Swim Platform lights

fc3 said:
Wes,
Safe boating doesn't just happen. You have to think of everything, because if you don't Mr. Murphy most certainly will.

Best regards,
Frank C
Click to expand...

And that is why I fell for SRO and now CSR; it made the learning process seem a lot quicker and more comfortable and I can continue to learn each day.


Now for me to learn, as I really have no idea since I don't have a big boat, but is this illegal, do you turn off all other lights except for your navigation lights at anytime while on the water at night?

Cosmos_night_14.jpg



b_hm_cruise.jpg
 
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There are the "rules".
There is "common sense"
and then is "stupidity".

When it comes to lighting at night. . . there are the "rules" and then there is "common sense". Usually, the two are closely linked. Wesley's pictures are examples of nicely lit boats at night with lighting FAR in excess of legal requirements. What in tarnations is wrong with that?

Now, don't get me wrong. Lights that are really ambiguous or blinding to other boaters is a bad thing. Boats with "headlights" or "docking lights" are simply "stupid". (I am sure to see a few this weekend).

Are we supposed to assume that a boat at anchor should douse the cabin lights at night? In all circumstances? Is there anything truely wrong with a string of xmas lights strung on your boat when anchored? Get a grip people!

The point is to be unambiguous. Yeah. .. flashing blue lights is wrong on a pleasure boat. But blue lights under the swim platform? Get a grip. Not a problem.

My own view (I have expressed this before) is that sailboats are underilluminated at night per the regs. I say this as someone who both encounters sailboats at night, and someone who sails at night. More than once, I have felt the need to illuminate my OWN sails with a spotlight to (a) not blind another boat and (b) ensure that another boat sees me.
 
Going 80 on the intersate is against the rules too. But people do it every day. have you?
Just Sayin'. Comsnark has it right!
 
If other lighting obscures the navigation lighting or makes determining the heading of the lighted vessel ambiguous or difficult to determine, then yes, those lights should be dimmed until they no longer are a factor. The regulations say that blue lights are reserved for law enforcement. It does not modify blue light with flashing.
 
Craig said:
Going 80 on the intersate is against the rules too. But people do it every day. have you?
..........
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Yes...all the time....BUT....I am breaking the rules...of the highway in that instance. If I were involved in an accident with someone who was doing the speed limit it wouldn't go over very well with the judge.....especially if my speeding (read here as 'other lights') could be proven to have caused or contributed to the accident.
 
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I also have these lights on my 300, however they only worked for a short time. I can't imagine the blubs have burnt out and the breaker seems OK. Any ideas on how to check them with out pulling the boat out on a trailer?
 
First Born said:
And that is why I fell for SRO and now CSR; it made the learning process seem a lot quicker and more comfortable and I can continue to learn each day.


Now for me to learn, as I really have no idea since I don't have a big boat, but is this illegal, do you turn off all other lights except for your navigation lights at anytime while on the water at night?

Cosmos_night_14.jpg



b_hm_cruise.jpg
Click to expand...
Wes,
FYI, the bottom picture was taken at Baltimore's Inner Harbor (BIH):smt038
 
glad someone posted this because i was about to ask the same question.

do you guys have pictures of them installed (boat out of water) or the installation process?

where are you running the on/off switch to?
 
I just put mine in the underside of the platform instead of below the water line.They shine down on the water. Where I live the water is so murky that it didn't look that good underwater. I used the abyss small light and it is quite bright. The do attrack alot of fish.

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I know I mentioned this a few months back, but I'm finally getting around to adding these lights to my 195 Sport..... Under the swim platform.... As soon as I get the project completed I'll post up some pics...

I've already added Blue LED's throughout my entire boat (some of you may remember that thread)...

If not, you can view pics of my boat at the site listed in my signature!
 
Project complete! Got some free time yesterday and managed to get my swim platform lights installed! Took about an hour and a half... Maybe two hours with the clean up afterwards! The pictures don't do them justice... Their slightly out of focus (I was shooting them in the dark with no flash)...

The LED's I used I got from www.oznium.com They are waterproof, but for the record, I added some silicone where the wiring goes into the LED housing just to be on the safe side!

Wiring was simple (12volt)... I simply connected them to the LED wiring harness that I made for my other LED's... Plug and play!

Anyway, here's the pics! Enjoy! As soon as I get pics on the water I'll post those up!

BlueLEDs002.jpg


BlueLEDs005.jpg
 
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
Thanks Wesley! Glad your on board in this thread! No telling what kind of comments I'll be getting about my lights and the "Legality" of them.....

Now we just need to get some Red LED's under your platform!
 
Interesting thread. Sometime this winter when I scim through the colregs again, I'll have to pay attention to the section on lighting. I never thought if the lighting is the only lighting, or the minimum required lighting. Perhaps someone with a good familiarity of the regs can site?

Now I also saw something about someone with a burnout problem... and I'm fairly certain that the reason the one light company in the youtube video advertised the only one designed to run out of the water... I have some lighting friends that schooled me recently... LED, nice for indication, not always so wonderful for illumination. Seems to get the intensity up, you have to drive them fairly hard and they get hot... for really bright applications, they add head sinks. So, if the manufacturer of any of these is counting on the thing being submerged in water to dissipate the heat, you might have troubles if you install them out of the water or if you put them on the transom and run them while on plane. I'd ask the manufacturer first and I'd also find out how hot they get... hate to scorch the gelcoat! (okay, they probably don't get that hot... but look before you leap).
 
I think they look great! :smt001
 
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