Mast Anchor Light Installation

[Russ]

One of the great features of the shallow draft is I anchor at Cuttyhunk in about 2-4 feet of water depending on tide - from the depth alone the only traffic I see are catamarans since anyone with a keel cant get close.

Maybe a third of the boats in the mooring field light up their anchor lights at night.

You must come in no fins? What about power boats? I haven't been to Cuttyhunk in over 25 years. I can't remember what it looks like. Tarpaulin Cove in Naushon Island was one of the darkest places I've even seen in my life. Anchor light a good idea there.

I see 2 purposes for an anchor light.

1) Keep people from running into me (Blue hulls at night are probably invisible).
2) If someone runs into me, be legal when the authorities (and insurance adjusters) get there.

I just installed a nice LED anchor light that draws next to nothing so being illuminated is almost free now. In addition, I'm thinking of using some of those $3 solar lights as both cockpit lighting and extra insurance.

[Catigale]

Northeast and Northwest sides of the harbor, its too shallow for even powerboats. Remember, you are 10 miles offshore, so you dont get runabouts out there...usually Macs are the smallest boat in the pond.

Ive anchored in Tarp. cove - in August, the photoplankton are active and you can pick up a bucket of water and pour liquid fire - very cool....

(we didnt use our anchor light there either....

[Gypsy]

One night we were anchored well out of the main channel , with just an all around anchor light . About 3:00 in the morning we were passed by what sounded like a low flying 747 . I came flying out of the cabin in time to see 3 penis boats drag racing up the river.

I dug around and found all the lighting I could , hung it around the boat and turned it on.

You can assume that at 3:00 in the morning the drivers of these boats had , had plenty to drink , were running 80 to a 100 mph , and in the dark.

Not long ago , there had been an accident on one of the lakes where a penis boat had literally run over a pontoon boat , that had anchored for a night time swim. The pontoon boat was all legal , out of the way and an anchor light on.

[Gypsy]

One night we were anchored well out of the main channel , with just an all around anchor light . About 3:00 in the morning we were passed by what sounded like a low flying 747 . I came flying out of the cabin in time to see 3 penis boats drag racing up the river.

I dug around and found all the lighting I could , hung it around the boat and turned it on.

You can assume that at 3:00 in the morning the drivers of these boats had , had plenty to drink , were running 80 to a 100 mph , and in the dark.

Not long ago , there had been an accident on one of the lakes where a penis boat had literally run over a pontoon boat , that had anchored for a night time swim. The pontoon boat was all legal , out of the way and an anchor light on.

[SkiDeep2001]

I had a great reply to the above post (IMHO) but I thought better of it. My girlfriend would be proud of me for showing some restraint. Rob

[Gypsy]

If you are reffering to the name ' penis boats ' around here thats what we call them .
two reasons :

1 They are shaped about like one .

2 The owners of them are usually compensating for something Mother Nature didn't give them ,
at least not in any quanity . So they make up for thier little penis with big engines !

And personally , I wouldn't anchor anywhere with out an anchor light on. Just to many people out there who don't use common sense , especially at night. The more light , the better .

[Russ]

If you are reffering to the name ' penis boats ' around here thats what we call them .
two reasons :

1 They are shaped about like one .

2 The owners of them are usually compensating for something Mother Nature didn't give them ,
at least not in any quanity . So they make up for thier little penis with big engines !

And personally , I wouldn't anchor anywhere with out an anchor light on. Just to many people out there who don't use common sense , especially at night. The more light , the better .

You have changed my vocabulary. Good one.

I'm thinking with your experience...maybe a handheld flare gun is in order. Or a shotgun for others.
I can't imagine how frightened you were to see these boats at night barreling down the river. Crazy stuff!
If it were me..I'd want a cannon to shoot them out of the water before they hit my boat and killed my family.

There is no reason to be out on the river at 3am except to fish. Those numskulls should be in jail. Hopefully Darwin's principle prevailed to the operators.


--Russ

[Doug W]

I just installed a nice LED anchor light that draws next to nothing so being illuminated is almost free now. In addition, I'm thinking of using some of those $3 solar lights as both cockpit lighting and extra insurance.

That's what I'm looking for! Where did you get your LED anchor light? How hard was it to fish the wires up the mast?

I have a pair of the $3 solar lights that I drop into a pair of rod holders on my mast crutch which work great at ambient cockpit lighting; however, I did stow them while rafted up so that I didn't bother the neighbors.

Thanks!
Doug
Galactica "la Diosa Azul"

[Russ]

Where did you get your LED anchor light? How hard was it to fish the wires up the mast?

Actually, I got the LED anchor light off eBay. It was cheap and very bright.

Fishing wasn't that hard. I had no trouble fishing my coax for my VHF antenna. Basically I pushed a snake down from the top to the base through the Styrofoam. Then I replaced the steaming light with an LED and used a DPDT switch to toggle between steaming/anchor light at the fuse panel. This way I could use the same 2 wires for both lights by reversing the polarity. Works like a charm.


--Russ

[Catigale]

Cuttyhunk 2009







On that last one you can see how close I am to shore vs the other boats (on moorings) Sometimes I have to watch a SE wind which can get me close to the mud/sand shore at low tide, but I that wind is rare. Each day I know when low tide is, and if I get a SE wind, I just stay near the boat and keep it pushed off the beach if it gets close. Two hours after low tide Im floating again.

[K9Kampers]

Cat-
Nice pics, especially the middle one. That should be a cover photo for Soundings magazine! A Nonsuch 33, Crosby Tug & Hinckley T40.
Can't wait to get back to Chunk. Are you doing your annual trip this year?

[K9Kampers]

Incidentally, Ive never displayed an anchor light in 8 years of cruising in the Northeast (perhaps 5 weeks of overnight cruising per year) and I would say about 2/3 of the boats I see dont either.

Same here. If alone in a cove, anchor is light on. If in a crowded anchorage, I'll be nearest the shallows with light off.

[Sumner]

I love to build stuff, but the anchor light is one area where I bought one that is coast guard approved and we use it every night regardless of where we are anchored or tied to.

Except for about 3 nights we have never been near another boat at night and have usually been very close to shore where the chances of being hit were pretty slim and on lakes where there has been very little night-time boat traffic, but why take the chance? Either safety or liability wise when for $100 you can put a light on your boat that is legal.....

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... de-23.html

...and uses less than 3 watts (less than .25 amps)? Are you really going to miss that $100?

I'm adding other lights, like the walkway lights, but they aren't legal by themselves. Remember if you can get into a place to anchor there are surely other boats that can also,

Sum

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[Catigale]

Return to C'hunk next week for a 7 day cruise!!

[Gypsy]

If you are reffering to the name ' penis boats ' around here thats what we call them .
two reasons :

1 They are shaped about like one .

2 The owners of them are usually compensating for something Mother Nature didn't give them ,
at least not in any quanity . So they make up for thier little penis with big engines !

And personally , I wouldn't anchor anywhere with out an anchor light on. Just to many people out there who don't use common sense , especially at night. The more light , the better .

You have changed my vocabulary. Good one.

I'm thinking with your experience...maybe a handheld flare gun is in order. Or a shotgun for others.
I can't imagine how frightened you were to see these boats at night barreling down the river. Crazy stuff!
If it were me..I'd want a cannon to shoot them out of the water before they hit my boat and killed my family.

There is no reason to be out on the river at 3am except to fish. Those numskulls should be in jail. Hopefully Darwin's principle prevailed to the operators.


--Russ

No , they are still terrorizing the river . The Lakes passed a law outlawing them , but it doesn't apply to the river . So they all came to the river .
Its just a matter of time , before thier is a serious accident , much like the lake , which lead to thier getting outlawed up there.