Captain Caveman
Ensign
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2005
- Messages
- 974
Re: Light on the bow and stern
Now to address your specific question. You should put those navigation lights on your boat once (as someone else stated) visibility becomes compromised. That can happen due to darkness, fog, smoke, rain, or any other condition that makes it harder to see. Unlike your car's headlights, the navigation lights don't help you see. What they provide is a means for other boaters to both see your boat easier and quickly decipher your heading, based upon what color lights they can see. If you are stopped, it is still important to have your lights on for any of the compromised visibility situations. The last thing that you want as the sun starts to set, is to be pulling in a lunker bass while someone comes speeding around a point and collides with your boat because they could see you.
When I'm on the water, I install the lights unless I'm purely boating during the day. I flip those lights on as the sun starts to set, not during sunset or afterwards, but as the sun is going down. The power draw is nothing for a deep cycle battery but it can make the difference between life and death for you, your passengers, and other boaters.
Cody. Everyone here shares a slight concern for both your safety but more importantly those around you if you're already using a boat but don't know one of the basics - navigation lights. Hence the boat course recommendations. At the very least, buy yourself a basic boating book. It will make you less dangerous prior to taking the class but by no means can replace taking a good course.
Now to address your specific question. You should put those navigation lights on your boat once (as someone else stated) visibility becomes compromised. That can happen due to darkness, fog, smoke, rain, or any other condition that makes it harder to see. Unlike your car's headlights, the navigation lights don't help you see. What they provide is a means for other boaters to both see your boat easier and quickly decipher your heading, based upon what color lights they can see. If you are stopped, it is still important to have your lights on for any of the compromised visibility situations. The last thing that you want as the sun starts to set, is to be pulling in a lunker bass while someone comes speeding around a point and collides with your boat because they could see you.
When I'm on the water, I install the lights unless I'm purely boating during the day. I flip those lights on as the sun starts to set, not during sunset or afterwards, but as the sun is going down. The power draw is nothing for a deep cycle battery but it can make the difference between life and death for you, your passengers, and other boaters.
