Topic starter
03/03/2013 10:56 pm
This is a question mainly for Bill Judd, but really for anyone who might know. And it ain't about S&D Reflectors, either! 😉
As I was coming up the river a few nights ago with my steersman, I was thinking about nighttime navigation before radar. Now we have reflective tape on buoys and daymarks, but back before reflective tape and paint, what did pilots use? I know they used bicycle-type relectors on bouys at one point. When did those come into being and when were they used on the rivers? Before radar, it was imperitive to see buoys at night for navigation in darkness. How did they do it?
04/03/2013 2:31 am
HI Bob: I'm an old coot, but not that old. I never was on a boat that didn't have radar, by 1950 almost all had invested in radar. However those old radars were not too reliable, especially as to small objects like buoys. The result was that " bump in the night" and you prayed that you had not picked up the cable. By the way this was the day of Black's which had a white reflector. Up here on the Ohio our buoy lines were pretty stable and a good searchlight was my best freind.
Topic starter
04/03/2013 3:08 am
Well, Bill, you said it, I didn't! I really meant reflectors that reflected light. After my post here, I did a little research online and discovered that photo-reflective materials were first developed in teh decade between 1910 and 1920. They became used somewhat widely in the 1920's, mainly on road signs, and were known as "cat eyes". Now back to my original question: does anyone know when reflectors were first used on buoys to aid searchlights picking them up?
Topic starter
04/03/2013 3:10 am
Here: Seeing the Light: A History of the Cataphote Reflector
is a good website about retroreflective material on early road signs.
04/03/2013 4:28 am
reflectors
When coming up to the Pilot House to learn the trade from the old guys I had many questions and one was how was navigating done back when there wasn't bouys. Iwas told and taught that even now you never trust bouys 100%. They could be off station. You set landmarks thatcan be seen night or day such as a "v" in a set of hills or a steaple in a bend. You have marks to hold your mast and stern post on while attempting a crossing. FYI.