Safety concern

[fishy1]

Hey guys I have noticed in recent years a lot of boats that have swim platforms using them to hold thier coolers but the problem is many are covering thier stern lights which make the boats almost impossible to see in the dark from the stern.

Please remember not to cover your stern light or place another visible light somewhere in the rear of the boat . Good luck and be safe.

[Porcupine]

Good post! We have noticed that as well. Another thing that pops up every year around this time is smaller boats with removable stern lights on a pole. I sure see a lot of them that don't work, aren't tall enough, or are not installed in the dark... Keep an eye out guys, ya never know when you'll come across a canoe trolling one rod in 140fow with no lights

I want a bigger cooler but I'll first have to see if it is taller then my current model. The 120qt I have now is 2-3" lower then our stern light, the only time the light isn't visable is when the cooler is open:D . If the cooler is open in the dark the spreader lights are on anyway to remove hooks.

[Boltman]

All you have to do is mount solar LED lights to yor cool man you could pimp out a big cooler with LEDs

[rods & regs]

Agreed this is a concern but to me a larger concern wow be the people that don't use or don't have any lights. I followed a smaller boat out of the harbor this morning that the only light visible was their cell phone. Very scary and irritating.

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[Corey K]

Or how about the boats running their lights off arches inside the pier heads. Very hard to drive behind these boats, they blind everyone. I know it's nice to get rods ready in the no wake zones but, it's like all the people leaving their truck headlights on at the ramp while backed down....obviously I could go on and on about all the safety and irritating things people do at the ramps and on the water!

[SUPERTRAMP]

Good point here. We actually postponed a trip last week to wait for the ships store to open so we could replace a bulb on our starboard forward lite. I actually have 2 lites for my stern, one on transom, and my mooring lite is either or.. Being visible is a must in the early and late hours at the pier heads. BTW it is a large fine if you are ticketed for improper running lites.

[Turfwrench]

Or how about the boats running their lights off arches inside the pier heads. Very hard to drive behind these boats, they blind everyone.

Agree 100%. Got behind one last year @ Frankfort, he had them on all the way from the harbor and just out in front of the pier head. It was blinding and a call out on the radio was just ignored.

[rods & regs]

Or how about the boats running their lights off arches inside the pier heads. Very hard to drive behind these boats, they blind everyone. I know it's nice to get rods ready in the no wake zones but, it's like all the people leaving their truck headlights on at the ramp while backed down....obviously I could go on and on about all the safety and irritating things people do at the ramps and on the water!

I agree with this being a big pain and a possible safety concern and I must admit that I have done this but I do try to remember to not turn them on until we have cleared the pier heads. If someone called me on the radio though I would certainly turn them off.

[fishy1]

I would rather see a boat well lit than those without lights I have had several close calls over the years without lights. I have been behind boats with a lot of lights on and can avoid looking at them or go around them but hard to avoid something you can't see.

[SUPERTRAMP]

I would rather see a boat well lit than those without lights I have had several close calls over the years without lights. I have been behind boats with a lot of lights on and can avoid looking at them or go around them but hard to avoid something you can't see.

Boating regulations state that all power craft must have starboard green markers and port red markers on the bow, a white lite to the stern to identify direction. These must be displayed from sundown until sun up and are a true safety issue. Having a large array on while underway is as big a danger as no lites. I have red lighting strips on the gunwales inside the boat to allow me to work and not be lite blinded. Sounds like some fishermen need to read the coast guard regs.

[fishy1]

Boating regulations state that all power craft must have starboard green markers and port red markers on the bow, a white lite to the stern to identify direction. These must be displayed from sundown until sun up and are a true safety issue. Having a large array on while underway is as big a danger as no lites. I have red lighting strips on the gunwales inside the boat to allow me to work and not be lite blinded. Sounds like some fishermen need to read the coast guard regs.

You are correct Mike I had a captains license in the past and could not agree more .Coast guard regulations permit you to run white lights in the aft of the boat and there is no mention of restriction in illumination brightness but should not impair the ability of others to navigate such as a directional spotlight.

Running a boat with anything that restricts your ability to see in the dark is dangerous.

My point is that as a approaching vessel the ability to see them I would rather see a boat with spreader lights on then no lights or covered stern light which limits the someone approaching from the stern to see them.

[rods & regs]

You are correct Mike I had a captains license in the past and could not agree more .Coast guard regulations permit you to run white lights in the aft of the boat and there is no mention of restriction in illumination brightness but should not impair the ability of others to navigate such as a directional spotlight.

Running a boat with anything that restricts your ability to see in the dark is dangerous.

My point is that as a approaching vessel the ability to see them I would rather see a boat with spreader lights on then no lights or covered stern light which limits the someone approaching from the stern to see them.

And not that it really matters in the real world but my deck lights point nearly straight down to the floor not out the back over the transom.

[coralee]

I was hit with a baseball in the eye years ago and those bright spreader lights are blinding to me as my eye is dilated open all the time. That would make it very difficult for me to see a small boat with its normal lights on. Please do not use the speaders with boats behind you even way behind as it blinds us to boats coming from the side besides making forward watching hard. A head lamp works just fine if you need to set lines or floor lighting that just luminates upward. And if I may add it would be nice for people to turn their headlights off at the dock as that also makes backing up very difficult. And yes most vehicles do have a way to turn them off.

[Porcupine]

Ive been blinded more then once by other boats spreaders. Some are pointed way to much out behind the boat rather then at the transom. Being previously blinded made me aware so I set mine up aimed at the cooler and corner riggers, trying to be courteous to others and still functional for what I want for netting and such. I have a cheap $5 LED light from harbor freight I can zip tie to the arch to see the rigger rods in the dark. Sooner or later I'm going to order some led strips to mount under the gunwales to make the floor glow enough to swap tackle, tie knots, ect without blowing our night vision out.

1999 and newer GM owners can disable their automatic headlights by pressing the dome override button 3 or 4 times quickly. A chime will sound and the head lights can be turned on manually or just park lights. When the truck is shut off and restarted the automatic headlights will work normally again.

[Boltman]

I am installing spreaders on the boat soon, LED's in three different locations, BUT, they will only be pointed Down and Out, not passing the Swim Plat form with the Array.....Always being curtious to others. And why would I ever have them on moving down the channels, I also have installed RED LED's to light up the floors so Getting things out and ready aren't offensive..

[Porcupine]

Could you post a pic or two of your red leds on at night? How long of led strips do you have?

[Boltman]

Well down on the deck they are replacement of the original perko bulbs , but up on the bridge I added 6" LED strips , they are too bright for fishing with them on , make the boat look like a Vegas whore house haha I'll send you one next weekend with RED bulbs on the back deck on at night , then I'll post which bulb fits the perko factory bulbs if you'd like me too .

[PolymerKnot]

Anyone have pictures of how they mounted a cooler to their swim platform. We are considering doing the same with custom stanchions.

PolymerKnot

[gmfishon]

hey guys i was wondering if this is only michigan law but the handbook i have states the following:

red and green sidelights

an all-round white light or both a masthead light and sternlight. these lights must be higher than the sidelights.

they then show pics that look like the only way to be legal is you need the white light high enough that it could not be covered by a cooler on the swim platform. Ihad been thinking about this because my boat only has a white light on the stern where it could be covered up by a cooler ( no swim platform) . looks like to be legal i need to add a second white light. what do you guys think ? the most recent book i have is 2011 handbook of boating laws published by mi dnr.