Anchor Light on an X

[Divecoz]

If that was at night ? The Driver got what he had coming..
I as well have anchored numerous times In Pelican . I have run up( beached her on purpose) on that spit of beach ( on the right ?) I anchor about 100 yards or so ... short of the Pier and about 100 feet short of the beach / mangroves..
Running at night? Nav Lights Spot lights( OK not in open Ocean or 10 miles out in the Gulf ) GPS and Radar..

I like to anchor in thin water or on a beach and do it often. I wouldn't want a Navigator come in a dark night seeing my bright light tucked around a sand Spit like Cayo Costa ,Pelican bay and aim for my light. They will hit the sand spit well before they hit my boat. 5 mo. ago a 26 ft. fast boat manage to climb a concrete seawall 5 ft. above tide and landed it intac on the grass. Boat was total and 3 members on boat in serious condition. They say it hit over 40 knots enough to ride over the rock reinforcement to become air born. Thats a YAHOO.
Dave

[jschrade]

Powerboaters hitting things at night is an ongoing saga. They especially like to hit break walls and docks.

I haven't anchored out for a night yet (really like that hot shower in the morning) but having seen the yahoos running up and down the ICW, I would at least park in between two islands. I see a lot of boats anchored without anchor lights in the ICW - in fact, most don't have anchor lights.

Jim

[Gypsy]

Powerboaters hitting things at night is an ongoing saga. They especially like to hit break walls and docks.

I haven't anchored out for a night yet (really like that hot shower in the morning) but having seen the yahoos running up and down the ICW, I would at least park in between two islands. I see a lot of boats anchored without anchor lights in the ICW - in fact, most don't have anchor lights.

Jim

To anchor anywhere near the ICW and not have on an anchor light is illegal and just plain stupid .

And while on the subject of stupid , and powerboats hitting things ,,
A few years back , on lake Martin , we had a power boat leave a restaurant , after dark and in fog , get completely turned around , and run over a concrete pier , at a high rate of speed , killing nearly everyone aboard.

The question that
never gets answered ,,
If it was dark and foggy , why was He even on plane ? Why was He driving so fast in conditions so bad , He was going in the opposite direction than what He thought He was going ? Ironically , they decided to tear down the pier "so it couldn't happen again " Had He not hit the pier , it was only a matter of time before He would have hit something else.

[capncarp]

Gypsy,
Your trying to split hairs with symatics and you are incorrect. I am sitting here reading the" U.S.C.G. Navigation Rules". This is the official, legal printing of Colregs. First if you friend knows every faction of the regs, then he should have explained all of it. Not just what you wanted to hear. You are correct in what Rule 30 (anchored vessels) International and inland say. However, now you need to define "all around" light. Rule 21 states , para (e) "All-around light" means a light showing an unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of 360 degrees. "UNBROKEN". Your arc as you want is broken by height. It doesn't matter that the beam goes 360 degrees. It has to be unbroken. Everyone should have a copy of the colregs on board.
capncarp,
U.S.C.G. licensed Capt.

[DaveB]

Maybe all the first time boat owners should be required to past a test on the rules of the road.
There are anchorages (3 in SW Florida) that the Coast Guard consider them as Ancorage without useing Night lighting. There are many thruout US and if one wants to save battery power may consider not useing a Anchor light. I have anchored in these areas and still perfer a anchor light.
Coast Guard will not bust your chops if you have a anchor light hung 6 ft. above the deck if you are in a protected area out of any channels.
Dave

If that was at night ? The Driver got what he had coming..
I as well have anchored numerous times In Pelican . I have run up( beached her on purpose) on that spit of beach ( on the right ?) I anchor about 100 yards or so ... short of the Pier and about 100 feet short of the beach / mangroves..
Running at night? Nav Lights Spot lights( OK not in open Ocean or 10 miles out in the Gulf ) GPS and Radar..

[Russ]

Maybe all the first time boat owners should be required to past a test on the rules of the road.

In many states this is true.

Many people are still unaware that they need certification to operate a motorized boat. Hope they don't get busted. Fines can be pretty stiff.

[Gypsy]

Gypsy,
Your trying to split hairs with symatics and you are incorrect. I am sitting here reading the" U.S.C.G. Navigation Rules". This is the official, legal printing of Colregs. First if you friend knows every faction of the regs, then he should have explained all of it. Not just what you wanted to hear. You are correct in what Rule 30 (anchored vessels) International and inland say. However, now you need to define "all around" light. Rule 21 states , para (e) "All-around light" means a light showing an unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of 360 degrees. "UNBROKEN". Your arc as you want is broken by height. It doesn't matter that the beam goes 360 degrees. It has to be unbroken. Everyone should have a copy of the colregs on board.
capncarp,
U.S.C.G. licensed Capt.

Rule 30 : Anchored Vessels and vessels aground
(a) A vessel shall exhibit where it can best be seen :
(i) in the fore part , an all around white light or one ball ;
(ii) at or near the stern and at a lower level than the light prescribed in sub-paragraph (i) an
all-round white light.
(b) A vessel less than 50 metres in length may exhibit an all around white light where it can be best instead of the lights prescribed in paragraph (a) of this Rule.

I copied the above , straight out of the rule book , my friend gave me , which is 'Nautical Emergencies ' and contains the COLREGS
The interpretation is my own.
You might be right that it means two all around white lights , but I took it to mean two lights
making up 360 degrees , since it would be nearly impossible to have two lights on a sailboat shinning 360 degrees each . One would have to be on top the mast , but the stern light would be partially blocked by rigging and the mast .

By what you are saying the only legal anchor light is a 360 degree white light on top of the mast .

The only legal way to use two lights would be to have two mast , the aft mast shorter than the fore mast and a white light on top of both .


I started this thread because I am in the process of completely rewiring my boat and wanted to know what others have done , and what is legal , so I will know how to proceed .
I am not trying to interpet law .

[Sumner]

[...........I started this thread because I am in the process of completely rewiring my boat and wanted to know what others have done , and what is legal , so I will know how to proceed........... .

I recently re-wired our boat and put in a 4 prong plug at the mast and also left the 2 prong one just in case I needed it for some reason in the future. As long as you are re-wiring I'd recommend putting in a 4 prong as it will give you more options.

On the light just to make sure we are legal and more importantly to hopefully protect us if anything ever happened and we ended up in court we spent the extra money and.........



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

...bought and installed a "Coast Guard approved" light. Now I don't have to prove in a court of law that it is legal and can be seen the required distance. That has been done by the manufacture. This is a one time cost and considering what we spend on other insurance for our health, house, car and boat is a small one time expense. The light also only draws 2 watts.

I also like additional lighting and right now we are running two strings of Christmas lights that are LED and recharge each day and cost $20 per string, but we do have the 360 degree top of the mast light on each night while anchored here at Cayo Costa.

One neat thing is that I mounted the VHF antenna coil below the light, but the antenna itself goes above the light (I know now the light isn't 360 deg. ) and the windex is on the antenna above the light. Since it is reflective on the bottom side I can look up there with the light on and see where the wind is coming from.

Good luck on the re-wiring and use tinned wire,

Sum

[Gypsy]

You are right about our sue happy society ! To be able to defend yourself in court is most important.
If some yahoo runs over your anchored boat of course He will say you didn't have a legal light.
That very thing happened , again on Lake Martin , He ran over an anchored pontoon boat , claimed their white light wsn't on . It was , He went to prision for manslaughter .

I was wanting an anchor light that was useful as well as legal , such as spot lights hanging from the spreaders , but it doesn't look thats going to happen.
Looks like I will need to go with something like what you have done atop the mast and then install some deck lights .
Are your Christmas type lights solar powered ?

On our powerboat , we had some christmas tree lights that were 12vdc that we strung around the bimini , in addition to the anchor light , they were the perfect amount of light for laying around the cockpit after supper , or for cooking on the grill .

I am using THHN , simply because I have tons of it , and Practical Sailor did a test on it , and said it holds up as well as tinned wire. In my own experience , I have found THHN holds up well .
Found a little surprise when I started trying to pull wire from the fuse/switch panel to the battery box , straight below . The old wires didn't go straight down . Mine run , in the wall , behind the galley to where the chain plates are then go down under the galley and back to the battery box . I about tore up the wall trying to run a fish tape thru it. I am NOW installing a piece of 1" conduit that runs straight down from the switch panel to the batteries. I am making this conduit sturdy and will be able to secure the refridgerator to it , as it will sit on top of the battery box . Once a week I will need to move the fridge and check water levels in the Batts .

[...........I started this thread because I am in the process of completely rewiring my boat and wanted to know what others have done , and what is legal , so I will know how to proceed........... .

I recently re-wired our boat and put in a 4 prong plug at the mast and also left the 2 prong one just in case I needed it for some reason in the future. As long as you are re-wiring I'd recommend putting in a 4 prong as it will give you more options.

On the light just to make sure we are legal and more importantly to hopefully protect us if anything ever happened and we ended up in court we spent the extra money and.........



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

...bought and installed a "Coast Guard approved" light. Now I don't have to prove in a court of law that it is legal and can be seen the required distance. That has been done by the manufacture. This is a one time cost and considering what we spend on other insurance for our health, house, car and boat is a small one time expense. The light also only draws 2 watts.

I also like additional lighting and right now we are running two strings of Christmas lights that are LED and recharge each day and cost $20 per string, but we do have the 360 degree top of the mast light on each night while anchored here at Cayo Costa.

One neat thing is that I mounted the VHF antenna coil below the light, but the antenna itself goes above the light (I know now the light isn't 360 deg. ) and the windex is on the antenna above the light. Since it is reflective on the bottom side I can look up there with the light on and see where the wind is coming from.

Good luck on the re-wiring and use tinned wire,

Sum

[Sumner]

............. Are your Christmas type lights solar powered ?...

Yes, they have those round solar collectors that look like what is on walk lights and such. We bought a string off the internet and tried them at home first and they seem to run almost all night which surprises me with the short days. You can set them to a 'blinking mode' or 'on all the time'. At home we had them blinking and on the boat we have been using 'on all the time'.

There are about 50-60 lights on a string and a string will run the length of a lifeline. The lights aren't large or super bright, so I question what distance you can see them from, but Ruth can see them and that is the important part .

It looks like you have a good start on the project and a plan ,

Sum

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[Gypsy]

Do you remember where you got them from ?
Waht we were using on the powerboat are worn out and need replacing .
The nice thing about the Christmas style lights is that there is no one bright source .
Just a lot of soft light.

[Jeff Stagg]

Lots of brainstorming and ideas on this oft repeated thread. I stand by my 1998 setup as shown in the speedyrigger videos produced in 2000:

A light that is Coast Guard approved with a 2 mile visibility mounted at the top of the mast with nothing blocking any angle of light. This requirement eliminates most of the lights for sale on the market.

A wire from the light down the mast with zip ties spaced every two to three feet to prevent the wire from slapping the mast as the boat rocks in waves, exiting the same hole in the mast as the masthead factory supplied wire for the masthead light.

A plug (West Marine Perko 2 Prong Deck Plug, keep the deck mounted spare part, you will need it in the future:

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... sNum=10615

After dropping the hook for the night, change deck wire plugs from steaming light (under power only, with running lights, never when under sail, at night) and plug in the anchor light to the factory installed deck mounted socket you already have next to the mast.

Turn off the running lights at the panel, leaving only the anchor light (labeled masthead light) that is controlled by the fuse panel switch you already have in the cabin.

Bring out the 10 million candlepower spotlight, plugged in to the 12 volt outlet for the inevitable idiot speeding toward you in the dark and it will stop him. Do not shine it at an airplane or helicopter, ever.

Jeff Stagg MacX2284F898 "Three Suns" Yamaha 50 Roseville , CA

[Sumner]

Do you remember where you got them from ?

Try this link.............

http://www.amazon.com/Solar-Powered-Hol ... pd_sim_k_1

I think that is the place, but we got colored ones and I can't find them. We are on the boat and the info is at home, sorry,

Sum

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[Russ]

Sumner..your link was for "Solar powered Holiday lights".

If you want Solar powered Christmas lights, you'll need this link
http://www.amazon.com/Solar-Powered-Mul ... 258&sr=8-2

[Sumner]

Sumner..your link was for "Solar powered Holiday lights".

If you want Solar powered Christmas lights, you'll need this link
http://www.amazon.com/Solar-Powered-Mul ... 258&sr=8-2

Yep, I think those are the ones. We paid the $19.95 that is listed further down on that page. They look good up close, but I question how bright they look like from 100 yds. out,

Sum

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