On Sun, 21 Mar 2010 18:47:30 -0700 (PDT), Tim wrote:

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 no radar but with a few close calls, some
way too close for comfort. *Now that I've gotten used to running with
radar at night I would never operate without it if at all possible. *

Even radar is 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 no radar
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 good radar reflector.

Wayne, I don't want to run at night, even on my wide Carlyle Lake. And
I dont' plan to, but I wan't my boat to be set up better'n spec.

Tim, the last time I ran at night was from the fireworks show at the Washington
Mall to the Ft Belvoir marina, down the Potomac river at about 11 PM,

It scared the **** out of me. I was in a 15' Whaler, and it seemed like everyone
else had a 34' Gofast, which they piloted while drunk.

Never again.
--
John H

For a great time, go here first... http://tinyurl.com/ygqxs5v