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Boats and Watercraft
If you meet a vessel and see a green and red light but no masthead (white) light, then you are approaching a sail-driven vessel. You are the give-way craft and must yield right-of-way to the sailing vessel.
Port (left) Approach
If a green and a white light are visible, then another craft is approaching you from the port (left) side. In this situation, you are the stand-on craft and should maintain your speed and course. The other craft should take early and substantial action to steer well clear of your craft.
Starboard (right) Approach
If a red and a white light are visible, then another craft is approaching you from the starboard (right) side. In this situation you are the give-way craft and must yield right-of-way. You should take early and substantial action to steer well clear of the other craft. Reduce your speed, change direction and pass at a safe distance behind the other boat.
Safe Boating Tip
A simple way to decipher powerboat navigation lights is to remember: If you see a GREEN LIGHT you can ‘GO’: another boat is approaching from your port side.
If you see a RED LIGHT you should ‘STOP’: another boat is approaching from your starboard side.
What Does a White Light Indicate?
If you see a white light on its own it indicates that you DO NOT have the right-of-way. The white light will be identifying one of the following three things:
1) You are approaching another craft from behind
If only a white light is visible, you may be approaching another craft from behind. You are the give-way-craft and must take early and substantial action to steer well clear by altering your course and passing at a safe distance on the starboard (right) or port (left) side.
2) You are approaching a non-powered craft
If you are approaching a non-powered craft, you are the give-way craft and must yield the right of way. You should take early and substantial action to stay well clear and pass at a safe speed and distance.
Remember that if you’re operating a non-powered craft at night, you are required have ready for use an electric torch, flashlight or lighted lantern showing a white light (this rule applies if the boat cannot be equipped with standard navigation lights).
3) You are approaching an anchored craft at night
If you are approaching an anchored craft, the anchored craft will be exhibiting an all-round white light to indicate to other boaters that their craft is at anchor.
Remember: anchored boats should never display their green and red sidelights as these lights will indicate to other boaters that your craft is underway.
To stay safe on the water at night or at times of restricted visibility, you need to be able to recognise lights on other vessels. These lights help prevent collisions.
A vessel's navigation lights tell you:
- whether it's at anchor or underway
- the direction it's travelling
- the vessel type and size.
Keep a lookout for lights that may not be bright, such as those on smaller vessels. These vessels may only display a single white light or a torch light.
A single white light can also mean a vessel is at anchor, or travelling away from you. If you see a white light, be aware that something is ahead of you and prepare to take appropriate action.
If you see a lot of lights, or lights up high, it's probably a large vessel, such as a ship or commercial fishing boat. Keep well clear.
These are some examples of navigation lights you may see.
Navigation lights help you and other boaters determine which is the give-way vessel when encountering each other at night. These lights must be displayed from sunset to sunrise and during periods of restricted visibility, such as fog. There are four common navigation lights.
- Sidelights: These red and green lights are called sidelights (also called combination lights) because they are visible to another vessel approaching from the side or head-on. The red light indicates a vessel’s port (left) side; the green indicates a vessel’s starboard (right) side.
- Sternlight: This white light is seen only from behind or nearly behind the vessel.
- Masthead Light: This white light shines forward and to both sides and is required on all power-driven vessels. (On power-driven vessels less than 39.4 feet in length, the masthead light and sternlight may be combined into an all-round white light; power-driven vessels 39.4 feet in length or longer must have a separate masthead light.) A masthead light must be displayed by all vessels when under engine power. The absence of this light indicates a sailing vessel because sailboats under sail display only sidelights and a sternlight.
- All-Round White Light: On power-driven vessels less than 39.4 feet in length, this light may be used to combine a masthead light and sternlight into a single white light that can be seen by other vessels from any direction. This light serves as an anchor light when sidelights are extinguished.
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- Reach, Throw, Row, or Go
- Animation: Reach, Throw, Row, or Go
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- Preventing a Collision
- Video: Avoiding Accidents
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- Preventing Running Aground
- If Your Boat Runs Aground
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- How to Respond to Injuries
- A First-Aid Kit
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- What You've Learned
- Video: Unit 5 Review