Any recommendations for a portable led anchor light?

[AngusMcDoon]

Most inveterate anchorers here in the Med, seem to use PV-powered garden lights

Do they last all night?

 

[Sailingsaves]

I'm not entirely sure why people want a really bright anchor light If it is so dark that your boat can't be seen then a fairly mild light will easily light up the boat (unless you're prone to anchoring against a backdrop of filmset lighting)

Colregs? Insurance?

One can always make a light dimmer (pbo types can think of a way; sock over the lamp? before sticking in electronic bits and bobs), but not so easy to make it brighter when / if needed.

 

[RobF]

Colregs? Insurance?

One can always make a light dimmer (pbo types can think of a way; sock over the lamp? before sticking in electronic bits and bobs), but not so easy to make it brighter when / if needed.

Please advise where in the colregs it says that an anchor light has to be of a certain lumens - I can't find this anywhere.
I also can't find anywhere in my insurance docs (which I presume are pretty standard terms) which states how bright the anchor light needs to be to ensure insurance is valid.

I made the comment as I don't see the point of blinding people in an anchorage - if it's really dark you don't want to have someone reduce your night vision with a really bright anchor light. Then again, I find people who drive with their fog lights on in mild drizzle pretty annoying too, so perhaps it's just me.

 

[Salty John]

Please advise where in the colregs it says that an anchor light has to be of a certain lumens - I can't find this anywhere.

Rule 30 tells you that an anchor light is an all-round white light, Rule 22 tells you that this must have a range of 2 miles, then you have to go to Annex 1 which tells you what the luminous intensity must be for an all round white light of this required range.

 

[doug748]

Yes, it mentions the problem of glare, at short range, in the annex pointed out by Salty John. Not only that, overly bright lights can cause confusion at range.

One of the mags is raising a campaign for more strident anchor lights, a great mistake in my view. I would settle for people just showing something !

 

[Poignard]

Yes, it mentions the problem of glare, at short range, in the annex pointed out by Salty John. Not only that, overly bright lights can cause confusion at range.

One of the mags is raising a campaign for more strident anchor lights, a great mistake in my view. I would settle for people just showing something !

I'd settle for anchor lights at the approximate eye level of other boat skippers instead of at the top of the mast!

 

[RobF]

Rule 30 tells you that an anchor light is an all-round white light, Rule 22 tells you that this must have a range of 2 miles, then you have to go to Annex 1 which tells you what the luminous intensity must be for an all round white light of this required range.

That's genuinely useful, thank you. I confess that I hadn't read Annex 1 - so will add this to my learning.

 

[fergie_mac66]

Depends where.your.anchoring.Quiet corner.no through traffic just above.deck.high .If your off an entrance where passage travel through is expected masthead and desk lights to be.sure

 

[duncan99210]

Re: Any recommendations for a portable led anchor li

Just done a quick count in the anchorage here in Preveza. There's 21 boats in here tonight. Of those, 8 have anchor lights displayed whilst one has a strobe and the remainder have no visible lights. The lights are evenly split between ones hoisted in by the mast/in the foretriangle and masthead lights. All seem to be of about the same brightness, that is matching the Col Regs requirements.
I use a hoisted light by the mast which switches on at dusk and off at dawn. Never had a problem with anchor lights destroying my night vision but have had real fun and games entering Vliho Bay in the dark and playing dodgems with unlit boats anchored all over the place.

 

[Sailingsaves]

Please advise where in the colregs it says that an anchor light has to be of a certain lumens - I can't find this anywhere.

Post #6 by Duncan led to an article that you perhaps did not read in which it stated:

"In the Colregs, Rule 30(b) simply states that for a vessel under 50m LOA ‘an all-round white light should be placed where best seen’. Traditionally, this always meant hanging it in the foretriangle. An anchor light at the masthead was never a consideration until a couple of decades ago.

Anyway, the purpose of the anchor light is not to satisfy regulations, but to enable your vessel to be seen by others so that they can take avoiding action. Being keen to light up my rig or decks to an incoming vessel, rather than show a light 40ft up my mast where it often gets lost in amongst the jumble of shore lights surrounding many anchorages, I often hang mine from the stern end of the boom, raising it to ensure it is visible above the sprayhood. This also serves as a useful cockpit light when eating al fresco on warm summer evenings."

http://www.yachtingmonthly.com/gear/anchor-lights-test-33105

Some good comments in that article I thought.

That is the only reason I posted my query about colregs? and insurance?

Anyway, thanks to Parsifal (who recognizes the sensibility of having a portable light that one can hang from a sensible place) and his post here and NealB's kind post about the light he purchased from me, I have received several orders for my lifetime guaranteed, VERY bright and only 30mAmp draw, anchor light that seems to tick the boxes that the yachting monthly article pointed out where missing from other anchor lights:
mine has:
uphaul and downhaul independent of wire
is waterproof and floats, but with a weight on downhaul one may be able to use it to look at an obstruction under water?
is brighter than any other anchor light and draws less current.
and it is cheap

No one has ever complained about it being too bright (since I removed the downlighters), but all the testimonials on the website (I know it is a poorly designed website) are truthful and from genuine customers; one chap used it in an anchorage of 80 boats and he said the light helped him find his boat more easily.

 

[contessaman]

https://www.dotcomgiftshop.com/yellow-led-battery-powered-hurricane-lamp

What about this?

Or I have a Davis automatic anchor light with a photocell switch and a lighter socket that you could probably persuade me to sell.. Its just sat in the cupboard since I got an led unit on top of the mast.

 

[GHA]

, VERY bright and only 30mAmp draw,

10mA

 

[Sailingsaves]

I must declare a commercial interest whilst I post this:

That is very nice.
Here is a live webcam view of one of the anchor lights I make and sell for about £26:

http://blackwatersailingclub.org.uk/webcam/northey.html

If you look to the left of my bright light you may be able to see some other dull lights.

The left hand camera here also shows a dim light (if it is still going):

http://www.blackwatersailingclub.org.uk/index.php/views/webcams

http://www.allproductdesign.co.uk/anchor lights.html

I must declare a commercial interest whilst I post this, even though I don't have a signature to my posts.

 

[PetiteFleur]

I've also used the Aldi one which I bought a few weeks ago, initially bought to have as a cockpit light but when at anchor last week I discovered my plug in homemade LED lamp did not work(I suspect a dirty connection in the deck plug) so used the Aldi lamp and it was excellent. Uses standard AA batteries and it was just as bright in the morning. Excellent value.

 

[eddystone]

I have a Navisafe battery powered LED which can be used as all round light (2 levels), steaming light, stern light and strobe

 

[blxm]

I must declare a commercial interest whilst I post this:

That is very nice.
Here is a live webcam view of one of the anchor lights I make and sell for about £26:

http://blackwatersailingclub.org.uk/webcam/northey.html

If you look to the left of my bright light you may be able to see some other dull lights.

The left hand camera here also shows a dim light (if it is still going):

http://www.blackwatersailingclub.org.uk/index.php/views/webcams

http://www.allproductdesign.co.uk/anchor lights.html

I must declare a commercial interest whilst I post this, even though I don't have a signature to my posts.

Have been using this over the last couple of weeks and, no connection other than a customer, am really pleased. Bright and low current draw. Also used as a cockpit light. Very happy.

 

[jimmyk]

I bought an incredibly bright LED anchor light from the poster Sailingsaves.

I don't know whether he is still making them, but I have been very pleased with it.

Might be worth asking him for details.

+1