Name boards

I really like some of the name boards that folks here have on their boats. I am particularly impressed with the boards on Marin's boat. Very classy.

Did you do them yourself, or did you have them done professionally? What kind of shop would you (did you) have them done at? KJ

We made them ourselves, along with a pair of name and hailing port boards for the transom. They are more or less a copy of the factory GB boards but ours are longer than the stock boards.

We had the lettering done by a professional sign shop. It is in two parts, the gold upper layer and the gray drop shaddow. We completely finished the boards with some eight coats of varnish (this was before we had discovered Bristol) and took them to the sign shop and had them apply the lettering. Figured better mistakes be made on their dime than on ours.

This was in 1998. Every few years we give the boards another coat of finish. The lettering is the original but my wife made name board covers which protects them from the weather and UV so that has contributed greatly to their longevity.

Were we to do it again I would use a brighter or lighter gold or perhaps even silver. The lettering is actually rather dark, particularly under several coats of finish. Of course the right way to do it is to have the name carved and then filled with gold leaf but we didn't want the time or expense of doing that.

Very important when mounting the boards to stand them off the fiberglass a bit. If you don't moisture will get trapped between the boards and the fiberglass and stay there. Eventually it will lift the finish on the back of the boards and once that happens it's just a matter of time before the finish starts to fail on the edges and then the front. We used nylon spacers to hold them off about a half inch. Same thing with the boards on the transom.

For mounting the boards we used oval headed stainless screws with trim rings. There are four mounting screws per board--- the ones at the rear are hidden behind the nav lights.

Thanks. Nicely done. KJ

I like them and think they look great...

Just wondering if any authority would take them as a light "screen" because of the way they neatly fit around the nav light???

They are identical in configuration to the boards American Marine and now Grand Banks installs at the factory other than ours are a bit longer. I doubt the manufacturer would use a design that was problematical with any marine authorities around the word. We've not ever had anyone mention there was a problem with the design-- surveyors, USCG, etc. So I think they're fine.

The back piece does not extend out far enough to block the light's required angle of coverage.

on Ranger tugs...they are definitely lightboards
(screens) and are painted red/green...definitely a no no...

psneeld said:

on Ranger tugs...they are definitely lightboards
(screens) and are painted red/green...definitely a no no...

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Why?

Larry M said:

Why?

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If light boards are fitted...they are to be painted matt/flat finish so the reflections can't be misinterpreted.

Most lights don't actually fit the specifications...thankfully the USCG doesn't REALLY check your lights...but lightboards are easy to see and the requirement if fitted is matt black for the inside surface..

For years while I was active duty I sent emails saying that boat lights suck...no movement because I was in the wrong branch..just another whiney boater...then after about 5 years of my bitching...the USCG came out with an all points bulletin for boaters that the operator was responsible for their lights as manufacturers and builders had their heads up their butts when it came to nav lights.

psneeld said:

If light boards are fitted...they are to be painted matt/flat finish so the reflections can't be misinterpreted.

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I'm understand but I'm not sure how the name boards on the Ranger Tugs can be misinterpreted. I've seen other boats where the name boards have been painted red and green as a standard practice.

I've made dog leg boards for my P&S running lights and I've made them out of white plastic. I assumed the white plastic would reflect the colored light from the red and green lights to make them easier to see. Sorta like the reflector on a flashlight. Have'nt finished them though.

No sign-board names here. Strictly "business." (Besides, the boat's name won't fit.)

Larry M said:

I'm understand but I'm not sure how the name boards on the Ranger Tugs can be misinterpreted. I've seen other boats where the name boards have been painted red and green as a standard practice.

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If you can see red or green at any distance that is reflected by the "screen" you light is not in compliance due to it doesn't adhere to the proper "sector"...

manyboats said:

I've made dog leg boards for my P&S running lights and I've made them out of white plastic. I assumed the white plastic would reflect the colored light from the red and green lights to make them easier to see. Sorta like the reflector on a flashlight. Have'nt finished them though.

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And because they wount be interpreted for the proper sector...they are WAY out of compliance.....

but I will admit that it's crazy...if you mount standard lights on a white flybridge it seems to be the same same thing...

".they are WAY out of compliance....."

We Alaskan's are not heavy into compliance.

Any reflections will create a wider field of display meaning an oncoming boat will have a harder time figuring out if you are a collision problem to them. The lights are supposed to produce a fairly sharp cutoff angle so they can be seen in a fairly sharply defined arc. That's why the black matte.

Reflections blur that definition or cutoff.

With that said mine are similar to Marin's but no name and not as pretty.

With my white boards the extra illumination will occur only in the sector wanted. They will just be easier to see.

manyboats said:

With my white boards the extra illumination will occur only in the sector wanted. They will just be easier to see.

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if there is ANY white past the lens...it will change the sector...unless your lights are the typically dim ones that they don't give any reflection....

Took these photos today as I was leaving our boat. They are the factory name boards on a GB52 and an almost-new GB47.

In looking at the two photos above it occurred to me that the only reflections one would see off the name boards from the nav lights would be in the sector where you're supposed to see the light anyway-- at an angle out in front of it. Like the second photo. Abeam and aft of the light the reflective part of the board is away from you--- like a mirror tilted away from you---- so you wouldn't get see any reflections of the nav light in it anyway.

Marin said:

In looking at the two photos above it occurred to me that the only reflections one would see off the name boards from the nav lights would be in the sector where you're supposed to see the light anyway-- at an angle out in front of it. Like the second photo. Abeam and aft of the light the reflective part of the board is away from you--- like a mirror tilted away from you---- so you wouldn't get see any reflections of the nav light in it anyway.

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ok...whatever you guys think...but the USCG/NAVRULES require the inside of light screens to be painted matt black.

if they are nameboards/mounting boards...great...good luck.

psneeld said:

ok...whatever you guys think...but the USCG/NAVRULES require the inside of light screens to be painted matt black.

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Yeah, black, but I couldn't find the requirement.

(a) The sidelights of vessels of 20 meters or more in length shall be fitted with mat black inboard screens and meet the requirements of §84.17. On vessels of less than 20 meters in length, the sidelights, if necessary to meet the requirements of §84.17, shall be fitted with mat black inboard screens. With a combined lantern, using a single vertical filament and a very narrow division between the green and red sections, external screens need not be fitted.
(b) On power-driven vessels less than 12 meters in length

NAVRULES Annex 1 or Title 33 84.09 Screens.

what I marked in red might be the only loophole.....

Whats crazy is we had to make lightboards to bring our outsized, extra bright straight out of the box, Hella navlights on out towboats in compliance because their reflections were so bright and the plastic lens make the sectors wrong...nuts but true. We also had o pait the cabin top around the light flat black to stay in compliance.

I'm guessing that perhaps the USCG doesn't consider Grand Banks name boards/nav lights to be light screens? Their boats have to be approved by the USCG and the equivalent authorities in other countries where GBs are sold. Since GBs have been using this design of board since the mid-60s and selling their boats all over the world you'd a thunk that some authority would have said something by now if they had a problem with them.

Or it may well be like you said earlier and this particular rule is simply never enforced. In which case it's irrelevant what the rule says, right?

psneeld said:

ok...whatever you guys think...but the USCG/NAVRULES require the inside of light screens to be painted matt black.

if they are nameboards/mounting boards...great...good luck.

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Question. If the boards where not in place would the sides of the white flybridge need to be painted matte black?

psneeld said:

ok...whatever you guys think...but the USCG/NAVRULES require the inside of light screens to be painted matt black.

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I suspected as much but just looked it up (love the NavRules iPhone app!) and you are indeed right - and, further, if the vessel is 20 meters or more in length "mat [sic] black inboard screens" are required. Cool, now I have another arrow in my one-upsmanship quiver!

CPseudonym said:

Question. If the boards where not in place would the sides of the white flybridge need to be painted matte black?

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I mentioned that back in post 13...and later like I said...it's crazy as the lights are never really in compliance up close because of reflections, bad design...etc...but offshore at a distance I'm sure they all look fine....unfortunately for us small guys who spend a lot of time in close quarters...the lights could be a lot better...

Then again...around these parts...few people follow the rules of the road anyhow...

psneeld said:

I mentioned that back in post 13...and later like I said...it's crazy as the lights are never really in compliance up close because of reflections, bad design...etc...but offshore at a distance I'm sure they all look fine....unfortunately for us small guys who spend a lot of time in close quarters...the lights could be a lot better...

Then again...around these parts...few people follow the rules of the road anyhow...

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I missed that post. So the bottom line sounds like the spirit of the law is more important than the letter of the law?

This boating thing sounds about as complicated as you wish to make it. Kinda like anchoring.

Marin: your nav light should be ahead of or below the antenna. One or the other should move. Unless you are using a non-approved light, the filament will be totally abscured for a few degrees, where an observer would be in line with the antenna.
As a CCGA CE inspector, I wouldn't fail your shiny boards, for the reason you have stated.

koliver said:

Marin: your nav light should be ahead of or below the antenna. One or the other should move. Unless you are using a non-approved light, the filament will be totally abscured for a few degrees, where an observer would be in line with the antenna.
As a CCGA CE inspector, I wouldn't fail your shiny boards, for the reason you have stated.

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I hope you fail all the higher speed power boats with transom stern lights that dip below their stern wave when they are motoring somewhere between idle and on plane...or the CC's with T-tops and the light is mounted short and aft on the top... the same happens to their masthead light but from ahead...

See it all the time...MANY boays don't comply a lot of their on the water time...so a degree or two for Marin's light should be no big deal..

koliver said:

Marin: your nav light should be ahead of or below the antenna. One or the other should move.

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Well, then just about every GB in our marina plus a bazillion other boats are not in compliance. As Psneeld said, the nav light thing is not enforced or even paid attention to by the USCG, CCG, or anyone else. So if they don't care, we don't care.

Anyway, when our nav lights are on the entire lens glows equally green, not just where the filament is. The antenna is not as wide as the lens. Therefore, even with the antenna between the light and a viewer, part of the green lens will still be visible to them. So far as I know there is nothing that says how big the nav lights need to be, just how far they need to be visible from.

Either way it's a total non-issue. So after I type the period and smiley face at the end of this sentence, it's something that will be gone forever off the hard drive of my brain.