Re: Colour blindness and night sailing


"Malcolm" <webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:GuwJ8KAzjx9CFwpx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Like 8% of all males, I am red-green colour blind. (Allowing for the
> gender bias in sailing the percentage of people here who are in the same
> situation must be considerably higher).
>
> It doesn't bother me in everyday life, but it's a big problem for night
> sailing. Whilst others can look at minute dots of light on the horizon
> in the dark and distinguish port/starboard/stern etc aspects, to me they
> are just lights. And picking out the buoyage and marina leading lights
> against a giant strip of roadlights, flashing adverts, cars etc from
> afar is a nightmare.
>
> Using red and green acetates is a partial solution, but not all reds are
> the same wavelength nor are the greens, and the results are not very
> convincing. Coming through the Channel where everything funnels in and
> out of the shipping lanes on an exceptionally busy night was awful a few
> nights ago. In this day and age of high-tech everything, surely there
> must be something which will make my life easier?
>
> Digital binoculars with an electronic gizmo which will convert reds and
> greens into easily-distinguishable blues and yellows without having to
> take a photo every time and process it through a PC and Photoshop? :-)
>
> Surely I can't be the only one with this problem?
>
> --
> Malcolm

Yes I have the same problem coupled with lack of ability to distinguish
green from white at night. Apparently this is quite usual.
Stupid of the world to use red and green for stop and go etc given the
number of us disabled peole.
I have a commercial yachtmaster's cert endorsed *not for use at night* !!
But it had the examiners worried.

Sensibly the electrical world got to grips with this. I had more than once
connected earth to live and vice versa when it was red,green,black for
wiring. Now we have blue brown and yellow/green stripes the problem is
solved. Clearly what we need is stripey lights. Or black, white and purple
lights.

I have a problem with these white direction lights at busy junctions Twice
now I have mistaken them for green arrows telling me I can turn left...much
to the consternation of oncoming traffic. The moral of which is that they
should NOT be put in-line vertically on traffic-light poles.

If you can't tell red from green it is simple...top means stop. bottom means
go ...until they start putting extra lights below!

Incidentally there are contact lenses which claim to help. If you go for a
DTI 'lantern test' they specify that the tester must make sure the examinee
is not wearing xyz contact lenses. We have a private optician near here who
will test and fit them for a fee of £150 for the test. (He also claims that
they help with dyslexia which he says can be affected by the same chromosome
deficiency).

I have hunted the internet for a society for us 'colour challenged' souls
but cannot find one. So I have considered starting one. Are you going to be
a founder member?


Dave


.

Relevant Pages

  • Colour blindness and night sailing
    ... gender bias in sailing the percentage of people here who are in the same ... And picking out the buoyage and marina leading lights ... Using red and green acetates is a partial solution, but not all reds are ... greens into easily-distinguishable blues and yellows without having to ...
    (uk.rec.sailing)
  • Re: Colour blindness and night sailing
    ... gender bias in sailing the percentage of people here who are in the same situation must be considerably higher). ... And picking out the buoyage and marina leading lights ... Using red and green acetates is a partial solution, but not all reds are ... greens into easily-distinguishable blues and yellows without having to ...
    (uk.rec.sailing)
  • Re: OT photography question.
    ... So far I can get the resolution I need but the reds and greens don't ... I am going to build a stand to position the camera over the drawing (or ... your lights should be positioned at 45 degree ...
    (rec.outdoors.fishing.fly)
  • Re: Right Lane Impatience
    ... >>nothing but red lights for several lights in a row. ... another driver in another lane didn't. ... greens this far I don't catch a red for several more lights. ... reds for some reason I get reds on some of the others too. ...
    (rec.autos.driving)
  • Grow-Tron, For Sale!
    ... Uses less power than two 100W incandescent bulbs with the ... The idea here is still to fit the lights into the tank. ... So I'm thinking some hundreds of LEDs would go into the tank. ... Reds again should be all over. ...
    (rec.gardens)