“Where it can best be seen...”

[GHA]

That is also my interpretation, but it may not be canonical. I don’t think the Admiralty Court of the High Court has ruled on it.
.

Would also agree with that as a working description. Or - 'where it is most likely to stop boats running into you' Which is usually low. And bright!!
Not the mast head.
Nothing in Cockcroft about that sentence.

 

[Graham376]

I ventured into Studland Bay a few weeks ago on a very dark night and the three yachts already there had masthead anchor lights. It was absolutely impossible to judge where they were anchored..... I discovered the next morning they were much much further away than I had thought.

Maybe if more people arrived after dark they would appreciate how useless masthead lights are. As you say, with varying mast heights it's virtually impossible to judge distance off.

We use a Dusk to Dawn light (with the optional bright led) tied under the anchor ball in the fore triangle. It also has downlighters so a section of the deck can be clearly seen. If foggy, we hang an extra light from the gantry.

 

[newtothis]

Hardly anyone bothers to use the motoring shape though.

I think going to windward with a furled headsail and flattened mainsail has become the international symbol for motoring.

 

[Poignard]

I think going to windward with a furled headsail and flattened mainsail has become the international symbol for motoring.

Solent rig.

 

[Sandy]

Solent rig.

Brilliant

 

[dom]

Under the boom.......

Masthead lights in coastal waters are the work of the devil... both allround white and tricolour..

'Off soundings'?... yes I do use my tricolour if in an area of low traffic density.

Just noticed this following a Kukri reference.

The pic won't reproduce but Frank Holden's post #12 is IMHO a great basis for a future thread and a MUST SEE for every yottie using a tricolor in ship populated coastal areas.

Puts the importance of retro fitting decklights on boats that don't have them in an entirely new light!

 

[Poignard]

The most visible thing to a Merchant Navy deck officer is a good radar reflector.

 

[Frank Holden]

Contrary to popular opinion watchkeepers don't have their noses stuck in the radar all day long.

This is Canal Tenglo.... my southern(ish) base. These fellows are coming and going all day and all night.

Not quite in the density seen here ... it was a 29th June celebration and yes they are all underway...... but always busy enough with constant traffic.
If they can't see you visually you have a good chance of being skittled.

Back on topic... Rule 30 '(c) A vessel at anchor may, and a vessel of 100 metres and more in length shall, also use the available working or equivalent lights to illuminate her decks.

In remote anchorages I just use my little Davis anchor light.... busier places I have an AquaSignal one. I must say those LEDs linked to at post #31 are very tempting.

 

[Frank Holden]

Just noticed this following a Kukri reference.

The pic won't reproduce but Frank Holden's post #12 is IMHO a great basis for a future thread and a MUST SEE for every yottie using a tricolor in ship populated coastal areas.

Puts the importance of retro fitting decklights on boats that don't have them in an entirely new light!

I first uploaded those pics into a thread on the subject that was running at the start of this year. That is the ship they were taken from... seen from my little ship....

Nothing like putting your anchor light up next to the airport control tower...

 

[prv]

That sounds interesting. Do you happen to have a link for the light?

Like all my nav lights it was made by a company called Bebi, run by an American sailing couple in Fiji and employing Fijians to build the lights in what was effectively a clearing in the jungle. Unfortunately the whole operation shut down a few years ago due to some kind of turmoil in the country, so no more are available.

Pete

 

[Kukri]

Bebi were set up and run by an American friend of Frank and I who had sailed to Fiji with his wife and settled there with their young son.They were the first people to manufacture really high quality LED navigation lights for yachts. After the coup in Fiji life became difficult for foreigners and our friends had to leave and settle elsewhere. The business was a casualty of this.

 

[GHA]

Like all my nav lights it was made by a company called Bebi, run by an American sailing couple in Fiji and employing Fijians to build the lights in what was effectively a clearing in the jungle. Unfortunately the whole operation shut down a few years ago due to some kind of turmoil in the country, so no more are available.

Pete

You can make your own , similar design but the constant current regulator isn't PWM so RF noise free. SLight mistake in this circuit as jlcpcb does a surface mount FET rather thn have to mount one yourself. Think they are doing free surface mount til xmas maybe so no much money for 5 boards , then the LEDs (which are very good) need to be bought separately . Half built one so far, bit fiddly to mount but not the end of the world. WIll plst full instructions t some point before too long. Very bright!!!

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?506847-Opensource-anchor-light

 

[prv]

You can make your own

Thanks - I was vaguely aware you were working on that but hadn’t looked in on it since the beginning of the first thread years ago.

Obviously I don’t currently need any nav lights as I’m fully equipped with original Bebi ones all round. But it’s good to know that the option to recreate something similar exists.

Pete

 

[GHA]

Thanks - I was vaguely aware you were working on that but hadn’t looked in on it since the beginning of the first thread years ago.

Obviously I don’t currently need any nav lights as I’m fully equipped with original Bebi ones all round. But it’s good to know that the option to recreate something similar exists.

Pete

Looking at similar but rectangular for deck nav lights so that can be waterproofed, the cree red/green LEDs are OK behind a red /green lens.

 

[LadyInBed]

In remote anchorages I just use my little Davis anchor light.... busier places I have an AquaSignal one. I must say those LEDs linked to at post #31 are very tempting.

One of the joys of anchoring is to do it in remote locations. I normally anchor in about 2-3 mtrs, mostly in bays.
I once unavoidably anchored on the Seine heading up to Rouen (ran out of daylight), luckily I found some mooring buoys, so anchored in line with them. The throbbing of the passing ships meant that I didn't get much sleep!

 

[[3889]]

When at anchor, we ALWAYS have 2 all-round white lights, one at the masthead and the other at eye level on the foredeck

We think it's better to be seen

Perhaps better to be seen but personally my priority regarding anchor lights is to avoid a dispute with my insurers. Your method violates the colregs and, however irrationally, I am sure that violation, along with the various strobes etc. deployed, would be used to against you in the event of a claim.

 

[dom]

Perhaps better to be seen but personally my priority regarding anchor lights is to avoid a dispute with my insurers. Your method violates the colregs and, however irrationally, I am sure that violation, along with the various strobes etc. deployed, would be used to against you in the event of a claim.

Except his eye level constant, all-around white light is not a violation!

Or or did I miss something about strobes?

 

[Poignard]

"c) A vessel at anchor may, and a vessel of 100 m and more in length shall, also use the available working or equivalent lights to illuminate her decks." (emphasis added)

ie: A vessel of less than 100m long may display additional lights if desired but a vessel of 100m or longer has no option but to display additional lights. In other words, there is nothing to prevent the smaller vessel using additional lights; she is not wrong to do so.

 

[Kukri]

My rather lazy approach has been to hang a riding light on the forestay (so far, so compliant) and to turn on the LED stern light, just in case anyone comes up from dead aft and can’t see the riding light because of the mast. This is non-compliant because of the sector cut off on the stern light.

I bought two of those LED camping lights in post 31, and will dangle one off the pushpit.

 

[michael_w]

Strobe will turn you into a northerly cardinal.