So, you’re underway at night, and you see a complicated arrangement of lights ahead. “Hmmm, must be something commercial. What the heck is it? I hope we can just go around it…” Well, if you’d been studying your Weems & Plath Lightrule, you might realize that it’s a trawler pulling nets that you need to watch out for.
The Lightrule is a nicely put-together reference tool for interpreting those COLREGS (International Regulations for Avoiding Collisions at Sea) required light arrangements. It’s a kind of slide rule where the sliding piece has patterns representing most any kind of light configuration you might encounter, which line up with little holes in the diagrams on the outside of the rule. A magnifier strip along the edge tells you what you are seeing, and the diagrams show the lights described. The Lightrule is constructed of heavy duty plastic and detente’s along the edge keep the symbols well lined up with the holes. It comes with a protective vinyl case that would be a good idea to use, since the plastic magnifier strip will likely get scratched up and hard to read after a few seasons in the navigation drawer.
The Lightrule is just plain fun to play with, and the design is rather clever. However, you probably don’t want to be digging it out to read with a flashlight on some dark night. It’s a better study tool, and might even make for a few evenings of nautical quizzes with your crew. Worth a look.
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I remember visiting with the W&P rep at the Seattle Boat Show (Captain’s Nautical Supply booth) about a mistake in this product.
While some might consider it petty, it is important to know that one must get 90% correct on the CG ColRegs test for licensing, the test includes inland and international waters. FYI: here in the Puget Sound area all waters are international rules; even Lake Union, Lake Washington, the Hood Canal and their tributaries.
At issue was pushing ahead and side towing on inland waters. The rules call for a “special” flashing yellow light (50-70 flashes per minute.)
As I recall the light rule said you needed a flashing yellow (120 or more flashes per minute.)
I’d be curious to know if the product had been changed. I actually got the ROR book and referenced the section for him.
I should have mentioned that the special flashing light goes on the vessel being side towed or pushed ahead.
Thanks for the heads up! The version of the Lightrule I have in my hands shows a 2006 date, and has a note regarding U.S. Inland Waterways saying: “vessels being pushed ahead or towed alongside exhibit a yellow flashing light forward.” There’s no mention of the flashing rate, though on the hovercraft definition it says “yellow light flashes continuously.” The only other flashing yellow configurations are for purse seiners with two lights flashing alternately. My guess is that for identification purposes the makers considered this adequate to distinguish them. However, if you’re the captain of commercial vessel I’m sure you would want to know the precise definition rather than the minimum for identification.
FYI: I’ve never seen a commercial aid that was 100% correct.
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