From the nosy neighbor files.

Man the boating world is changing fast. There are alot of guys going to the boat show in the next few weeks with notin but cash for a boat. Lots will have zero knowledge of what they are getting into.

I mean we used to start off in that 16 footer on a trailer. Today guys are starting out on 30 foot high powered pleasure craft with all the do dads.

I was running the little boat back up the river after dark. I see behind me a big white light and a red light? HMMMMMMM could be a tug a tow pulling out of the slew behind me. Up a couple of miles on the river and well that bright lite is bright and the red light is bright. HMMMMMM. They are closing fast and yup thats a spot light or search light being used as head lights, with a red nav light under?

I turn into the middle arm and run behind a bridge guard prior to being run down. They pass and head on down the middle arm at about 16 knots in a no wake, five not zone. HMMMMMMM

So I follow behind just at idle and catch up as they circle prior to bringing the boat into there marina. I note they are running two reds instead of a green / red and have no steaming light along with the stern light covered by dropped canvas. HMMMMMM

I try to ask about the running lights and the improper set up.

I am told !!!







RED LUCKY !

By the guy at the helm with his face lit well by all the nice new fancy dancy aids to navigation placed in front of his face.

HMMMMMMMM

Red lucky , realy.

Time to have a little talk ? or no ?

On the inland waters its $100,000++ wake boats. Financed bling boats behind leased jacked up pickups. They go out surfing and wreck the water for all the other users. Generally drunk as skunks with high power boomboxes making sound pollution at the same time. Or they're ripping up circles with their lake lice. That's why we like winter boating on the coast - no one else is out there.

Stay out of his way and I would give him a suggestion or two....

Here in Miami, some of them start with 50 footers. It's rare to see them with only red lights, but judging by the way they handle their boats, I think Captains that find themselves in their path do see a lot of red.

They're in a different marina from you? Sneak in after dark, and plaster their pontoon with printouts of the correct nav lights... Next week you could give them rights of way, and so on!

Yup different facility. Once I had that answer red lucky I waved and carried on back home. I see the boat once and a while returning through the middle arm early evening with the dble reds and head light. I just stay out of the way and shake my head.

Different world or different perception ?

grumpyoldfishboatguy.

Have ta laugh.

I note they are running two reds

This is proper for their operation..

Red over Red , Captain in the head!

2 red is a vessel not under control, sounds right to me.

It helps to understand that not all people who own boats are "boaters". Many, perhaps most folks buy a boat to have fun on the water or to impress their friends or business clients. They don't care about navigating with charts and a compass, they don't care about proper lighting, they are on the water just to have fun. In most states you don't have to take a class or pass a test to operate a boat so people aren't required to know the rules.

In this case, if you feel the guy is a danger to others, report him to the authorities. Otherwise, let it go.

FF said:

I note they are running two reds

This is proper for their operation..

Red over Red , Captain in the head!

2 red is a vessel not under control, sounds right to me.

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We sing that, ' Red over red, the Captain is dead'.

rwidman said:

It helps to understand that not all people who own boats are "boaters". Many, perhaps most folks buy a boat to have fun on the water or to impress their friends or business clients. They don't care about navigating with charts and a compass, they don't care about proper lighting, they are on the water just to have fun. In most states you don't have to take a class or pass a test to operate a boat so people aren't required to know the rules.

In this case, if you feel the guy is a danger to others, report him to the authorities. Otherwise, let it go.

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Ron thats well said. No point in getting upset with something I realy have no control over. is what it is. I made the attempt and in most cases here on the river , the river gods will select a way to teach lessons. These kinda lessons are well earned, with a cost. Bin there done that. I have to keep in mind that most of the time no one actualy gets hurt just the vessel.

But I will keep an eye out for them

alormaria said:

We sing that, ' Red over red, the Captain is dead'.

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I'm still that boating newbie that lurks around here. Love learning new things

I was only familiar with the "Red over Red your dead" that relates to the visual aproach slope indicators at the end of an airport runway. There it means you will smack into the ground long before the runway.

OFB said:

Ron thats well said. No point in getting upset with something I realy have no control over. is what it is. I made the attempt and in most cases here on the river , the river gods will select a way to teach lessons. These kinda lessons are well earned, with a cost. Bin there done that. I have to keep in mind that most of the time no one actualy gets hurt just the vessel.

But I will keep an eye out for them

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Did you catch the picture of the sailboat I posted last week or so that had deck mount lights mounted to the sides of the bow??? (can't find the pic right now) No lights from either side while sailing!!!

And slowly but surely boating ed is catching up...here in the states something like 42 states now require some sort of at least classroom/internet education (I'm the first to say it's very limited...but at least people gather they are supposed to know something..)

A total of 42 States currently require some form of boater education. Source(s):

http://www.boaterexam.com/usa/

Here in BC a basic skill license is mandatory and has been for some time. I can not say for sure but my guess is these folk have the PCOC or power sqaudron course.

I run into very few that do not have and non that did not fail the test.

I understand the implication and maybe I should know this, but what exactly does "red lucky " mean?

you havent seen anything untill you have been to the fireworks fourth of july on potatoe slough. There a hundreds of boats of every size and shape and most take off for the boat ramps after the fireworks. Many run without lights often at high speed in the dark of the night. Every year its the same and there are surprisingly few accidents. When i have gone i find a nice spot in the tulies and spend the night to avoid the carnage. San Joaquin river and Potatoe slough in the central valley of Californias delta. Its really great fun but there are always a few like mentioned that really make for a scary event

OFB--- If BC has navigation light regulations and if the Fraser River has any sort of patrol organization--- Coast Guard, city police, river police---, and if this guy makes a habit of running his red light boat when having nav lights on is a requirement, then your solution seems simple to me.

Give the details of the boat and its habits to the relevant authorities with the information that this boat is run on the river when lights are required with the wrong lights showing and then sit back and enjoy watching the folks with the blue light boats deal with it.

I understand the implication and maybe I should know this, but what exactly does "red lucky " mean? Nsail

OFB keeps his boat in an area that has a very high concentration of immigrants from China.

Does that help?

Thanks koliver! I'm not sure I should've known that, but now I get it and it makes sense to me!

When we purchased our boat, the port and starboard running lights were on the correct sides but mounted in reverse so they were aimed aft! Another one of the many things our surveyor missed.

Marin said:

OFB--- If BC has navigation light regulations and if the Fraser River has any sort of patrol organization--- Coast Guard, city police, river police...
Give the details of the boat and its habits to the relevant authorities with the information that this boat is run on the river when lights are required with the wrong lights showing and then sit back and enjoy watching the folks with the blue light boats deal with it.

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I agree, you'd be doing him a favour. He is probably blithely unaware he is illegal, and meant to know a whole lot of stuff he clearly doesn't. I guess having mandatory boat licensing here in Queensland...in fact now countrywide I think, does spare us such complete ignorance in boat owners.

Peter B we have mandatory boat licensing here. But I am not seeing much improvement in skill set as a result. It has to help but time will tell.

Koliver is correct red lucky is a cultural thing here in Richmond BC.

Red Lucky

For what ever reason it just makes me laugh a little.

OFB said:

Peter B we have mandatory boat licensing here. But I am not seeing much improvement in skill set as a result.

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"Mandatory boat licensing" can have many meanings. In our state, NSW, you need a license to drive a boat at 10kts and up, but not if you operate below, even if the boat has 10kt+ ability.
Most boats need to be registered, but to determine safe passenger max, Roads & Maritime (as it is following amalgamation)sends load stickers with the max pax number blank,you work it out for yourself with some hints they give. A prosecution for overload could be interesting with pax within the numbers you chose.
R&M has a motto "You`re the skipper, you`re responsible". It doesn`t add "and we`re not", but that`s the idea. That`s ok, it works for sensible boaters, but some are not.
The Lane Cove River where I (and Cresta 32) moor, has unenforced "reduce wash" signage. It is often infested with miscreant ski boats, some with aft tanks to drag the stern increasing wake, whose aim is wake production, not reduction,and sacrificing safe navigation for fun. Enforcement would benefit and protect the non ski boat majority.

BruceK said:

"Mandatory boat licensing" can have many meanings. In our state, NSW, you need a license to drive a boat at 10kts and up, but not if you operate below, even if the boat has 10kt+ ability.
Most boats need to be registered, but to determine safe passenger max, Roads & Maritime (as it is following amalgamation)sends load stickers with the max pax number blank,you work it out for yourself with some hints they give. A prosecution for overload could be interesting with pax within the numbers you chose.
R&M has a motto "You`re the skipper, you`re responsible". It doesn`t add "and we`re not", but that`s the idea. That`s ok, it works for sensible boaters, but some are not.
The Lane Cove River where I (and Cresta 32) moor, has unenforced "reduce wash" signage. It is often infested with miscreant ski boats, some with aft tanks to drag the stern increasing wake, whose aim is wake production, not reduction,and sacrificing safe navigation for fun. Enforcement would benefit and protect the non ski boat majority.

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I guess I'm showing my age with this remark but here goes. When i was a kid there were no rules except for common sense in the delta waterways. You were allowed to pretty much do as you wished except when in navigatable waterways then you had to obey maritime laws. Then one day a list of boating etiquette was published. Wasn't law and no penalties just a guide line for all boaters to adhere to. In the seventies when they were beginning to patrol around cities like Sacramento we even had a sheriff that was always drunk. He was kind of a joke and no one took him seriously until he took offense at Freeport Marina when they honked at him to slow down and reduce his wake when passing the marina. After that he would always trim his patrol boat to make the biggest wake and depending on his alcohol level would harass the marina by driving back and forth. That went on for a year or more before he retired and things got back to normal. By the eighties it became against the law to operate a vessel drunk and there were more patrols in city areas. By now you can begin to see the trend I'm sure. Today in the summer there are cops all over writing tickets for everything under the sun all with stiff fines attached.
Has all this regulation made things any better? Not in my opinion as each year the amount of accidents increases and new laws are enacted.....I'm for fewer laws not more, I guess i am becoming an anarchist. [/FONT]

Britt, I`m no admirer of more regulation,but new regs don`t normally cause accidents, it`s the other way around.
There are many more boats now than when you or I were kids. That`s why being on the correct side of the channel matters.
I`ve suggested Maritime enforce or abandon wake reduction on the Lane Cove River, a part of the Harbour, with moored boats, rowers, kayakers, sailboats,juniors in sailing dinghies,cruisers, lined with waterfront houses. I like the first with an 8 knot limit but if it`s the second we can all power up and put out wash like the ski boats do.

Marin said:

OFB--- If BC has navigation light regulations and if the Fraser River has any sort of patrol organization--- Coast Guard, city police, river police---, and if this guy makes a habit of running his red light boat when having nav lights on is a requirement, then your solution seems simple to me.

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If there are LE agencies around, a simple call to them on VHF 16 giving a polite heads-up when it happened would probably have piqued their interest. There's a good chance they would come out and do a boarding.

BruceK said:

Britt, I`m no admirer of more regulation,but new regs don`t normally cause accidents, it`s the other way around.
There are many more boats now than when you or I were kids. That`s why being on the correct side of the channel matters.
I`ve suggested Maritime enforce or abandon wake reduction on the Lane Cove River, a part of the Harbour, with moored boats, rowers, kayakers, sailboats,juniors in sailing dinghies,cruisers, lined with waterfront houses. I like the first with an 8 knot limit but if it`s the second we can all power up and put out wash like the ski boats do.

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Hi Bruce. What causes accidents are people not paying attention. What i see in the delta is that in areas that are patroled people aren't as attentive as in more remote areas of the delta. Wasn't like that back when there was no patrol, people paid attention. I feel that because people feel "protected" in patroled regulated areas they then relax and kaboom! The increase in the accident rate after laws and patrols per capita kind of supports my position don't you think?
Yes the greater the population density the more accidents, but, the per capita accident rate should be the same and with patrols and laws it should be less but it isnt it is higher.
What i need to do is find some current statistics and post therm.

Best wishes