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Originally Posted by Mink Islander
But it doesn't say you can't have bow nav lights on Kayaks or Rowboats or canoes in addition. In fact and the Boat-Ed quote I gave you is straight from the training -- something Joe Q boater is far more likely to be familiar with than line and literal verse of the RSA. It's pretty plain English and also seems to be common sense. I can't imagine an MP citing you for a violation if you had full bow and stern nav lights on a kayak, rowboat or canoe, can u? Geez.
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Just to clarify a few misconceptions here.
While the Boat-Ed courses are great they are very generic in detail and the NH course has a number of errors in it. What Joe Q. boater needs to be familiar with is the Administrative Rules & RSAs that govern his boating conduct as these are the regulations that a law enforcement officer will be utilizing on a stop. Trust me, a response of "
but that's not what they told me at Boater's ED" isn't going to get you very far out on the water!
Secondly, the Administrative Rule cited, Saf-C 403.16 contains a key legal phrase...."
shall, between sunset and sunrise, display one white light in a conspicuous position, so placed as to show all around the horizon."
The operative legal word here is "
shall". Therefore, if any other lights are displayed that are considered navigational lights, in particular red/green bow lights, then you are in violation of this Administrative Rule and can be cited for same. The defense of "
it doesn't say I can't have extra lights" will not apply here because of the distinct legal phrasing!
Common sense tells me that there are very distinct and rational reasons why different classifications of vessels are required to display different combinations of navigational lights, to help operators of other vessels determine what's out on the water around them. Therefore you are very likely to be cited if you draw enough attention to yourself to be stopped for a violation and are discovered to be displaying a combination of navigational lights that you think is in your best interest but does not comply with applicable regulations.
Of course you could always tell the nice MP officer that you got the idea from the great folks over at Winnipesaukee.com , I'm sure that will let you off the hook!
