Spreader lights?

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mikefleetwood

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Whilst Musketeer (Moody 29) is out of the water for the Winter, I have been getting on with a few jobs. I am considering fitting a couple of ATV-style floodlights to the spreaders. These would be forward facing and angled to help find the mooring, or pick my way along a narrow channel, in the dark.

So, two questions 1/ is this worthwhile doing, and, 2/ Will I weaken the spreader by drilling a hole in it around 500mm from the mast centreline?

I will have to drill a hole in the mast (with a grommet to prevent chafing) to lead the cable down inside the mast. I will also need to fit a small junction box to combine the relatively short wired from the lights into one cable down the mast.

Many thanks!
 
johnalison said:
My boat has a single deck flood mounted on the mast, an original fitting. The choice would depend on the ease of fitting.
Click to expand...
Yes, she's already got one of those - original fitting combined steaming light and deck flood (pointed towards the anchor well). Neither work, so that's another item on my list.

As for my forward facing floodlight idea, It may be simpler to attach a single light to the mast - plenty of meat in that to take the fixing!
 
I’m thinking of a simple set up of atv floodlights easily attached to the pulpit when needed for finding my way through moorings, that way they they will be far enough forward to not glare back off the boat and spoil night vision, as well as easy to get to and set up. Maybe just clipped on with pipe clips and a longish cable in through the forepeak hatch
 
mikefleetwood said:
Whilst Musketeer (Moody 29) is out of the water for the Winter, I have been getting on with a few jobs. I am considering fitting a couple of ATV-style floodlights to the spreaders. These would be forward facing and angled to help find the mooring, or pick my way along a narrow channel, in the dark.

So, two questions 1/ is this worthwhile doing, and, 2/ Will I weaken the spreader by drilling a hole in it around 500mm from the mast centreline?

I will have to drill a hole in the mast (with a grommet to prevent chafing) to lead the cable down inside the mast. I will also need to fit a small junction box to combine the relatively short wired from the lights into one cable down the mast.

Many thanks!
Click to expand...
What colour is your fore deck? If it's white or light colour, this is a bad idea, all you'll see is your own boat.

You're better off with something out front.

Spreader lights (we have them) are only good for packing up the deck at night.
 
I don't think it would be practical as said to use deck lights as an aid to forward visibility. You will need 2 lights on at different times one for deck work and one for forward "spotlights" if that is what you need. I would stick with a powerful flash light for a spotlight and even a head light (stuck on your head) for deck work in dark. ol'will
 
Dellquay13 said:
I’m thinking of a simple set up of atv floodlights easily attached to the pulpit when needed for finding my way through moorings, that way they they will be far enough forward to not glare back off the boat and spoil night vision, as well as easy to get to and set up. Maybe just clipped on with pipe clips and a longish cable in through the forepeak hatch
Click to expand...

Why cabled ? Rechargeable should surely be enough ? The brightness and low power demand of todays LED based lights is nothing short of amazing ..
 
I have a couple of LED rechargeables ... about 20 euros each from local Camping / DIY shop ... USB C charged ... with HIGH - LOW - Flashing and a general wide light from body .... lasts well over 2hrs ,,, in fact I haven't got to lowest charge level yet ... I use it plenty times - then just stick back on charge ...
 
mikefleetwood said:
Yes, she's already got one of those - original fitting combined steaming light and deck flood (pointed towards the anchor well). Neither work, so that's another item on my list.

As for my forward facing floodlight idea, It may be simpler to attach a single light to the mast - plenty of meat in that to take the fixing!
Click to expand...
If you are replacing the Steaming/deck light then I recommend the Osculati sealed LED Version. It will fit the same rivet holes as the old one.

I gree with others about bright lights - even the light from the deck light just reflects on the stainless and doesn't help forward vision.
 
I agree with hand held rechargeable lights. I sail over the winter in Scotland, west coast, and my hand held is used all the time entering narrow anchorages or coming back to my berth. I have a plug in spot light, with a curly cable, and while that works well, the hand held is superior in every way; the plug never gets used. In addition the hand held is there to be used for other things as well. An easy to wire up USB point on my chart table keeps it charged, and if I needed to use it as a battery source for say, a flat mobile phone, it can also power up devices.

I think spreader mounted lights facing forward are a bad idea. If I am out sailing, I don't want to be blinded by others lights, with an hand held, its easy to divert the beam away. Also, I think what you want is an expensive solution compared to a handheld, inefficient because they will be fixed at an angle, and out the way so that any maintenance will not be done. Your night vision will be trashed in a confined space, when you really need it to be good.

Hand held every time.

I also use a low cost, night vision monocular and it is worth its weight in gold. Great for entering narrow anchorages to check position without trashing night vision using a spot light. They can be bought for as little as £60 to £70 pounds.
 
Hmm...
looks like a decent hand held rechargeable torch is the preferred option. I've got a couple of small ones, pretty bright, but really need something better. Always fancied night vision, but probably not much use to tell me which "upturned bucket" is red and which is green so I can find the channel up the river to Gweek!

As I mentioned, there is already a combo deck flood and steaming light, a little below spreader level. Currently, neither light works, so I have to repair them regardless of anything else. Unfortunately, I don't think it's as simple as replacing the bulbs, as there is a short between the two circuits! I'll have a look for the Osculati unit MoodySabre mentioned (I'm guessing he has a Moody, so maybe same as mine?)
 
I really dislike powerboats that use floods, as suggested, but let's leave that alone for a moment.

a. It is illegal to have a bright light that can blind another boat. You would need to have a means to immediately switch the light off at the helm. Mandatory for safe use. Under US law, "No person may flash, or cause to be flashed, the rays of a searchlight or other blinding light onto the bridge or into the pilothouse of any vessel, OSV or other, underway." I'm sure the UK has something equivalent.

b. I suspect it will ruin your night vision. Others have said this. A handheld torch is usually better.

You really need to be able to aim the light to search for markers and floats. Fixed would be useless unless massive (see a).

If I were going to mount a light, it would be far forward and not light the deck at all. I use a torch.
 
Comparing traditional flashlight to LED ... I have a 'beam-gun' ... nickname we had on one ship for really hefty powerful hand held lamps .... its about 4x the size of my cheapo LED's .... but in terms of lighting ... its about same - but it soon dies ... it had an SLA battery in it ... which like they do - died after about a year .. so I replaced with a higher capacity tired LiPo .....

My ex Soviet speedboat - I fitted a motorbike 'driving spotlight' ... LED .... having suffered trying to find entrance to my garden mooring channel one night ... both of us on board used our mobile phone lights together to try and light it ...

That LED light is only small - but it definitely works !!
 
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mikefleetwood said:
Hmm...
looks like a decent hand held rechargeable torch is the preferred option. I've got a couple of small ones, pretty bright, but really need something better. Always fancied night vision, but probably not much use to tell me which "upturned bucket" is red and which is green so I can find the channel up the river to Gweek!

As I mentioned, there is already a combo deck flood and steaming light, a little below spreader level. Currently, neither light works, so I have to repair them regardless of anything else. Unfortunately, I don't think it's as simple as replacing the bulbs, as there is a short between the two circuits! I'll have a look for the Osculati unit MoodySabre mentioned (I'm guessing he has a Moody, so maybe same as mine?)
Click to expand...
I have a Moody 31. There’s a lot of similarity between the models of that era.
 
Refueler said:
Why cabled ? Rechargeable should surely be enough ? The brightness and low power demand of todays LED based lights is nothing short of amazing ..
Click to expand...
I said cabled as I was thinking about this sort of thing clipped onto the pulpit rails with simple sprung pipe clips. About £10 a pair on the internet.
I want them to show any moorings at the 10m kind of radius, a bit like low level fog lamps on the front of a car, I don’t want to be swinging a lantern while I’m on the tiller

I’m not looking for a particular mooring at some distance, I’m watching out for any in my immediate vicinity when motoring through the local moorings, which I do fairly regularly.
 

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mikefleetwood said:
Yes, she's already got one of those - original fitting combined steaming light and deck flood (pointed towards the anchor well). Neither work, so that's another item on my list.
Click to expand...

I had one of those, and found it fine (though not for your 'searchlight purposes). It was a pre-LED days incandescent type, gave a very acceptable steaming light, and the deck light, though not super bright, was very useful for doing night-time anchoring and other foredeck work, I found.

The down-facing deck light bit of it was the type with no lens (just a bare bulb inside), which I recall people moaning about on here and/or them trying to find enclosed alternatives, but mine lasted for years without a problem.

My current steaming light has no deck light. When it comes time to change it, I'll get one combined with a deck light if I can find one. Running an extra cable up inside the mast will be too much trouble, so I'm thinking of a switch/relay (electronic?) that will turn the deck light on every other time the steaming light is switched on (or better still would cycle through steaming only - steaming and deck - deck only).
 
Dellquay13 said:
I said cabled as I was thinking about this sort of thing clipped onto the pulpit rails with simple sprung pipe clips. About £10 a pair on the internet.
I want them to show any moorings at the 10m kind of radius, a bit like low level fog lamps on the front of a car, I don’t want to be swinging a lantern while I’m on the tiller

I’m not looking for a particular mooring at some distance, I’m watching out for any in my immediate vicinity when motoring through the local moorings, which I do fairly regularly.
Click to expand...

You can clip a rechargeable to the pulpit .....
 
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