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| Lights Lighting technology is undergoing a rapid change with the advent of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) replacing incandescent lamps. LED lights in a wide variety of colors are rapidly entering the marketplace, including many designed for use by kayakers. Running lights, deck lights and even mast lights using LEDs, if you choose to use them, can be mounted to your kayak with either a suction cup (for fiberglass or composite boats) or a stud mount (for plastic boats). When I think about mounting running lights on my kayak, I’m torn between wanting to be seen (and avoided) and wanting to not be seen at all so that no one points a high-power searchlight at me and temporarily blinds me. Coast guard and most state regulations don’t require running lights on a kayak, but if you do mount them on your boat, you have to make sure they conform to the applicable laws. In the U.S., the coast guard requires that running lights must conform to specific rules. The port and starboard (red and green) bow lights have to be installed so the red light can’t be seen from the starboard side and the green light can’t be seen from port. Neither light should be visible beyond 112.5 degrees from the bow. Only when the boat is pointing directly at you should both side lights be visible at the same time. A white running light should be visible in an arc of 135 degrees at the stern. A white all-around light has a number of specific uses and shouldn’t be used on kayaks while underway. (For a good overview of navigation lights, see www.boatingbasiconline.com “Navigation Lights.”) If you decide to use running lights, they may be of use in keeping tabs on other paddlers in your group, but most running lights that could be mounted on a kayak would not be high enough or bright enough to give other vessels in the area an indication of your presence and direction of movement. It’s also worth mentioning that small vessels such as kayaks may not show up on radar. Even radar reflectors mounted on kayaks aren’t much use except on very calm seas. If there is any wave action, your radar appearance is very likely to be lost in the “noise.” At any rate, it’s dangerous to assume that a powered (or even sailing) vessel will see you and avoid you. At night, it’s especially important to watch for other vessels and stay out of their way. Flashlights Carry a good waterproof flashlight in your PFD. Coast guard regulations require that kayakers and other pilots of small boats carry a flashlight with a white light that they can use to shine at other boats to illuminate themselves and indicate their presence. A powerful flashlight can also be invaluable for finding your way through obstructions or locating a safe landing site in the dark. Make sure you can turn your light on and off with wet hands or with gloves on, if you wear them. For signaling other boats to indicate my position, I use an aluminum high-intensity pocket flashlight with an incandescent bulb. While LED lights are getting brighter every year, incandescent bulbs backed up with enough battery power still cast their beam the greater distance. Marker Lights & Strobe Lights It’s useful to have all paddlers in a group carry a light to mark their positions. The soft luminescent glow of chemical light sticks work well for this purpose. They’re bright enough to see but not so bright as to compromise night vision. Modern LEDs are a wonderful option to light sticks. They last a lot longer than the single-use chemical lights and are easier to see over a distance or in rough water. LED button lights are available in many colors and with steady and flashing lights. It’s easier to keep an eye on the steady light in a seaway where high waves occasionally block other paddlers from view. Different colors of LEDs or glow sticks on each member of the group would be a handy way to keep track of everyone. Strobe lights are commonly sold as an accessory to a PFD, but it’s against regulations to use a strobe to mark the position of a vessel operating on the water. Strobes should only be used in an emergency to attract attention but should be turned off as would-be rescuers who have located you draw near, lest it ruin their night vision. Having a steady LED light or flashlight handy can be useful when help has arrived. The steady light will also mark your position very well in rough water when the flash of a strobe can be obscured by the waves. Navigation Navigation at night is even more important than it is during the day. If you have a GPS, by all means take it along, as it can be an enormous help in determining where you are and how to get to where you want to be. I would not advise simply turning it on and following it blindly, however. You still need to keep track of where you are by having a chart handy. A GPS won’t steer you around reefs and other hazards if you’ve gone off course. A water-resistant LED flashlight with a red lens cap or red LEDs makes a handy lamp that will preserve your night vision when you want to read charts or view a GPS screen. Many GPS units come with backlighting for the display, but I prefer to use my red LED flashlight. This preserves the GPS batteries for navigation and also preserves my night vision. A glance at the GPS screen can show me my course, and once I know that, I transfer my sight to a distant light (try to pick one that’s not moving!) or bright star. Then I don’t need to watch my compass or GPS—I just hold a course toward that light. A VHF radio can also be a valuable accessory to a night paddle. If the buttons aren’t illuminated and you don’t have them memorized, you can use your red LED light to operate it. I have not found trying to contact nearby ships using VHF to be very effective, especially non-U.S. vessels. In heavy traffic areas, the crew on the bridge may be very busy and they may only be listening for radio traffic directed at them by their vessel name. In addition, if the vessel is operating under the supervision of the Vessel Traffic System (VTS), its crew does not have to monitor channel 16, the emergency and hailing channel. Even at sea, outside of the VTS, there is little radio talk on channel 16 and crews may not be actively monitoring their radios. You should still use channel 16, but be aware that you can’t always depend on it. Before crossing a shipping lane, you might also listen to channel 13 for bridge-to-bridge communications about vessel movements. It can be useful, however, to use your VHF to contact the Vessel Traffic Center (VTC) or the local harbormaster when you’re about to cross shipping lanes. In the U.S., there are nine VTCs: Houston, Los Angeles, Louisville, Morgan City, New York City, San Francisco, Sault St. Marie, Seattle and Valdez. Each of these centers has its own procedure, so check current marine charts or the Internet (www.navcen.uscg.gov) for instructions on the area you plan to paddle. If you’re paddling in any VTS areas and not participating in the system (that is, you haven’t radioed VTC), it’s important to avoid the use of channels 5A, 11, 12, 13 and 14 because any of these could be dedicated to the VTC communications. When using a VHF, keep radio traffic to a minimum; make your transmissions brief and to the point. For personal chatter, we often use the inexpensive Family Radio Service (FRS) radios available almost everywhere. They’re often not water resistant and certainly not useful for emergencies, but they are handy. I keep one in the shoulder pocket of my dry top, where I can just squeeze the transmit button to talk to my paddling buddies. I also carry my cell phone. A cell phone is remarkably useful for emergencies and handy for calling home to explain that you may be late, but you’re not in need of a Search and Rescue operation. I keep my cell packed in a dry bag and usually secured on a lanyard and under my deck. Someone invariably calls me while I’m paddling, and I ignore it until I’m somewhere safe. |
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