What do we think about flashing anchor lights?

garymalmgren said:
Hi Mike
You have probably worked out the consensus on this one.
1. The more powerful light the better. ( The rules out a hurricane lamp, although one should be aboard as a back up)
2. All round light.
3. Downlight.
4. Multiple charging options.
5. Reasonably priced.
6. Reliable.

I would head down to a camping goods store ( drive straight past the marine chandler)
and look for something like this.
I may not be marine, but would be much better than a flashing light.

gary


SHEIN
View attachment 197559
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I use something similar from Amazon. Cheap as cheap can be and versatile.

I don't think a strobe would be dangerous, just bloody annoying for the occupants of the boat and anyone around.
 
shanemax said:
A flashing white lights stands out far better than a solid white light. Take a look at cyclist. How many lives has that invention saved, plus I do not think you will be mixed up with a Norther cardinal mark.The whole idea is to be seen never mind what the rules say. You are allowed to shine a powerful light on to the bridge of a moving ship if necessary to show you are there.
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A steady white light in the fore triangle is all that is required.

For cyclists it is different and I also use a flashing red light on the back of my bike.
 
lustyd said:
I don’t agree with this. If you have a wooden boat covered in varnish they might be in keeping with the style, but they are otherwise entirely obsolete. I couldn’t even tell you where to buy paraffin from, let alone wanting yet another flammable substance on board.
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Paraffin lamps work well on diesel. A bit more smelly but in your forestays, who cares?
 
shanemax said:
A flashing white lights stands out far better than a solid white light.
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Undeniable.

...but there is such a thing as too noticeable when everyone is getting to sleep or enjoying a moonlight anchorage. A strobe is intrusive in a way that a fixed light just isn't.

A sound signal is also noticeable, but we don't have a fog horn going every 30 seconds.
 
Hi Shane
RE A flashing white lights stands out far better than a solid white light. Take a look at cyclist.

An anchor light is for avoiding accidents.
If an accident should happen the insurance company (of both vessels)would see a flashing light as non-regulation.
In this case they would see this as an escape clause.
An all round non flashing light hoisted high up the forestay is the best insurance for a pay out.

gary
 
GEM43 said:
Dusk to Dawn Anchor / Utility LED Light
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I had one of these on a previous boat. When it came it was originally "flashing" rather than steady as intended. This was because the daylight sensor had been fitted in such a way that it was detecting the light from the bulb and therefore repeatedly switching itself on and of. A gentle bending of the detector away solved this.

As for having a flashing anchor light. No. While a single boat on a quite anchorage with a dull strobe would not be a serious problem, if that became widespread it would make busy anchorages a nightmare.
 
shanemax said:
A flashing white lights stands out far better than a solid white light. T
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I stand to be corrected and/or happy to be corrected but I thought Hi Speed vessels were required to use flashing white? lights.

It would be a bit of a contradiction and some confusion to use the same device for hi speed and stationary vessels (especially when there is a well accepted and successful means to define vessels at anchor).

Jonathan
 
Neeves said:
I stand to be corrected and/or happy to be corrected but I thought Hi Speed vessels were required to use flashing white? lights.

It would be a bit of a contradiction and some confusion to use the same device for hi speed and stationary vessels (especially when there is a well accepted and successful means to define vessels at anchor).

Jonathan
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Racking my brain I can't think of any vessel required to show a strobe by the IRPCS.
 
shanemax said:
A flashing white lights stands out far better than a solid white light. Take a look at cyclist. How many lives has that invention saved, plus I do not think you will be mixed up with a Norther cardinal mark.The whole idea is to be seen never mind what the rules say. You are allowed to shine a powerful light on to the bridge of a moving ship if necessary to show you are there.
Click to expand...
Flashing lights work well on bikes because they are different from all the other lights and therefore bikes standout. They need to stand out more than say motorcycles, because they have very little power available (less of an issue today with Li batteries and modern LEDs but in the 90s when flashing bike lights emerged the alternative was a puny incandescent bulb with a couple of C/D cells). If the convention was that certain road junctions were marked with flashing white lights, or that a car parked on double yellows could pretend it was OK by displaying flashing white LEDs then I think the value to cyclists would be massively reduced because they would not longer be immediately recognisable. For the same reason, creating our own version of anchor lights is not a great idea - probably very few people actually navigate by flashing lights anymore, but I'd be surprised if we didn't have laws that make misleading lighting at or near the sea illegal to prevent the ancient practice of wrecking. Cyclists actually started using flashing lights before they were legal in the UK, which was rarely criticised by anyone official because it was clear they improved safety for vulnerable road users. Collisions with yachts at anchor are very rare so I don't think the same logic holds, the OP's reason is not that he doesn't think a standard anchor light would work well enough (the col regs allow additional lights to be used) but that he bought the wrong thing.
 
Mark-1 said:
Undeniable.

...but there is such a thing as too noticeable when everyone is getting to sleep or enjoying a moonlight anchorage. A strobe is intrusive in a way that a fixed light just isn't.

A sound signal is also noticeable, but we don't have a fog horn going every 30 seconds.
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How many times have I mistaken a mast head light on a three spreader yacht for a bright star low on the horizon. Several times on my night passages. What ever stands out does for me. You can educate dum people but you will never get them to think for themselves.
 
Sorry there is a big difference between a flashing light and a strobe. The indicators on your car are a flashing light, not a strobe.
 
I have a great dislike of mast head anchor lamps. I saw a jetski-without any nav lights-hit a yacht anchored in Cawsands bay one night. He said he could not/did not see the masthead lamp.

I made, from a battery powered camping light, a very good anchor lamp. I converted it to a bright LED bulb, sealed it against rain and powered it by a cable stored in the anchor locker.

Very bright when hung in the fore triangle, draws little current, illuminates the boat giving an idea of its size.

Works for me. We spent many, many nights on the hook, it was a great 'stress remover' when lit.
 
Mark-1 said:
Racking my brain I can't think of any vessel required to show a strobe by the IRPCS.
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Sandy said:
Hovercraft, but it is yellow.

Emergency Services, but that is blue.
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I've seen them, what I might call (in total ignorance) flashing lights on hovercraft and hydro foils - in Hong Kong on local ferries and the ones to Macau - but don't recall if they were yellow or white I'd have said - white. Similarly I don't know if they were defined as a strobe or a flashing light (but I think the OP was thinking of a flashing light). These are almost unique applications - the hover craft ferries were fast but were extremely low in the water, the Hydrofoils were decidedly fast.

I've also seen flashing (white) lights on large sailing cats - which can also be decidedly fast and not very manouverable when at speed.


I have also been accused, by a bulk carrier, of not showing a white steaming light when crossing Bass Strait averaging 10 knots under sail.

Jonathan
 
For your information, this is the offending object: Amazon "Boat navigation light"

Looks like a resounding "NO!" then :D. In my defence, I assumed that along with various flashing modes there would also be a "fixed" one!

The reason I was looking for a solar/battery unit was that there is no 12V supply easily available near the mast. This is only a temporary arrangement until I can attend to the in-mast wiring.

Anyway, as Amazon doesn't seem to have anything suitable with a boat/marine tag, I'll follow advice and look at "camping" lights (I may have already found a suitable one).
 
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