Swing Lights Need To Be Right!  

Can your barge navigation lights stand up to a USCG Inspection?

The use of temporary electrical connections on "swing" lights is not approved on Red Flag Barges. This is typically, a blue swing light, wired directly to the terminals of a 6 volt lantern battery.

Not legal for red flag barge use.

The proper setup is either:

1.   A portable blue swing light which is attached to the a mast pole and is powered from a special electrical plug attached to a portable amber flashing barge light.

Amber flashing with pilot light.

or...

2.   A 110VAC mast pole mounted swing light, which is plugged into a three or two socket gang box.  The gang box is plugged into the barge power wiring circuit.

 

Two plug gang box.

Make sure your "swing light" installation is a legal one!  

Nav Zone

Tides

Tide is defined as the periodic rise and fall of the water resulting from gravitational interactions between the Sun, Moon and Earth. Tides are the vertical movement and currents are the horizontal movement resulting from these gravitational forces.

The Moon has a greater effect on the Earth's tidal movements than the sun. The Sun's forces are only 46% that of the moon. This is due to the fact that the sun is further away than the moon. The cycles of both the Moon and the Sun are different too. This is why there are so many different tides around the world.

High tide is when the maximum the tide reaches for that day. Low tide is the minimum level for a particular day. The difference in height between consecutive high and low waters is called the range. The time at low or high water were the tide is neither rising nor falling is called stand.

Semidiurnal Tide.

Most tides follow a daily cycle. In most places the tides changes twice daily. Meaning there are two high tides and two low tides each day. This is known as a semidiurnal tide (like on the Atlantic Coast). The Gulf of Mexico experiences a diurnal tide, where you only have one high water and one low water each day. Diurnal tides with a large range tend to have higher high waters, lower low waters and fast moving currents. Mixed tides occur in some areas have both diurnal and semidiurnal tides.

These daily cycles are not the same for all days, there are monthly cycles. Spring tides are when the Earth, Moon and Sun lie on

Diurnal Tide.

USCG Navigation General: 

What does the term "tide" refer to?

A: Horizontal movement of the water
B: Vertical movement of the water
C: Mixing tendency of the water
D: Salinity content of the water

The period at high or low tide during which there is no change in the height of the water is called the __________.

A: range of the tide

B: plane of the tide

C: stand of the tide

Spring tides are tides that _________________.

A: have lows lower than normal and highs higher than normal
B: have lows higher than normal and highs lower than normal
C: are unpredictable
D: occur in the spring of the year

The range of tide is the __________________.

A: distance the tide moves out from the shore
B: duration of time between high and low tide
C: difference between the heights of high and low tide
D: maximum depth of the water at high tide

When there are small differences between the heights of two successive high tides or two low tides, in a tidal day, the tides are called ______________.

A: diurnal
B: semidiurnal
C: solar
D: mixed

When the moon is new or full, which type of tides occurs?

A: Neap

B: Spring

C: Diurnal

D: Apogean

Stern Shots

Capt. Arnold Argullin on the M/V CECIL.

Relief Capt. Eric McLain on the M/V CECIL.

Tankerman Cliff Cooper and Tankerman Ervin Simmons on the M/V GROBEC.

Capt. Terry Busby aboard the M/V GROSBEC.

Nautical Trivia  

Ship Wrecks on Route

Unseen to most, as Higman tow's navigate the Gulf Coast, are hidden ship wrecks that were sunk during various times in history.  We recently discussed a series of Civil War vessels in and around Galveston Bay and last issue we looked at a French shipwreck from 1686 that was recently recovered in Matagorda Bay. 

S.S. John Worthington

Built in 1920, the SS John Worthington was an Esso tanker. She made 20 voyages during World War II before she was torpedoed off the coast of Brazil on May 27, 1943.

 

Despite a hole the size of a house, the Worthington's crew sailed her all the way to Galveston. There it was eventually determined that she was beyond repair. After being stripped and partly salvaged, the ship was abandoned behind Saint Joseph Island where she eventually succumbed to the sea.

Wreck location - mi 532 ICWW