it as safe as I can.

I'd leave the lights alone for now as long as they are working OK
since there are probably other things that need a look. *

Running at night is very tricky even for the experienced, and should
really be avoided when possible. *Take it real slow, especially the
first few times. * Everything that looks familiar during daylight
looks entirely different in the dark, and distances are much more
difficult to judge accurately.

Back in my sailboat days I ran literally thousands of miles in the
dark with no incidents and noradarbut with a few close calls, some
way too close for comfort. *Now that I've gotten used to running withradarat night I would never operate without it if at all possible. *

Evenradaris not perfect however. *Off the coast of the Dominican
Republic we were surprised several times by small wooden fishing
skiffs operating 12 or more miles offshore with no lights and
noradar
image at all. *They are totally invisible until you are almost on
them, even in daylight. *They would see us however and either yell or
shine a light at us, not a really satisfactory way of navigating.
That's one of my reasons for recommending a goodradarreflector.

Wayne, can a person nail a coffee can onto a long stick, stand it up
and screw it onto a windshield bracket and get by?

*Ducking!*

Most coffee cans are now made of plastic, so, give it a try

Scotty



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