I’ve noticed quite a bit of commercial towing on the Sound lately and I thought it might be a good idea to review the lights used when towing:

Besides the normal running lights, a towing vessel, less than 50 meters in length shall exhibit two white mast head lights in a vertical line and a yellow towing light in a vertical line above the stern light when the tow line is less than 200 meters. When the tow line is greater than 200 meters, three white lights mast head lights will be exhibited. The vessel being towed will exhibit the normal running lights.

Basically if you are out at night and see any vessel with vertically displayed white lights and/or a yellow light, use extreme caution and stay clear. There have been several cases when people have lost their lives by running between the towing and towed vessel.

We probably will not encounter submarines this far west of New London but be aware that they exhibit an intermittent flashing yellow beacon with a sequence operation of one flash per second for three seconds followed by a three second off period

Hank