MacGregorSailors.com

I appended this little quiz to a thread having nothing to do with lights and day shapes and got only one taker (BOAT ), so I thought I'd repost it here. Just for some educational fun.

BOAT had posted this pic of a dredge working in a channel in his sailing area. What do the day shapes mean? And what colors in what patterns are used at night for the same message? No peeking, please.



And feel free to post your own pics or descriptions of other light and/or day shape configurations. Just for fun.

Its easy

In combination they mean Im a dredge stay the hull alway.

While on that subject, we are supposed to fly a ball when motor sailing (to let other know we are under motor), very few if anyone I know does, in fact I have never seen a trailerable size boat do it,anyway I figure whats the point the fishos near my sailing ground cant even read the BIG 5knt sign and thats easy, none of them would have ANY idea what it means if Im flying a ball telling them Im motor sailing.

Gee even the most basic 5knts when within 50 meters of another boat is totally ignored, the water police have are rarely seen at my old launch site, they are a bit more prevalent at the new place because its only 100 meters from their head quarters, but even then its maybe a couple of hours every month at best.

The water police (coast guard have no authority here) are desperately poorly funded, last year there was a rumour going around that they couldnt go out except in a emergency because they didnt have anything left in the budget to buy fuel

They are very nice here in Oceanside, (the Coast Guard) and they have lots of cool stuff like helicopters and fast boats. They will come and help you if your boat is sinking.

In Long Beach Harbor sailing on a straight line for the breakwater entrance a big cargo driver parked himself right in front of the opening! He was slowly making way forward so I turned towards his stern. When I got to within 300 feet of his transom he decided he was going to fast and was going to ram the breakwater so he throws his motor into near full reverse!!! No horns, no hail, no NOTHING!! I had to quickly jibe in the other direction.

"Your a big, FAT, ugly piece of whale dung!" I screamed as loud as I could as I made a the tack "I hope your damn rudder falls on your mothers car! you illegitimate sheep herder!!"

The Long Beach Harbor Patrol saw the whole thing and they were pretty mad too - I could hear them yelling at the ship on the commercial shipping channel after I got out of the breakwater. I was glad he got caught being a dumb ass.

The place where the real boat nazi police are is SAN DIEGO! That bay is FULL of Nazi boat patrol - in San Diego Bay they would stop you for not properly navigating the balls ans diamonds, they stop you for a permit, they stop you for a safety check, they stop you for right of way, they stop you for beaching, they stop you for tying up to ANYTHING and don't dare drop an anchor in San Diego Bay unless you want to be boarded. The place is boat nazi heaven. If you get too close to a aircraft carrier they stop you and look for bombs on your boat.

You need to be careful in San Diego Bay - they have water police, harbor patrol, AND homeland security! Look out!

A ball shows when you are at anchor...a cone is for under power...

In my case the cone is for my head because I am a dunce dummy who does not know the balls and diamonds as well as I should.

(Cracking open the CHAPMAN P&S right now . . . . )

BOAT wrote:(Cracking open the CHAPMAN P&S right now . . . . )

That's ok. You were honest about not knowing in the other thread. And in your case, this configuration is something you really should know.

Tomfoolery wrote:

BOAT wrote:(Cracking open the CHAPMAN P&S right now . . . . )

That's ok. You were honest about not knowing in the other thread. And in your case, this configuration is something you really should know.

Yes, I am irresponsible for not knowing - catigale would say I am a bad Captain. But I am going to study and then I will not be irresponsible anymore.

BOAT wrote:

Tomfoolery wrote:

BOAT wrote:(Cracking open the CHAPMAN P&S right now . . . . )

That's ok. You were honest about not knowing in the other thread. And in your case, this configuration is something you really should know.

Yes, I am irresponsible for not knowing - catigale would say I am a bad Captain. But I am going to study and then I will not be irresponsible anymore.

Ummmm, I wasn't actually suggesting that. I was merely applauding your honesty since it would have been easy enough to cheat.

I don't know any of the day shapes , I don't sail enough to kero them in memory

I keep a cheat card in the top,pocket of the head door in case it's needed

There's no way I would trust my memory to a day signal or flag enough to make a command decision.

It was a joke - I made that joke because catigale made a post about being a bad captain. I thought it was funny because catigale knows all the rules better than most everyone else so I thought it would be funny if he said he was a bad captian.

Some of the guys (like catigale) are members of those piloting groups like Power Squadron and stuff like that - and those guys know the rules better.

I went to Power Squadron school but I was never a member.

The ball and diamond signs are probably a good thing to have in the head to make sure you pass on the correct side when entering a "waterway" - right? So I think that's a good location for a cheat sheet.

(I don't even have the cheat sheet)

I guess there are no takers.

Ball over diamond over ball means it's a vessel restricted in her ability to maneuver. Which a dredge definitely is, though it's not the only type of vessel operation that fits that criterion.

But the big one is the ball over ball and diamond over diamond, which indicates and is required for underwater construction (including dredging), and they further indicate 'safe to pass side' (diamond over diamond) and 'danger side' or 'obstruction side' (ball over ball). So when you come across a dredge operating in a channel, remember that 'balls are bad' and 'diamonds are delightful'.


Oh, and at night, it would be red over white over red for a vessel restricted in her ability to maneuver, with green over green on the 'safe side' and red over red on the 'danger' or 'obstruction side'.

You can't always just stay away, especially in a river or channel. The river I used to dock in was dredged a few years ago, using a crane with clamshell (no pumping so no hoses/pipes, which may not be obvious anyway), and it wasn't obvious which side to pass on when it was in the middle of the river (quite narrow) at least until they swung the clamshell over the side.

Being of limited intelligence I have devised a few simple sayings to help me and for lights I do real good - I'm actually a better pilot at night than I am in the day because of my sayings I have for lights:


Right of way at night is so easy - always give way to red lights or:

RED MEANS STOP! Green means go.

That's easy - just like driving a car.

And where is really counts (navigating a waterway or the head):

RED RIGHT RETURNING

And now thanks to tomfoolery I have another one:

BALLS ARE BAD!

Thanks tom - I will add that one to my list.

You can also think of the anchor ball, which you avoid when a vessel is flying it.

Flying an inverted cone when under power with sails up I think is only required for vessels over 12m (and I've only once seen a vessel flying one, ever), but I'm not positive about that.

Most of the time, if I'm unsure, I just stay away, or give way early. I just thought the dredge was interesting because in that jumble of shapes is what amounts to an arrow showing which side to pass on, like a highway truck in the middle of the road with a giant arrow on the back. Two diamonds are like arrows pointing up/down along the lane, while the ball is like the silhouette of a do not enter sign.

Clear as day. Nice thread Tom.

Now taking it a step further. In the vid it explains sound signals in restricted visibility (Rule 35).
So many rules out there.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gfry8xTJiuE

In the example photo posted, is there enough room between the barge and rocks to pass? That’s what the diamonds indicate, correct?

Ray