Anchor light position

Cerebus

Cerebus

N/A
Joined
4 May 2025
Messages
1,185
Visit site
An extremely evocative subject I can see.

I just read this thread:

Masthead nav lights question

What do people think of an anchor light in the forepeak position as ideal?

My thoughts are that is ideal because if high enough it can be seen from a distance AND it also illuminates the deck clearly showing a boat and not a star or street light?

Illuminating the deck as an advantage seems to trump all other arguments for masthead lights in my h. o.

I would be interested in arguments to the opposite if placed in a factual, experienced and non-argumentative manner; I don’t do arguments these days and consider it very poor form on forums, my opinion only of course.
 
Poignard said:
View attachment 194586

I used this one quite happily.

I had paraffin cabin lamps, a paraffin cabin heater, and an alcohol stove as well.

Ships and boats have been using oil lamps safely for centuries.
Click to expand...
Looks nice and safe.

So where do you hang it?

And I should have said “fire not constantly observed on board” because I have two oil lamps, a drip fed Taylor’s diesel heater (bees knees), and candle lanterns on board, but I don’t sleep with anything alight if possible.
 
Last edited:
Most concern re not being run into by another boat when anchored is related to other small boats. ie the viewer is near water level. This means that any mast head light can easily be confused with a star. So then light needs to be low enough to be clearly on a boat. However this does not always ensure that light will be seen from all quarters. So maybe 2 lights one near bow one near stern. If you really are concerned in an anchorage.
Of interest perhaps was a tragedy in Port Hedland (north of Perth) where 2 guys in a run about going fishing early in the morning ran in to a large barge which was anchored. The 2 guys died. Should never have been going so fast in the dark. However it was also shown that anchor lights were in adequate for the size of the barge. Several lights would have been appropriate. On the other hand I moor my boat among many others and when I have anchored it was among many others and have not ever used an anchor light. Being hit being the least of my worries. But other situations would call for a light. ol'will
 
Last edited:
We use a super bright led light in the fore triangle. It lights up the super structure as well as being seen for some distance off.
In addition, we run a green light under the sprayhood that gives a green glow through the windows. You cannot see the source of the light but the boat glows green. It makes is super easy to spot at night. We use it to find our way back in a busy anchorage at night. Once onboard, we turn it off before going to bed. We could use blue but it's a bit common, so we might end up st the wrong boat! We haven't been mistaken for a channel marker yet!
 
I'm partial to a light higher up in the foretriangle and another on the end of the boom or nearby. A single light atop the mast, after all, is a special exception permitted to smaller boats.
 
I hang a led in the foretriangle under the anchor ball. I have noticed that the invisibility arc caused by the mast (when viewed from astern) is quite large, hence I occasionally hang another light off the end of the boom.
 
PetiteFleur said:
Definitely in the foretriangle, .....
Click to expand...
Why the fore triangle?
A good anchorage provides shelter so 90% of time the bows are towards the shore, and the STERN is in the direction new arrivals likely to be coming from.
So visibility from astern more important than ahead - which will be seen by walkers not boaters.
 
I made a light out of my parafin light some years ago with a LED that goes off when it gets light. The glass reflects the light all over the deck when I hang it midway along boom ,which is offset, I would rather have a shadow forward as a boat bearing down on you will do less damage at the bow than the stern. With that said I make sure the lamp is swinging. It's very good and we sleep soun🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️
 
I think the diameter of my oil lamp (post #4) was greater than the width of my mast so even the most inattentive skipper coming up astern couldn't fail to see it! 😴
 
I use a led garden light light that comes on when it is dark and a small solar panel within the light that charges the battery in it when daylight shuts it down.
Handily it fits in the winch socket on the top of the cabin roof.
 
Does anyone put one up when moored? We do display an anchor light* when actually anchored but those will usually be very quiet, out of the way places. When we leave the boat on its own mooring we don't. That seems to be accepted practice even though its much busier.

*to answer the OP - I either use a specific anchor light with dawn/dusk sensor on the spinaker halyard, or the all round white at the top of the mast - the factor which determines that is the weather... not because of visibility - but because if I've settled down below and its now raining I'll flick a switch at the chart table, if we are coming back to the boat in the dark my preference is the light to be lower so easier to ID from the dinghy.
 
William_H said:
So maybe 2 lights one near bow one near stern. If you really are concerned in an anchorage.
Click to expand...
The problem then is that you’re not within the regs so would be liable for any issues.
You’re permitted a single light either in the fore triangle or top of mast and you’re also permitted normal deck lighting such as downlights to aid seeing on deck.
Two white lights means something else entirely.
 
ylop said:
Does anyone put one up when moored? We do display an anchor light* when actually anchored but those will usually be very quiet, out of the way places. When we leave the boat on its own mooring we don't. That seems to be accepted practice even though its much busier.
Click to expand...
I have done so where I felt I was 'exposed', eg as a visitor at the end of a line of moorings.

Obviously I wouldn't, and couldn't, leave a light on if it was my own mooring and I was not on board.

Being run into when there's nobody on board would be bad, but being run into when one is asleep could be catastrophic.
 
lustyd said:
The problem then is that you’re not within the regs so would be liable for any issues.
You’re permitted a single light either in the fore triangle or top of mast and you’re also permitted normal deck lighting such as downlights to aid seeing on deck.
Two white lights means something else entirely.
Click to expand...
You, and a few others in this thread, are mistaken. see Colregs :

(a) A vessel at anchor shall exhibit where it can best be seen:

(i) in the fore part, an all-round white light or one ball;
(ii) at or near the stern and at a lower level that the light prescribed in subparagraph (i), an all-round white light.​
Click to expand...

(b) A vessel of less than 50 m in length may exhibit an all-round white light where it can best be seen instead of the lights prescribed in paragraph (a) of this Rule.

(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.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top