Storm Lanterns

[tom52]

Any opinions on using an old fashioned storm lantern as an anchor light?
Uses no power but would it be safe/practical/effective?
What was used on sailing yachts before they had engines/batteries?

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[snowleopard]

i presume you mean a hurricane lantern which operates with a wick, rather than a tilley lamp which uses pressurised paraffin and a gas mantle.

i have used a hurricane lamp and find it works pretty well but the small ones tend to run out of juice before dawn.

tilley lamps lose pressure and go out if left unattended for a long time. they also give out a lot of heat and can give a dangerous flare-up but are very much brighter than the wick type.

 

[Robin]

We use a paraffin storm lamp (not the pressurised Tilley type) as an anchor light. in windy conditions it is hung in more sheltered spot protected by the sprayhood, usually from a line between the hood and stern goalposts. I know it is supposed to be up front, but I've viewed the effect of ours from a distance and it lights up the cockpit and the deck quite clearly and because it flickers it is more obvious from short range than using the light on the mast top 50 feet up. We also have one of the very low consumption Davis lights that claims very good range with fresnel lens, comes with 2 bulbs, the brightest of which uses only 0.25A, plus flashing yellow or red or alternating one to t'other - answers on a postcard please for what that signal means.

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[bigmart]

I used one for a few years & found it pretty good. The only problem was carrying a load of parrafin & the lamps got rusty fairly quick. A decent Brass Job seems to cost around £30.00 & for not a lot more you can get an auto electric job which is smaller, easier to stow, easier to rig & more reliable.

Martin

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[qsiv]

White over flashing Yellow : Hovercraft

Standalone flashing Yellow aft of masthead : Sub conning tower

If the flashing yellow light could be hung by itself in the forward part of the vessel it would be for the bow of a lighter being pushed by a tug (if that isnt too Irish!)
Bear in mind some of these are US only (and Davis is a US supplier)

Seriously - Davis themselves target this as a cockpit light, and the flashing colours are there either for 'fun' or to help you identify your boat when returning to it in a crowded anchorage. The fact that it confuses everyone else seems to be elegantly ignored!


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[Robin]

Yes, we use ours as a cockpit light too and have in mind the 'find your boat' feature for the beach off Isle De Houat in August. Having spent an amusing hour watching a collection of French (overloaded) AX2's paddle around trying to find their yacht from the 500 others we saw one smartie who left a small strobe going as an id. We have never used it in anger though and with my luck would choose a night when the other 499 had all bought the Davis light.

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[qsiv]

I have a strope light at the masthead which illuminates the windex briefly (about once a second) - I also find it useful when anchored off.

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[jimi]

Strobes

Strictly contra to Coll Regs as it can be confused with a North cardinal. A strobe once scared the proverbial out me when it was moving very fast on a near collision course with me mid-channel, turned out it was Maiden on a 24hr speed record attempt.

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[extravert]

Like others, I have used a Hurricane lamp for this for years. I do as little motoring as possible and will use any method to reduce battery consumption I can, and this one helps a lot. Paraffin is still readily available from garden centres and is cheap. I carry a litre in a Sig bottle, and it usually lasts all year. In a crowded anchorage you don't need a flashing light to find your boat, the flickering of a flame is distinctive enough.

I have used the rusting type of lamp, which usually give me about 5 years before it gets flakey and dirty. I'm still waiting for a brass one for Christmas. One day maybe.

Although they stay alight in strong winds, the light is very much reduced, but I wouldn't want to be anchoring in that sort of weather by choice anyway. I've been outside in a force 11 (on land) with one and it stayed alight.

I don't think paraffin is any more dangerous than diesel to have on a boat. No vapours, not explosive, needs a wick to burn - you can't set light to a puddle on the floor easily. I've never seen any problem with a Hurricane lamp either, they don't flare or even get very hot at the handle level.

I also have 3 Tilley pressure paraffin lamps which I use for a non-marine purpose. I don't think they are really suitable for a boat, because they are heavy (compared to a Hurricane), not robust, thirsty on fuel, very hot, require 2 fuels and far too bright - you would blind everyone around. They are great though for a house with no electricity, which is where they get used.

<hr width=100% size=1>Adventures of the <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.xrayted.fsnet.co.uk>Teddy Bear Boat</A>

 

[Robin]

We changed to a brass one a few years back, I think it cost about £25, made in Germany. We use an old loo cleaner 'duck' type bottle (with a squirt type spout) to fill it and keep the main supply in a 2lt bottle. We also have a neat little gaz lantern that runs on the detachable/disposable cannisters, the light bit stores in its own fitted case. It cost about £10 in a French supermarket camping section and makes a superb cockpit light.

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[jfkal]

Spend a bit more and get a brass type miners lamp. They are safe, longlasting and do not flicker. Keep the glass clean and no one can mistake you for a submarine or barge.

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[vyv_cox]

Agree about the Tilley/Aladdin light. I have owned two for many years, they are used for camping and in the camper van, and during power cuts back home, but I have never been tempted to use one on board.

There is a third option. Climbing shops sell an excellent candle lantern. In storage the unit is about 1.5 inches in diameter and about 4 inches high. The glass pulls out vertically in use. It uses special candles that last about 8 hours and don't cost much. The unit seems very resistant to blowing out. There's a ring in the top that can be used to hang it up.

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[Gordonmc]

I still use an old rust-covered hurri lamp found in the bilges when I bought the boat. I also bought a brass one which supplements a wall mounted gimballed oil lamp in the saloon and goes into the cockpit at night.
The anchor light goes on at dusk and has only ever gone through half its fuel by sparrow's fart. Mind you, nights are short when we are on the hook.
I also carry Canadian long line fish lures which are small light sticks. These hang on the guard-wires when we go ashore to guide us back.

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[steveh]

We use the hurricane type - one windy night in Lulworth it swung around and spilled parrafin all around - very slippery!!

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[tom52]

Thanks everyone.
I did mean the unpressurised wick type hurricane lamp.
Sounds like a useful addition to the kit on board but I will fasten it top and bottom when used for an anchor light to make sure it cannot go through 360 degrees and spill slippy parrafin.

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[jmp]

Re: Storm Lanterns re Tom

I must be veteran .Started sailing with father approx 1953 in 19'open keelboat.Then 36' Int 6 metre ,on east coast --no engine 6' draft , no sounder ,spartan electrics.

Used proper copper hurricane lamp, with inner storm cone chimney for years,and still do. The lamp is raised with a jib halyard,or other fore halyard ,with a large shackle or strop round the forestay and the handle of the lamp to keep it from swinging back to the mast.Tie a lanyard to the bottom of the lamp to allow to be raised approx 10--15'above deck,and lash to deck fitting to eliminate swinging .

I have 2 and consequently have not been looking if they are readily available now.It is also important that you get one with a heavy dioptic lens to concentrate the light beam horizontally.
This is however likely in any real storm lantern,which incidentally hardly flickers in the heaviest winds.

I would not be without mine. I also like oil cabin lamps for evening use where bright light is not needed and battery consumption is an issue.

<hr width=100% size=1>jmp

 

[jmp]

By the way ,don't turn the wick(flame )up too much or you will blacken the glass,and end up with one of those MODERN black lensed lights they have been on about so much recently in Scuttlebutt.


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[seaesta]

Tom

Just to say that I also use a hurricane lamp as an achor light. In my case I use a carabeener to clip it to a shacke on the back stay (positioned where it forks). It works well and seems less of a hazard than waking up with a flat battery.
My first one was a cheapo "firehand" from the local hardware store. This was lost overboard half way across the Irish Sea and was showing signs of rusting round the base which could have caused a parrafin leak. The replacement is 10 years old and another cheapo - this time I have painted round the base with "hammerite" to prevent the onset of rust. I re paint every couple of years. Suggest this is better than paying for a brass one which will either tarnish or need polishing and will cost a lot more
Martin of Seaesta of Whitby

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