Boating After Sunset (hirecraft)

[JennyMorgan]

Nav lights, yes, but please, dear boating god, don't let the hire yards install headlights or search/spot lights.

[kfurbank]

Alan,

The byelaws make no distinction with regard to hire boats navigating after dark. You need to have proper navigation lights, and you need to have insurance both covered by byelaws. If a hire yard provides both then nothing to stop a hirer navigating at night. I believe Barnes Brinks Omega used to have navigation lights, not sure if they ever allowed night navigation though. By virtue of the fact that most hire boats do not have navigation lights means they cannot navigate after dark. I'm guessing that fitting your own temporary ones wouldn't count as the boats are also probably not insured for night navigation either.

[Vaughan]

When you hire a boat, you enter into a contract which has "conditions of hire". These are printed in the brochure, available on the website, or in the case of a boatyard, are on the reverse of the company's headed notepaper.

Blakes conditions of hire from the 1978 brochure -

18. Navigation. Cruising after dark, towing other craft, and racing, are not permitted. The hirer must navigate in accordance with the current bye-laws and must observe the speed limits applicable to each waterway.

9. Company's rights. The operator reserves the right to re-possess boats from un-suitable hirers.

Crown Blue Line's brochure of 2001 says exactly the same, even though all of their boats are equipped with navigation lights, by EC regulations.

So, insurance notwithstanding, if you drive a hire boat after dark you are in breach of the contract of hire and, as Andy rightly says, you risk being removed from the boat and sent home.

 

[Vaughan]

I have just looked up Richardsons conditions of hire on their website and the exclusion of night navigation is still there. It is even still condition number 18.

Some things never change!

[shiny]

i own my boat on broads and while i was down this week i noticed that the river waveny center boats are fitted with nav lights is this right .god help us all 

[marshman]

But it does not say you can use the boats after dark does it?

All cars can exceed 70mph but that does not mean you are permitted to do so!!!!

[grendel]

nav lights are just one requisite to navigate after dark, I would think the terms and conditions / insurance might state differently.

[eddybear]

22 minutes ago, grendel said:

nav lights are just one requisite to navigate after dark, I would think the terms and conditions / insurance might state differently.

God I hope so having been hit by one of their boats in the daylight.

[TostockTimonier]

When we hired Moon Enterprise when she was new, she had navigation lights fitted for the purpose of selling her on later, but they were disconnected at the fuse box, to avoid temptation. 

[Bytheriver]

47 minutes ago, grendel said:

nav lights are just one requisite to navigate after dark, I would think the terms and conditions / insurance might state differently.

WRC published terms for the Cruiser section does not mention after dark but Day Boat terms further down clearly state - "Not use the boat after dusk (no hire boats are licensed or insured for use after dusk)".

[oldgregg]

We should remember that they're navigation lights not 'night' lights - If you were caught in thick fog over Breydon or perhaps Hickling then I think you'd be glad to be able to see where the other boats where and that they could see you.

[shiny]

why have the river waveny hire boats got nav lights god help us if thay allow this in dark

[grendel]

well if you look at the answers to your previous post above i think it just about covers it.

[SwanR]

I'm fairly sure as a hirer that you are still told to moor up before sunset. There are many boatyards that offer good advice and information via their websites. So this is just one example from a guide on Richardson's website.

https://www.richardsonsboatingholidays.co.uk/first-timers/boat-hire-safety-code/

"DON’T Cruise after dark. You have no navigation lights and are not insured for night cruising."

 

[JawsOrca]

I always love the "Anchored" bylaw (40), (a) by night an all-round white light which shall be visible at a distance of 1 kilometre (1,100 yards); 

It's very rare to see an anchor light on (We do use Orca's every time we moor and even sometimes on wild moorings where we maybe hard to spot) but clearly hireboats don't anchor lights so surely they shouldn't "Anchor" overnight?  The bylaws are very strange indeed.

[Gordon]

 I have on many occaissions felt very sorry for hirers, to the point where I believe they really haven't been properly informed as to the true nature of the lack of mooring. Many is the time I have sat on the boat at ,say How Hill or St Benets at dusk and watched a hire boat go by in either direction and thought where on earth are they going to moor?

Have they really been informed of the situation? I don't believe the hire manual helps in this situation, and certainly the Broadcaster does not make it particularly clear how dire the situation can be. The lovely glossy hire brochures that show the idylic pictures of sunny grassy moorings or moorings alongside a village or pub do not give the true story.

Perhaps this year there were more moorings available, for the two weeks I was about in the school holidays I have never seen it so quiet for years. Why?

There are questions that we as more regular broads boaters and particularly the trade and the BA need to ask before we speak of stupiduty and prosecution

 

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Street lights on the riverbank anyone?.

[Coryton]

 

3 hours ago, Gordon said:

 I have on many occaissions felt very sorry for hirers, to the point where I believe they really haven't been properly informed as to the true nature of the lack of mooring. Many is the time I have sat on the boat at ,say How Hill or St Benets at dusk and watched a hire boat go by in either direction and thought where on earth are they going to moor?

Have they really been informed of the situation? I don't believe the hire manual helps in this situation, and certainly the Broadcaster does not make it particularly clear how dire the situation can be. The lovely glossy hire brochures that show the

Hire boats do have the advantage of being able to take refuge in hire boat yards, which made things relaxing for us.

In August it wasn't much of an imposition on the Northern Broads to look for somewhere to moor while leaving enough time to make it to a boat yard before dark if we didn't find something. 

As it was, we didn't have any trouble, but it meant we didn't have to worry.

Our manual said we should aim to be moored an hour before sunset. It didn't offer any advice on how easy that might or might not be.

[RS2021]

We once picked up a hire boat (on the canals) out of season. As we were leaving the yard the owner asked us where we were headed. We mentioned a pub I thought we could get to before dark. He said there was a much better one a little further along but we probably wouldn't get there before dark and we should head for that if we didn't mind boating in the dark. He even phone up and booked a table for us.