Kayak fisherman killed in collision

This tragic news comes from halfway across the country but seemed relevant to share with this group. The kayaker wasn't wearing a PFD but was also on the water about 45 minutes before sunrise without any lighting on his boat.

https://ap-police.com/fatal-kayaking-event/

Bummer. It is important to have lighting when going out early...

There’s just some you can’t teach common sense to.

There’s just some you can’t teach common sense to.

Well, this poor dude cant be taught anything now.  RIP.

Paddling in the dark w/o lights seems like a no brainer but I'm sure people do it all the time. Anyone here have suggestions on kayak lights?

I have an ugly orange boat to enhance my visibility on the water but had been thinking about adding a lighted pole from Yakattack to help other boaters see me out there. Anybody have experience with those?

I always carry a headlamp in my dry bag in case I get caught staying later than expected for whatever reason. It’s better than being caught w/o a lamp. I learned the hard way one time in tomales bay during a king tide that took me forever to get back to the launch.

Anyone here have suggestions on kayak lights?

I picked up this yesterday:

https://www.rei.com/product/109954/petzl-noctilight-headlamp-case

Have not had a chance to try it on the kayak yet, but will soon. Seems pretty cool to me, as it's a case to hold a headlight and turn it into a lamp. That way your headlight can multi-task, not to mention having a convenient place to store your headlight.

I put the basic 150 lumen headlight in it, and even on the low setting it's way brighter than the light I was using. It's got a small bungee attached so you could just hang it on a fishing rod, or you could easily rig up a pole mount. I plan to post some more info after I get a chance to try it out...

Another suggestion: get a red bike safety light. Since I ride a bike, I have one. When I'm going out early, typically in the Delta, I use my headlamp on the front of my hat & the bike light, set to blink bright red, on the back.

Typically I don't launch when it's that dark, but if I do it's usually mid-winter.
Bill

I use my headlamp on the front of my hat & the bike light, set to blink bright red, on the back.

Bill

Just a warning, that this could be confusing for other boaters. The rule (in a simplified form, for a typical kayak) is to have 1 all-around white, and, optionally, red on the port (left) and green on starboard (right).

Probably not a big deal when it's not too dark (raises awareness), but boaters could misinterpret position of your kayak when it's very dark.

For this very reason I had Yakpower leds and Berley Pro installed on my kayak. This video features my Washington Kayak. I have an identical here in California.