Vessel aground:
In Rule 30 (d) (i) two all round red lights in a vertical line.
.....................(ii) three balls in a vertical line.
................ (f) A vessel of less than 12 meters in length, when aground, shall not be[/I] required to exhibit
the lights and shapes prescribed in subparagraphs (d) (i) and (ii) of this Rule.
Vessel at anchor:
Rule 30 (b) A vessel of less than 50 meters in length may exhibit an all-round white light where it can best
be seen instead of the lights prescribed in paragraph (a) of this Rule.
{(a) describes the placement of two white lights on a vessel.}
These Rules use 'shall' and 'may' to prescribe use of lights and shapes. With 'shall' being more absolute.
'May' in the permission of Rule 30 (b) may not exclude an
all-round white that shall be exhibited (Rule 30 (a) (ii) at or near the stern and at a lower level than the all-round light that shall be exhibited (i) in the fore part of a vessel.
In other words, a second lower all-round white at or near the cockpit of an A/C shall not be excluded - and may not be breaking any Rules.
And shall help deter any breaking and entering, should the owner be away from his or her anchored vessel, or asleep onboard.
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ANNEX 1
I can understand and accept the science of the visibility of lights displayed together,
with separation of the lights intended to keep them visible at 1NM and 2NM distances:
ANNEX 1 Position and Technical Details of Lights and Shapes.*
The whole thing refers almost specifically, and without a doubt consistently, to power-driven vessels.
That's perhaps why the wide separation of R.O.G. vertical lights seems so grotesque when interpreted for a sailboat,
as an Annex Rule is being applied to Rule 25(c) boats under sail alone.
Sail vessels under sail are not alluded to in any of the Rules in Annex 1.
It is not reasonable, imco, to garner Rules for a R.O.G. sailing machine... reefed of not...from Annex 1.
*Masthead lights are consistently referred to in Annex 1,2,3. Masthead lights are prescribed for power-driven vessels.
This is, imco, another indication that the Annex Rules are what they constantly refer to:
FOR POWER-DRIVEN vessels, not sailboats under sail. (But do apply, of course, to power-driven sailboats.)
Imco the separation of lights of the SAME COLOR is what the power-driven Rules are all about.
Believe that red and green light can be interpreted at Nautical Mile distances when the lamps are much closer together than one meter - simply because the lights have separate wave lengths. Red over red needs separation.
Of course this is all reduced by the legal difficulty inherent in not following the Rules.
Capt Bryant, sir, your solution is very clever indeed.
You have persuaded me that R.O.G is the only way to go.
(Shall try to keep the tri-color/anchor light at mast top, but add an all-round red also at mast top....
And ring the mast lower down with green LED. I'm a believer in Redundancy.
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If I'd observed all the rules, I'd never have got anywhere. Marilyn Monroe
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