“Where it can best be seen...”

[Buck Turgidson]

Happens here constantly. Hang the anchor ball/light where is can best be seen in the front of the boat - why is it at almost 100 posts?!



A lot of VHF radios these day have the option for automatic fog signals but of course you need a suitable outside speaker.

W.

Yep my B&G V50 has sound signals but I don't have a speaker. I blow my own horn................

 

[skipmac]

Anchor light at the masthead to comply with the rules. Lights all over to be visible. Spreaders, boom, deck and stern arch. With LEDs using so little power it is not an issue to do this now.

More or less how I do it. Very bright LED at the masthead and a couple of lights here and there around the cockpit or deck as seems appropriate for the location.

 

[Stemar]

Leaving visibility aside for the moment, given the fact that a very large percentage of yachts sold in the last 20 years have masthead anchor lights as standard, has there been any noise from the powers that be or insurance companies that they are unsuitable?

Arguments over whether in the opinion of sailors they comply seem to me to be irrelevant in the absence of an opinion from On High and, in this rare case, I would suggest that absence of evidence is actually evidence of absence.

Whether it's the best way to comply in all circumstances is another matter. I have one and I use it, but I can imagine a number of circumstances where I would want to supplement it - the melee around and after the Cowes Week fireworks mentioned above being a case in point

 

[geem]

A genuine question, out of interest and not for a mega fall out.....

Has anyone on here ever been doinged by another boat whilst at anchor at night? Or doinged another one yourself?

Just askin? Me.... No.

We were hit by a local wooded speed boat whilst at anchor in Bequia in 2005. We had an anchor light in the fore triangle and an additional all round white light on the stern. The guy did a runner! I chased him across the anchorage in my boxer shorts at 4 in the morning. Our rib was on davits so I dropped it quickly to give chase. I went straight for the dinghy dock and saw him running down the dock. No way I would catch him. I went around all the local boats on the dock and felt which one had a warm outboard engine. I found it and also saw the gelcoat still embedded in his bow! I went back to the boat and got my camera. Photos and me went to police the next morning to report the incident. We caught him three days later when I spotted the boat in the anchorage. The guy was taken to the Police station and I was asked to identify the guy which I did. The guy handed over the cost of repair there and then!
We had a hole in one of the rudders on our Prout Snowgoose 37 cat. They are hollow. We put the boat on the dock and dropped the rudder whilst afloat. Guy at the yard repaired it and I refitted it.
I met the guy who rammed us a few days later in the street. It was a ‘hey mon’ moment. I was wondering if he was going to beat the crap out of me. He was huge! He just smiled