NIGHT LIGHTS

According the Navigation Rules, almost all vessels are required to show lights. These lights identify the type of vessel, the nature of its work, and in what direction it is heading. Some small craft—things like kayaks, rowboats and small sailboats—don’t need to show lights continuously, they only need to show a light in time to avoid a collision. All power-driven vessels, and most sailboats, need to display navigation lights of some kind from sunset to sunrise. As you ride the ferry across the Bay in the dark, take a look around. What lights do you see? What do those lights mean?

Some are flashing on and off; some are fixed (or always on). Lights that turn on and off are Aids to Navigation: lighthouses, buoys, and so on. I wrote about those in last month’s column. The lights on vessels don’t blink; they are always on. These are the ones I’d like to talk about here. This will not be a complete dissertation on all possible vessel lighting combinations; for that, you would need to consult a 200-page book called The Navigation Rules. However, I hope to give you some basics in this column.

Four different colors are used on vessels: red, white, green, and yellow. Some basics are common to most vessels. Red lights are shown on the port (left) side, and green lights are on the starboard (right) side. Called side lights, they are visible from directly ahead of the vessel to a little more than 90° on each side. A white stern light fills in the gap at the back. That’s all you’ll see on a sailboat of any size.

If the vessel is power-driven there will be more lights—sometimes many more. At a minimum, a steaming light will be present. This light is white, and its arc of visibility is the same as the red and green side lights combined. If the vessel is 50 meters (approximately 164 feet) or longer, a second steaming light is added, aft of (behind) and higher than the first steaming light.

A great deal of bulk cargo, from fuel to gravel to dredged material, is moved across the bay in barges pulled by tugboats. These tugs are required to display a towing light. This yellow light is displayed above the stern light. Additionally, a second steaming light is added directly above the steaming light.

Pulling heavily laden barges will affect a tug’s ability to steer, so they often claim another status. Because of the nature of their work, they are restricted in their ability to maneuver. The lighting display for this special status is three 360° lights in a vertical line. The top and bottom lights are red and the middle one is white.

On your next night trip across the bay, look out into the dark and see what you can make of the lights.