# Reflectors



## Brent Swain (Jan 16, 2012)

I've been finding a lot of uses for reflectors ,both peel and stick, and used aluminium traffic signs from the scrapyard. You can wash the writing off the latter with laquer thinner. 
After trying vainly to grope my way into some lee shore harbour entrances on dark windy nights, I stuck some reflectors up ,with bolts run thru them, cemented into rock crevices, which give an instant reference point on a dark nite. Now entering these harbours at nite is light years easier and safer. You will see such reflectors on many BC anchorage entrances. Range reflectors which you line up, will also work, altho I haven't done any; yet.
Reflectors on a mooring buoy make it far easier to pick up on a dark nite. Ditto reflectors on the end of a dock.
If a boat comes into an anchorage on a dark nite, trying to find his way in with a spotlight, my boat lights up like an Xmas tree ,thanks to lots of peel and stick reflectors, especially the ones on the ends, showing how far my boat extends.
Round surfaces give you the most omnidirectional visibility.
They can also make a lost dinghy easier to find at night, and reduce the odds of them getting run over..


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## PaulfromNWOnt (Aug 20, 2010)

Excellent ideas. I'm not sure how the coasties will react to a set of "unofficial" channel ranges (they yank them around here when they find them), but I know those signs light up like no-one's business under the dimmest of lights.

I think this might be getting used somewhere....


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## sawingknots (Feb 24, 2005)

i once saw a cruising sailboat at anchor in out othe way place actually in a no wake zone,get completely run over by a glacer bay power boat[at 2-3 am] many power boaters are not looking up for a light or mistake a anchor light for some random shore light,when achored in a strange place i sometimes display a couple of small lights nearer the water line,cg regulations be dammed


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## WanderingStar (Nov 12, 2008)

Good post. I have stick-on orange bicycle reflectors on either side of my bowsprit.


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## jackdale (Dec 1, 2008)

PaulfromNWOnt said:


> Excellent ideas. I'm not sure how the coasties will react to a set of "unofficial" channel ranges (they yank them around here when they find them), but I know those signs light up like no-one's business under the dimmest of lights.
> 
> I think this might be getting used somewhere....


We have a famous one in the Gulf Islands at the entrance to Pirates Cove. It is daylight only, I believe.

Brent

What about just using some SOLAS tape. More expensive, but less work.


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## jackdale (Dec 1, 2008)

sawingknots said:


> i once saw a cruising sailboat at anchor in out othe way place actually in a no wake zone,get completely run over by a glacer bay power boat[at 2-3 am] many power boaters are not looking up for a light or mistake a anchor light for some random shore light,when achored in a strange place i sometimes display a couple of small lights nearer the water line,cg regulations be dammed


 I see nothing in ColRegs that prohibits additional lights. Just make sure you have an anchor light.


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## Capt Len (Oct 9, 2011)

Many of our coast inlets and anchorages are completely with out visual clues on the dark and cloudy nights .Brents suggestions are great if you're coming coming back to same place and know what the reflectors are saying. I go a step farther with a very powerful strobe/anchor light combo.Carefully used ( impaired night vision) it shows the log booms,shore line, unlite anchored vessels and where I'll put my stern line to shore.Better than radar for up close and personal.


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## RobGallagher (Aug 22, 2001)

I put SOLAS tape on my dinghy outboard cover. It lights up great when a light hits it.

I also put SOLAS partway up my mast so I can easily find my boat in a dark crowded anchorage without shining a light at the hull and disturbing people.

FYI, my SOLAS tape in the shape of the letter "T". If you copy that, four of my friends and I may climb onto your boat at 3AM and fall asleep. I'll take cream and sugar in my morning coffee, french toast and three ibuprophen.


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## jackdale (Dec 1, 2008)

Capt Len said:


> Better than radar for up close and personal.


Radar will help you see, it may not help others see you.

That being said, I am a huge fan of radar for anchoring at night. Last July I anchored in Port McNeill in the fog, at night. I just picked big hole among the targets. Being able to get a range to the targets was fabulous. I might start doing in the in daylight to verify my questimates of distance. I cannot rely it because my students may end up on boats without radar.


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## wingNwing (Apr 28, 2008)

sawingknots said:


> i once saw a cruising sailboat at anchor in out othe way place actually in a no wake zone,get completely run over by a glacer bay power boat[at 2-3 am] many power boaters are not looking up for a light or mistake a anchor light for some random shore light,when achored in a strange place i sometimes display a couple of small lights nearer the water line,cg regulations be dammed


I think it is completely legal to have "additional" lights in cockpit or on deck when anchored, so long as you also have the masthead light. We usually use a couple of those solar-powered LED garden lights. One we can hang from the solar frame. We got really lucky with a couple of the ones with built-in stakes and could stick them in the top of the winches, hey, cheap security for $5. Makes your boat easier to pick out in the anchorage coming back late at night, anyway.


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## RobGallagher (Aug 22, 2001)

wingNwing said:


> I think it is completely legal to have "additional" lights in cockpit or on deck when anchored, so long as you also have the masthead light. We usually use a couple of those solar-powered LED garden lights. One we can hang from the solar frame. We got really lucky with a couple of the ones with built-in stakes and could stick them in the top of the winches, hey, cheap security for $5. Makes your boat easier to pick out in the anchorage coming back late at night, anyway.


The problem now is that everyone seems to have one stuck in each primary winch making them all look the same again :laugher


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## Brent Swain (Jan 16, 2012)

PaulfromNWOnt said:


> Excellent ideas. I'm not sure how the coasties will react to a set of "unofficial" channel ranges (they yank them around here when they find them), but I know those signs light up like no-one's business under the dimmest of lights.
> 
> I think this might be getting used somewhere....


Maybe the coasties are worried about someone undermining their relevance, and thus their job security. They certainly don't do that around here.
Pirates Cove definitely needs some reflectors. The marks there are privately painted on.


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## sawingknots (Feb 24, 2005)

i used to have a couple of those too,but the salt water eventually ate them up,still they last long enough and aren't that expencive


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## swanbedankt (Jan 8, 2014)

Its completely useful hard copy.. you dont expect it on the latest queens printers updated version of the aids to navs..and anyways those guys have their hands full! They can only get to so many places, so a little help from a little bike cat eye is cool. Its so nice to come into a dark harbour and see the rockface etc easily thanks to a boater who took the time to knock a pin with reflective material into its nose.. theres something comforting in knowing that someone before was thinking of the one behind.. thats good sailing!


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## jeremiahblatz (Sep 23, 2013)

Not encouraging anyone to do paperwork and put themselves on the hook, but it coasties do have a provision for privately maintained aids to navigation. So, if you're feeling like a good samaritan, you can submit an application (http://www.uscg.mil/d11/dp/PATON/Blank_CG-2554.pdf). The friendly thing about this is that the aids are then listed in the light list, so other people can know what they mean. The best info about the program (that I could find quickly) is at http://www.uscg.mil/d1/prevention/FinalPatonGuidelinesAndUserRegistrationProcedures.pdf


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## downeast450 (Jan 16, 2008)

wingNwing said:


> I think it is completely legal to have "additional" lights in cockpit or on deck when anchored, so long as you also have the masthead light. We usually use a couple of those solar-powered LED garden lights. One we can hang from the solar frame. We got really lucky with a couple of the ones with built-in stakes and could stick them in the top of the winches, hey, cheap security for $5. Makes your boat easier to pick out in the anchorage coming back late at night, anyway.


We use one to mark our campsite when canoe camping in the back country. Returning after dark trying to find the spot where you pitched camp along a desolate lake shore can be a challenge. It is such a nice glow to see across a lake against a dark featureless shore line. I am amazed by how far away they can be spotted. It saves guessing.

Down


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## svHyLyte (Nov 13, 2008)

Rather an old thread but the subject does have merit. We have had "reflectors" on our stanchions and at points on our mast since the mid '80's, simply because it makes the yacht more viable at night and hence easier to see/find in a dark anchorage.

Unfortunately, reflective tape doesn't last forever and it can be a pain in the neck to remove and replace. Accordingly, on the stanchions we use lengths of gray hard rubber pipe, slightly smaller in inside diameter than the outside diameter of the stanchions (ours are 30mm for which we use 1" ID pipe). The lengths of pipe are cut slightly longer than the 6" lengths of "Lifesafe SOLAS Approved Reflective Tape" (that one can buy at West Marine/Defender/SailNet Store) that we use. I split the pipe and cut out and discard an approximately 3/4" wide section of the pipe lengthwise. This leaves enough space to allow one to wedge the pipe over the stanchion but keeps enough of the pipe that it will grip the stanchion and hold itself in place with the reflective tape facing outward. These are installed on every stanchion as well as the bow and stern pulpit stanchions just beneath the middle lifeline and are quite remarkably visible over a goodly distance even in the light of a relatively weak flashlight. The tape on the mast is applied to 2 foot lengths of gray plastic that are situated under the lower spreaders on either side of the mast and under the tang for the baby-stay on the front of the mast, held in place with patches of Scotch double-stick foam tape (that seems to last forever!).

The tape really works and really does improve the visibility of the yacht at night.

FWIW...


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## olysux (Feb 17, 2014)

never thought about reflectors, good idea


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