This has been a very interesting discussion. The points made about a boaters responsibility to make his vessal comply with all regulations, lights at night etc are well made. A posting I made early in the discussion seems not to have posted at all but the points were made by other people. A very bright tight beam flashlight is very useful to get the attention of another boat. The use of one of the little air horns is also a good idea. If you are going to go out after dark a better set of lights is probably required. The regulations quote the minimums required. I am not aware of any rules about exceeding them. A very small, not very bright light that appears below deck level of a larger vessal might not be recognisable on a dark night. You should contact the police, advise them of the incident and ask them what the safest action you can take is. They may have chosen to run near the shore because in their experiance it might be the clearest space on the river. When I was instructing my nieces and nephews in canoing they were prohibited from any night trips , kept away from shipping channels for at least one year. Then they were permitted trips with a slightly larger power boat acting as support.
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