Dinghies Are Boats Too
The article is written by D/Lt/C Tim
Tyler, JN. The opinions are his and do not necessarily reflect the views
of the HPS or of the USPS.
While spending some time moored at Block Island this summer, my wife and I noticed there are a lot of people that don't think their inflatable dinghies are boats. Unless you rent a slip, or can afford to pay for many trips to shore in the water taxis, if you spend any time at Block Island the nature of boating there will necessitate you have your own method of transportation to dry land. In most cases this will be an inflatable dinghy.
At a lot of other anchorages, the trip to shore is not very far and can be made with a set of oars. At Block the anchorage and most moorings are quite a distance from shore. Throw in the wind that seems to be fairly constant at Block and most people will opt to have a motor on their dinghy. So when you're sitting on your boat enjoying that which is the beauty of Block Island you see a lot of motorized inflatable dinghies.
There is nothing inherently problematic with this unless you forget they are not just blow up toys, but are boats. Sure, people get them registered as they are required to do by law, but that seems to be where a line gets drawn. Sitting there we see boats go by rated for 3-4 people that have 6 people in them, no one wearing a PFD and no room left in the boat for one, let alone six of them. These small boats zoom by with no respect for the fact that this is a NO WAKE area and speed is limited to 5 MPH, or that children and adults are swimming around their boats. All this is dangerous enough, but the most alarming thing to us is they head off at night without navigation lights. People, it gets very dark out there, and believe me when I say you can't be seen. This is a busy harbor even at night, with both recreational and commercial traffic. Even with a flash light (not legal for a motorized vessel), or my favorite… a "smart phone" light, you still can't be seen. On those rare occasions when someone might see you, without navigation lights they have no idea where you're going.
This "it's only an inflatable" attitude is a very dangerous one and not unique to Block Island. Block Island just happens to be the place it was driven home for me.
So for your own safety, and that of those around you, please start giving your hard working inflatable the respect it deserves and treat it like the real honest to goodness boat that it is. Equip it like a boat, operate it like a boat and if you'll be out after dark, please GET SOME NAVIGATION LIGHTS. Yes, they do make them.
Stay safe.
As a follow up to last month’s article on dinghy safety I decided to practice what I preach and go out and get some navigational lights for our dinghy. Please understand that I don’t currently use the dinghy at night without lights. If we want to go to shore at night we either take a launch if one is available, or we stay put on the boat. Staying on board is not very often convenient and you can’t always count on a launch. Timing your visits so that you get back before dark is always an option, we’ve done that too, but when we do we always worry about getting “caught out after dark” and will most often cut the trip short and head back early to avoid it.
So it was time to get some navigation lights for our dinghy. I knew they were out there, I’d seen many different versions of them, but I never really did the necessary research required to make a purchase. When I did, what I found was most portable lights for dinghies fall way short of fulfilling the requirements of the U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Light Rules in one respect. Where they fall short is the single all-round light most small boats use in lieu of separate masthead and stern light. None of them I found, except one, takes into account the fact that this light must be 1 meter above the side or combination lights. They offer an all-round light that sticks to the top of your outboard motor via a suction cup and therefore comes nowhere near the required 1 meter.
I did find one company called NAVISAFE that specializes in portable navigation lights that makes a kit the does fulfill the Coast Guard’s requirements. The kit I purchased is called “Navisafe Dinghy Complete” and come with everything you need to make your inflatable dinghy legal. Other than being a complete kit, the other great thing about it is it comes with a case to neatly store the lights and light pole when the lights are not needed.
I could only find one review on it, on Amazon, and although it was mostly favorable the reviewer said he had a problem with the pole breaking and said he would be contacting the company. There was no follow-up review. This prompted me to look for warranty information and since I found none on the kit, I wrote the company quoting the Amazon review. The companies reply was prompt. I had follow-up questions and they too were promptly answered. I’ve included excerpts from the emails I received in reply here:
“Thank you for your informative Email. We have not been contacted by any regarding problems with the pole. We are constantly improving our product line and the 4-piece pole is an improvement from the old Telescopic pole we have had” …
… “We have 12-month Warranty on our products, but if there is a clear manufacture error, we will replace any product even after 3-4- year. (Not a ware and tare problem.)” …
The replies satisfied me enough to order the kit. I have since received it and the quality appears to be quite good. I have received no compensation from this company and pass this experience along for what it’s worth in the hope of helping someone in their search for a dinghy lighting solution.
One last thing. In case you think this isn’t a real concern, I’m passing along an experience documented by the same Amazon reviewer mentioned above…
…” It is very important to me to be seen at night while boating, especially after witnessing 3 kids go by me at anchor without a stern light get rear ended at high speed by a speedboat in their small skiff-they miraculously survived, but one boy lost his leg.”
Stay safe.
While spending some time moored at Block Island this summer, my wife and I noticed there are a lot of people that don't think their inflatable dinghies are boats. Unless you rent a slip, or can afford to pay for many trips to shore in the water taxis, if you spend any time at Block Island the nature of boating there will necessitate you have your own method of transportation to dry land. In most cases this will be an inflatable dinghy.
At a lot of other anchorages, the trip to shore is not very far and can be made with a set of oars. At Block the anchorage and most moorings are quite a distance from shore. Throw in the wind that seems to be fairly constant at Block and most people will opt to have a motor on their dinghy. So when you're sitting on your boat enjoying that which is the beauty of Block Island you see a lot of motorized inflatable dinghies.
There is nothing inherently problematic with this unless you forget they are not just blow up toys, but are boats. Sure, people get them registered as they are required to do by law, but that seems to be where a line gets drawn. Sitting there we see boats go by rated for 3-4 people that have 6 people in them, no one wearing a PFD and no room left in the boat for one, let alone six of them. These small boats zoom by with no respect for the fact that this is a NO WAKE area and speed is limited to 5 MPH, or that children and adults are swimming around their boats. All this is dangerous enough, but the most alarming thing to us is they head off at night without navigation lights. People, it gets very dark out there, and believe me when I say you can't be seen. This is a busy harbor even at night, with both recreational and commercial traffic. Even with a flash light (not legal for a motorized vessel), or my favorite… a "smart phone" light, you still can't be seen. On those rare occasions when someone might see you, without navigation lights they have no idea where you're going.
This "it's only an inflatable" attitude is a very dangerous one and not unique to Block Island. Block Island just happens to be the place it was driven home for me.
So for your own safety, and that of those around you, please start giving your hard working inflatable the respect it deserves and treat it like the real honest to goodness boat that it is. Equip it like a boat, operate it like a boat and if you'll be out after dark, please GET SOME NAVIGATION LIGHTS. Yes, they do make them.
Stay safe.
Follow Up Article
As a follow up to last month’s article on dinghy safety I decided to practice what I preach and go out and get some navigational lights for our dinghy. Please understand that I don’t currently use the dinghy at night without lights. If we want to go to shore at night we either take a launch if one is available, or we stay put on the boat. Staying on board is not very often convenient and you can’t always count on a launch. Timing your visits so that you get back before dark is always an option, we’ve done that too, but when we do we always worry about getting “caught out after dark” and will most often cut the trip short and head back early to avoid it.
So it was time to get some navigation lights for our dinghy. I knew they were out there, I’d seen many different versions of them, but I never really did the necessary research required to make a purchase. When I did, what I found was most portable lights for dinghies fall way short of fulfilling the requirements of the U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Light Rules in one respect. Where they fall short is the single all-round light most small boats use in lieu of separate masthead and stern light. None of them I found, except one, takes into account the fact that this light must be 1 meter above the side or combination lights. They offer an all-round light that sticks to the top of your outboard motor via a suction cup and therefore comes nowhere near the required 1 meter.
I did find one company called NAVISAFE that specializes in portable navigation lights that makes a kit the does fulfill the Coast Guard’s requirements. The kit I purchased is called “Navisafe Dinghy Complete” and come with everything you need to make your inflatable dinghy legal. Other than being a complete kit, the other great thing about it is it comes with a case to neatly store the lights and light pole when the lights are not needed.
I could only find one review on it, on Amazon, and although it was mostly favorable the reviewer said he had a problem with the pole breaking and said he would be contacting the company. There was no follow-up review. This prompted me to look for warranty information and since I found none on the kit, I wrote the company quoting the Amazon review. The companies reply was prompt. I had follow-up questions and they too were promptly answered. I’ve included excerpts from the emails I received in reply here:
“Thank you for your informative Email. We have not been contacted by any regarding problems with the pole. We are constantly improving our product line and the 4-piece pole is an improvement from the old Telescopic pole we have had” …
… “We have 12-month Warranty on our products, but if there is a clear manufacture error, we will replace any product even after 3-4- year. (Not a ware and tare problem.)” …
The replies satisfied me enough to order the kit. I have since received it and the quality appears to be quite good. I have received no compensation from this company and pass this experience along for what it’s worth in the hope of helping someone in their search for a dinghy lighting solution.
One last thing. In case you think this isn’t a real concern, I’m passing along an experience documented by the same Amazon reviewer mentioned above…
…” It is very important to me to be seen at night while boating, especially after witnessing 3 kids go by me at anchor without a stern light get rear ended at high speed by a speedboat in their small skiff-they miraculously survived, but one boy lost his leg.”
Stay safe.
 Properly lighted dinghy at night. |
 Dinghy without lights at night. |
