Missing anchor light

timmygobang

timmygobang

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www.todayiboughtaboat.eu
I discovered the other week on my first trip out that I don't actually have a anchor light....

I'm debating whether to save myself a packet and just buy one of these 'Dusk to Dawn utility lights' which reportedly have a visibility of 2nm.

http://www.seateach.com/Dusk-to-Dawn-Automatic-Anchor-Light.htm?result=1

I've been quoted £450 inc vat to fit a new tri/anchor light, which is more than I had accounted for (I already have a tri-colour mast head light fitted)

Would appreciate some opinions on what to do
 
A mast head anchor light is great if you are anchored in the middle of the Channel, so that someone on a ship's bridge will have it at eye level. But back in the real world of yachts anchoring in normal anchorages, a lower light would seem more sensible. Save your money.
 
NormanS said:
A mast head anchor light is great if you are anchored in the middle of the Channel, so that someone on a ship's bridge will have it at eye level. But back in the real world of yachts anchoring in normal anchorages, a lower light would seem more sensible. Save your money.
Click to expand...

+1
The dusk till dawn lights shed a bit of light downwards lighting up you foredeck making it easier for boats to judge distance to you when you really want them to be able to.

They also make a useful cockpit light.
 
timmygobang said:
I discovered the other week on my first trip out that I don't actually have a anchor light....

I'm debating whether to save myself a packet and just buy one of these 'Dusk to Dawn utility lights' which reportedly have a visibility of 2nm.

http://www.seateach.com/Dusk-to-Dawn-Automatic-Anchor-Light.htm?result=1

I've been quoted £450 inc vat to fit a new tri/anchor light, which is more than I had accounted for (I already have a tri-colour mast head light fitted)

Would appreciate some opinions on what to do
Click to expand...
buy a hurricane lamp, we used one for years until i was bought a Davey copper anchor lamp for a present
 
Mine's a dusk til dawn LED one with a long cable that plugs in to a 12v socket, it's great. Can't remember where I got it though, might have been boatlamps...
 
A masthead anchor light is not a very good choice - if you don't have one, definitely don't pay someone to fit it!

A lamp in the foretriangle, preferably shedding some light downwards to reveal the size and shape of the boat, is much more effective. I use a Bebi Beka on a long wire, with the daylight-sensing option (see http://www.bebi-electronics.com/beka.html ) but there are plenty of good alternatives that don't need to travel all the way from Fiji :). I used to haul it up, along with the anchor ball, on a flag halyard on Kindred Spirit and now the spinnaker halyard on Ariam. Run a downhaul to somewhere on the foredeck to hold it all in place.

Pete
 
I hang my LED light on the end of the boom, but that's mainly for convenience, because I have a 12v socket nearby. It can be seen pretty much all round, and acts as a useful cockpit light.
 
timmygobang said:
Stupid question, but where do you hang yours? I have a vision of a hurricane lamp swinging in the breeze :D
Click to expand...

More or less, yes. Halyard running upwards, downhaul running down to the deck, light in between. Note the bails on this proper Aquasignal job to secure them to:

aqua-signal-series-40-hoisting-all-round-white-navigation-light-(anchor)-medium.jpg


Tension the halyard to stop it swinging around too much and job done.

Pete
 
An anchor light hanging at a lower level where it illuminates some of the boats superstructure and isn't competing with stars is a better solution than a masthead light, in my opinion.
But be careful. The light in your (the OP's) link is made in China and leaks like a sieve. We used to offer that light with an LED and an extra O ring and a few gobs of silicone in strategic places. That made it acceptable and I hope there are many satisfied customers out there. We gave it CE certification as an anchor light for vessels under 20m. The cost of all this modification made it difficult to sell against the various unmodified/uncertified versions so we took it off the market.
If you buy one of those lights you need to undo the cable inlet and put in a blob of silicone, and you need to wrap the joint between body and lens with self amalgamating tape, preferably silicone compression tape. It should then last a few years. Fitting an LED 9 light cluster makes sense.
An alternative is the Davis utility lamp - a much more soundly constructed piece of kit, but also much more expensive.
 
Our boat bizarrely came with a full masthead tricolour with integrated anchor light - but no wires or switch on the lighting panel to switch it on. I had even checked the light worked before stepping the mast before noticing the lack of switch.

As we needed a quick solution for the cruise we got a plug in light of the type you show on your link - and have stuck with this since as works perfectly, and as others have noted can be placed where it is lower and therefore in line of sight of other moving boats. We tend to hang from baby stay or boom, depending on where we think the risk may come from.

When I dropped it last year, we added a solar powered garden lamp as a temporary replacement (for the temporarily light!). This is left tied to the stern pulpit day and night, and is sufficient for most low risk locations. If higher risk we simply add the formal anchor light (I am not concerned about having a cockpit lamp as well as the anchor lamp - look how many secondary lights a liner or fishing boat has)
 
timmygobang said:
I discovered the other week on my first trip out that I don't actually have a anchor light....

I'm debating whether to save myself a packet and just buy one of these 'Dusk to Dawn utility lights' which reportedly have a visibility of 2nm.

http://www.seateach.com/Dusk-to-Dawn-Automatic-Anchor-Light.htm?result=1

I've been quoted £450 inc vat to fit a new tri/anchor light, which is more than I had accounted for (I already have a tri-colour mast head light fitted)

Would appreciate some opinions on what to do
Click to expand...

I have looked at various LED camping lanterns....... most probably dont have 2 mile vsibility.

I reckon this one probably does . Worth a look if a battery powered lantern grabs you.
http://www.force4.co.uk/4368/Draper...rrer=froogle&gclid=COyp2oCwj7kCFUbHtAodiEcABQ

Shop around though if its for you.
 
timmygobang said:
Stupid question, but where do you hang yours? I have a vision of a hurricane lamp swinging in the breeze :D

I'm definitely going to save my money, as I don't intend on anchoring in the middle of the Channel any time soon NormalS :)
Click to expand...
A somewhat personal question Sir, i hang to Stbd if you must know & mostly in the fore triangle where its best seem
 
Much depends on just how much light you want to show how much pwer you are willing to waste on an anchor light and if you really need a day light switch off function.
I have got LED bulbs from China and found them very bright low on current and cheap.
This one would have to be the brightest http://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-H...Fog-Head-Light-Lamp-Bulb-12V-NEW-p-25344.html
This little guy is the opposit exteme giving a lot of light at very low battery drain http://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-Car-G4-5-LED-SMD-5050-Warm-White-Light-Bulb-Lamp-12V-p-41706.html
This one is a mid sized 12v bulb. even cheaperhttp://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-Warm-White-G4-26-SMD-LED-RV-Marine-Boat-Camper-Light-Bulb-Lamp-DC-12V-2W-p-33080.html
or try this one http://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-Car-G4-9-LED-SMD-5050-Warm-White-Light-Bulb-Lamp-12V-p-26010.html

All you do is get a small glass jar. mount the bulb onto the screw top. Use a piece of cjocolate block connector or simiar. Attach a saddle of some sort to attach a halyard and another saddle glued to the bottom of the jar to attach a down haul and to support the 12v wires. Just hoist it up when needed and plug into a power outlet.
The smaller bulb could be run on 12v from a pack of rechargeable AA batteries in a battery holder form electronics store.
good luck olewill
 
timmygobang said:
I discovered the other week on my first trip out that I don't actually have a anchor light....

I'm debating whether to save myself a packet and just buy one of these 'Dusk to Dawn utility lights' which reportedly have a visibility of 2nm.

http://www.seateach.com/Dusk-to-Dawn-Automatic-Anchor-Light.htm?result=1

I've been quoted £450 inc vat to fit a new tri/anchor light, which is more than I had accounted for (I already have a tri-colour mast head light fitted)

Would appreciate some opinions on what to do
Click to expand...

Where did they get £450 from?
This is only £119, add some cable and a plug for about £20 and you're done.

I've not seen mention of steaming lights on here. On smaller boats the all around white at the masthead is usually used for motoring in the dark.
 
timmygobang said:
Stupid question, but where do you hang yours? I have a vision of a hurricane lamp swinging in the breeze
Click to expand...

I hang a hurricane lamp from the cross trees.

The problem at the moment seems to be finding a rustproof one. Some chandlers sell a Dietz, but be warned that replacement glasses seem to be unobtainable in this country.
 
lustyd said:
Where did they get £450 from?
This is only £119, add some cable and a plug for about £20 and you're done.
Click to expand...

Presumably mostly labour. Re-running the cables in my mast was harder than you might think, and that was with the mast down on trestles in the yard. I wouldn't fancy doing the same thing dangling from the masthead, and you'd need two people to do it which doubles whatever the yard's hourly rate is.

Pete
 
prv said:
Presumably mostly labour. Re-running the cables in my mast was harder than you might think, and that was with the mast down on trestles in the yard. I wouldn't fancy doing the same thing dangling from the masthead, and you'd need two people to do it which doubles whatever the yard's hourly rate is.

Pete
Click to expand...

+1

150 for the light, 100+ to drop the mast, chuck in labour, chuck in VAT, 450 thank you...
 
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