crazy idea #2

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Sailingsaves

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So I was driving along a road at night.

My car is known for rubbish dipped headlights; they can be on main beam and directed to max elevation and no one will flash me.

But on dipped, I can't see far ahead, so have to drive slowly.

Just missed a large lump of debris in road the other day that headlights did not pick out.

My thoughts turned to boats.

I have happily sailed across the channel in a F8 (65 foot boat though) and up Irish sea in dark and all I could see was bow nav lights reflected from waves.

Just sailing on faith that nothing bad is in front of me.

What about headlights? ?

Yes, difficult on sailing boats, maybe easier for motor boats.
Yes would ruin night vision, but is it needed if you have lights (and are not on lookout for bouys / nav marks)

Even if have radar etc, would headlights NOT be a crazy idea for seeing containers, logs etc.

Posed to more experienced sailors than I am obviously.
 
I had spots at the top of my radar arch on my rib. Saves hitting bouys and pots. Flattened the battery in 15 minutes. Some sports boats have them in the hull.
 
I've dabbled with this - as I sometimes go up to Uphill yard in the dark, and its not fot the fainthearted !

I tried it on the mooring on the river. A pair of cheapo car spotlights fixed to a bracket - that wing nuts to the top of the bow nav light.
One shines straight ahead - one towards one bank. It will run off a standard 10 amp fuse ( 15 better ).
I have a switch inline so I can whack them off from the tiller. I just mount them if needed and trail the lead back.

Any light shining from the cockpit - ie handheld spotlight, is useless. It accentuates anything before it - so you cannot see sod all beyond the rigging.
Shining out from the bow - at least on the river, seemed useable. I've never tried them in earnest up the estuary. Ampage is not a problem as I am running engine.

No point whatsoever in open water at night - and anyway you would be violating all the col regs. Navigating Uphill pill in the dark is hardly likely to affect other shipping - as you will certainly be the only daft b''''''''d on the water !

Geoff
 
I saw a yacht this summer which had a very serious looking floodlight mounted on the pulpit. The whole boat looked set up for some rather hairy chested adventures.
 
OP needs to check out his headlights on his car. Are they quartz halogen type as most modern cars are? If so they should be very bright. He should check out the voltage at the bulb. There may be voltage drop in wiring fuses etc. he may need to rewire to feed the normal headlight poer to a relay then run headlights of a direct heavy wire from battery.

Anyway back to the actual question. We don't see headlights on boats except some power boats with lights in the bow probably meat for docking. The question is why? Perhaps related to the fact that when in open water we do't tend to concentrate on watching the water ahead of the boat. But rather watch where we are and what driection we are going indeed many successfully use an auto pilot. I do a night race every month on Swan River (estuary). It is generally very pleasant if there is no moon light then the ambient light from the ity and suburbs is adequate to see where you are going and there is little concern about floating debris.Less so because it is a sail boat so no vulnerable propeller and modest speeds.Finding unlit buoys is a bit more of a challenge but a GPS and a bright torch seem to be adequate. So no I would not dream of fitting headlights.
Perhaps in a power boat navigating narrow rivers or canals at night headlights could be useful but not for me . good luck olewill
 
As William says "and a bright torch seem to be adequate".

I bought an LED rechargeable torch on eBay and I find it incredibly powerful. The beam is adjustable and on long beam (spot light) it would have a range of about 100 yards and on short beam (floodlight) it would illuminate the whole deck. I would think it would be invaluable in a MOB situation. It only cost $A18. (10 GBP) including the charger and postage
 
The vaporetti (water buses) in Venice have forward facing lights, but of course that's much more like driving through streets than where most of us sail. As well as picking out bridges etc. they are also useful for finding the way around the lagoon after dark as the piles marking the channels have reflective strips.
 
Quite. Common here. BC Canada. A lot of crew boats and some run abouts have a spotlight shining on the water right ahead. Logs including dead heads are a local hazard. Not much of a problem to me on a sailboat. But having hit a log at night with a RIB at about 25kn. It's quite startling.

The headlights can be quite annoying when coming towards you. I believe it's it technically a violation of the collision regs. Given the hazard acceptable.
 
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I think lights are a vicious circle, the use of lights means you need lights.

The bright lights on on-coming cars ruin night vision meaning you want your lights brighter etc.

So one way forward would be to have no lights at all, so everyones eyes adjust accordingly.

Same with boats, its suprising how well you can see in the "dark"
 
A lot of time, sailing at night, I've been very glad that I *can't* see what's coming! :)

The worst are those quartering from astern, you hear them coming and can never quite estimate the exact moment they contemptuously slap the boat and dump a bathfull over you and the rest of the cockpit.
 
A problem with headlights on a yacht is that it will be tossing up & down on the waves. One minute illuminating the back of the wave in front & the next the sky
Light tends to cause a curtain on its periphery. So whilst one can see within the beam one cannot see out of it. When i turn on my spreader lights I can see all the deck very well. But if I do it coming to a pontoon late at night I cannot see out of the light so have to turn them off
 
Docking lights which look like car headlights are of course available but rarely seen in the UK . Remote control search lights are not uncommon on motorboats.
They are only any good when near a berth as otherwise there is, usually, nothing much to be seen.
 
mlines said:
I think lights are a vicious circle, the use of lights means you need lights.

The bright lights on on-coming cars ruin night vision meaning you want your lights brighter etc.

So one way forward would be to have no lights at all, so everyones eyes adjust accordingly.

Same with boats, its suprising how well you can see in the "dark"
Click to expand...

Excellent point.

Another solution is to have crossed polaroid lens covers. The small snag is everyone has to have them.
 
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