Where do you put your Anchor Light

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thesaintlyone

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Oki hoping to launch in about a month and with the mast now down I'm looking at sorting out the fittings. I'm gonna budget for an LED Steaming/Deck Light £59 but Im looking at the prices of a Tricolor with Anchor Light combination and with the Nasa LED at £125 is a bit steep. Im looking at other options. The Nasa Tricolor LED on its own is £59
I have LED NavigationLights installed at deck level

its a 31ft Westerly Longbow

So I could look at a Non-LED Tricolor/Anchor Light

Buy the Nasa Tricolor and hang the Anchor Light in the rigging as some of you do
 
Also a Longbow and I went through the same questions. I went with the NASA LED tri at the masthead and will hang an anchor light in the rigging. Partly a cost based decision based on my infrequent anchorings
 
Anchor light in the fore triangle where it can be seen.
I entered Harwich Hbr 23.30 hrs 2 Saturdays ago,Bi & stern + steaming light, a yacht i hadnt seen passed to port, he displayed a tricolour & was under engine, his light was "lost" in all the moored ship working lights & cranes, he was able to see me but not me him.
 
My anchor light is a small LED unit permanently attached to the rope just above the anchor ball, below the eye where the halyard clips on to hoist it. The power cable runs up the inside of the downhaul part of the rope.

Masthead lights are hard to see at close quarters where it matters.

Pete
 
prv said:
My anchor light is a small LED unit permanently attached to the rope just above the anchor ball, below the eye where the halyard clips on to hoist it. The power cable runs up the inside of the downhaul part of the rope.

Masthead lights are hard to see at close quarters where it matters.

Pete
Click to expand...

Nearly the same :cool: With the LED inside an old oil light. Power through a dorade.

1WRSvkN.jpg
 
sailorman said:
Anchor light in the fore triangle where it can be seen.
I entered Harwich Hbr 23.30 hrs 2 Saturdays ago,Bi & stern + steaming light, a yacht i hadnt seen passed to port, he displayed a tricolour & was under engine, his light was "lost" in all the moored ship working lights & cranes, he was able to see me but not me him.
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I agree. (As usual!)

The opposite experience was entering the Colne at O500 before the Smack and Barge Match, a few years ago, to see nothing but paraffin anchor lamps hung on forestays. Nothing could have been clearer.
 
I also use a masthead tricolour for sailing, and a dusk to dawn anchor job hung in the foretriangle when at anchor; not only is the lower light in the foretriangle more visible, it should traditionally give a clue as to the orientation of the boat and may hopefully even light up a white deck / coachroof, if at close range.

Also handy for crew going on deck at night while anchored.
 
No need for a tricolour if you have deck level Nav lights. And you can doubtless manage without a masthead anchor light. Put the stick up and go!
 
I have a tricolour for sailing at night, it saves power and is visible at a much greater range.

I also have a bi-colour on the pulpit and a stern light, which I select instead when for instance manouvering in a marina at night, as nobody will be looking up at mastheads.
 
We have LED tri, used out at sea; and LED deck level nav lights for inshore and/or when motoring. We chose a cheap non led steaming/ deck light as we figured we could afford the amps if the engine was on. Anchor light is a led dusk-till -Dawn that sometimes we hang from the boom - plugs in to a cockpit socket; or in fair weather we hoist it on the black ball halyard with the lead coming up through the forepeak hatch. In crowded anchorages we also used to put battery operated Christmas tree lights in the cockpit to help distinguish our boat from others..... also we found some cheap solar powered garden path lights who's ‘stalks’ fit perfectly into our winch sockets.
 
Seajet said:
not only is the lower light in the foretriangle more visible, it should traditionally give a clue as to the orientation of the boat and may hopefully even light up a white deck / coachroof, if at close range.

Also handy for crew going on deck at night while anchored.
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Yes, mine does all of those things. The light has bright white LEDs facing outwards to provide the prescribed range, but also a few dimmer warm-white ones pointing downwards which gently illuminate most of the boat.

Pete
 
prv said:
Yes, mine does all of those things. The light has bright white LEDs facing outwards to provide the prescribed range, but also a few dimmer warm-white ones pointing downwards which gently illuminate most of the boat.

Pete
Click to expand...

Similar,

We have masthead anchor light, and then installed to short pole LEDs on the cabin roof but now use a LED in the foretriangle that is all round white and also illuminates the foredeck and cabin roof. It runs off solar and rechargeable batteries, solar on the end of a cable, and lasts at least 3 nights with overcast skies, we have no had more than 3 days of solid cloud - so have not tested ultimate storage of power. The gentle lighting of the foredeck makes the yacht very visible as its a massive area of white with a generally black background. The light does not markedly impair vision if we stick our head out of a hatch - we can still see other yachts with ease. Illumination the foredeck also means there is sufficient light to adjust the anchor, or rummage about in a deck locker, without need for a headlight torch or deck spots.

Jonathan
 
Mine is a the top of the mast. I wont say its completely useless. But its pretty close.

Years ago I used to hand an oil lamp from the fore stay. Dim but visible all night.
Just came up with a cunning plan and bought an solar LED garden light which I can stick on the pulpit. or push pit if I prefer. Almost certainly not an approved light but hopefully it will work better than the one at the top of the mast
 
thesaintlyone said:
Oki hoping to launch in about a month and with the mast now down I'm looking at sorting out the fittings. I'm gonna budget for an LED Steaming/Deck Light £59 but Im looking at the prices of a Tricolor with Anchor Light combination and with the Nasa LED at £125 is a bit steep. Im looking at other options. The Nasa Tricolor LED on its own is £59
I have LED NavigationLights installed at deck level

its a 31ft Westerly Longbow

So I could look at a Non-LED Tricolor/Anchor Light

Buy the Nasa Tricolor and hang the Anchor Light in the rigging as some of you do
Click to expand...

As for the anchor light: In Australia (and I guess everywhere else, because it makes sense) anchor light has to be visible over 360 dg radius - that means a full, uninterrupted circle. The only place that fits to this requirement is the top of the mast. Any other place is simply wrong. Period.
 
Uricanejack said:
Mine is a the top of the mast. I wont say its completely useless. But its pretty close.

Years ago I used to hand an oil lamp from the fore stay. Dim but visible all night.
Just came up with a cunning plan and bought an solar LED garden light which I can stick on the pulpit. or push pit if I prefer. Almost certainly not an approved light but hopefully it will work better than the one at the top of the mast
Click to expand...

The troubles with solar garden lights are:

They don't stay alight all night even if fully charged except during the height of summer when the nights are short.

If you are going to use one it has to be charged in advance, which basically means it needs to be out in the sun all the previous day. No good arriving in an anchorage late in the day and expecting to be able to get it out of a locker and use it that night.

Most are not bright enough or don't direct the light out in the right direction, although I fitted a reflector in one, which showed promise, to direct the light out side ways. I left it in the garden all winter and the frost got under the solar cell and wrecked it.
 
jiris said:
As for the anchor light: In Australia (and I guess everywhere else, because it makes sense) anchor light has to be visible over 360 dg radius - that means a full, uninterrupted circle. The only place that fits to this requirement is the top of the mast. Any other place is simply wrong. Period.
Click to expand...

I raised this objection to a single light in the fore-triangle a while back but was shouted down !

In fact the regs say
(b) (i) All-round lights shall be so located as not to be obscured by masts, topmasts or structures
within angular sectors of more than 6 degrees, except anchor lights prescribed in Rule 30,
which need not be placed at an impracticable height above the hull.
(ii) If it is impracticable to comply with paragraph (b) (i) of this section by exhibiting only one
all-round light, two all-round lights shall be used suitably positioned or screened so that
they appear, as far as practicable, as one light at a distance of one mile.
Click to expand...

A little bit of elementary trigonometry will confirm that it should not be difficult to position a light in the foretriangle sufficiently far away from the mast to not be obstructed by more than 6°

My solution though would be to hang one in the fore-triangle and a second above the cockpit.
 
VicS said:
I raised this objection to a single light in the fore-triangle a while back but was shouted down !

In fact the regs say


A little bit of elementary trigonometry will confirm that it should not be difficult to position a light in the foretriangle sufficiently far away from the mast to not be obstructed by more than 6°

My solution though would be to hang one in the fore-triangle and a second above the cockpit.
Click to expand...

Makes sense to me too :-). But as I said, the rule I posted applies in Australia
"Anchor light. A white light that shines so it is visible from all around the vessel required when anchored or moored between sunset and sunrise. The best place for this light is usually at the top of the highest mast."
and I am only assuming it applies in other countries. The 6 dg sector seems to be a reasonable compromise, but you won't get away with it here. If in doubts: Just 2 years ago I witnessed a few skippers at the anchorage where I am now (Southport at Gold Coast) being raided by waterpolice and being fined obscene amounts of money for having anchor light somewhere in the rigging, on the pushpit, cockpit roof etc.
 
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