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Hi guys, long time no chat.

Have any of you mounted a series 25 A/S Nav light (with bracket) on the pulpit of an X boat that came with the deck mounted nav light? After some conversations with BWY, I'm hearing that some of the later 26X and the 26M which came with that kind of Nav light had a welded tab on the pulpit which I don't have. So I'm concerned about a couple things, one is that it might spin around without that tab and two when the mast is bolted to the pulpit in trailering position, will it interfere with that sort of Nav light which would be in close proximity?

Tia for any insights,

Dimitri (from Tampa)

Can’t answer precisely on your bracket question but I have a 1995 and installed a puc shaped lED bow light just under the forward part of the SS railing on the pulpit I made my own bracket with aluminum and fastened with rivits , hardest part was fishing the new wiring through the stainless steel tubing and back to my battery which is located port side stern seat behind galley area. It can be done!

Running the wire through the tube sounds difficult particularly if there is no hole there where the pulpit is mounted, then the whole thing has to come off I presume. I think this may be the bracket on a different boat, just not sure if it will work in the mast down position on the 26x.

Dimitri-2000X-Tampa wrote: ↑Sun Jul 19, 2020 6:55 pmI think this may be the bracket on a different boat, just not sure if it will work in the mast down position on the 26x.

Actually, it might. The foot plate pins to two tangs that angle down and back, and the mast is nowhere near the pulpit. The roller furler is laying on the rail in this photo, but since I disconnect it and move it back for tarping, it's normally even further back than what's shown. It could just as easily be moved to the side a little more, instead. But the mast foot plate has plenty of room to the curved bow rail.

I ordered one of these https://www.catalinadirect.com/shop-by- ... -clamp-on/
and adjusted the mount so I could mount it forward of the rail so it would not get in the way of the mast holder. Then ran wires thru the pulpit and mounted a LED navlight. Works well and stays out of the way of everything.

Well done, Demos.

Dimitri - Another option would be to mount two single color lights, one on each side, on the bow rail or its supports. If down low, the wire can run directly into the deck.

Technically they’re called Side Lights anyway, and small boats (only) are allowed to use a single bi-color light unit. But you certainly could mount two, if that works better for you.

Thanks for the replies and pics. I expect the hull mounted lights would look better but its a lot more work too (making more holes in the boat, etc). Although I suppose I could consider a single color rail light on each side perhaps...haven't seen too many of those advertised. You've given me enough confidence to try the rail mount and I'll report back. Here is the reason why I can't use the stock light location anymore.

Here’s the photo on my x boat, I did have to remove all the styrofoam under the deck to drill a hole precisely between the tree mounted screws holding the rear pulpit tubing mount , fishing the wire is a little tricky ,drilling the hole upside down in that space tricky/er, but the result was worth the effort hope this helps

Gotro, do you have a part number and/or source for the light?

Be Free wrote: ↑Mon Jul 27, 2020 7:23 amGotro, do you have a part number and/or source for the light?

Looks like an Aquasignal 33 or 34, which can be mounted on top of a surface, or under it.

https://www.westmarine.com/buy/aqua-sig ... cordNum=83

https://www.westmarine.com/buy/aqua-sig ... cordNum=58

Both are approved for sailboats, AFAIK, which means it has a wider vertical arc angle than powerboat-only units, so intensity remains above the minimum when heeled.

Thanks Tom,

I've been planning on moving my bow light up to the rail for quite a while. My anchor rode finally took it off completely last week. Now I'll have to quit putting it off

Well, if it was the OEM light, which was an Aqua Signal Series 20, it wasn't legal for sailboats anyway.* They're approved for power boats to 12 meters, but not sailboats. So maybe your anchor rode did you a favor in the end.

*Power boat side lights require 100% req'd intensity at +/- 5 degrees from the horizontal, and over 60% req'd intensity at up to +/- 7.5 degrees.
Sailboat side lights require 100% intensity at +/- 5 degrees from the horizontal, and over 50% req'd intensity at up to +/- 25 degrees, obviously because sailboats heel under sail.

It was the OEM light. I always thought it looked a little small. I've probably averaged at least one reattachment per year for the last 10 years. I'm not going to miss it.

Be Free wrote: ↑Tue Jul 28, 2020 6:55 amIt was the OEM light. I always thought it looked a little small. I've probably averaged at least one reattachment per year for the last 10 years. I'm not going to miss it.

The OEM lights were 1 mile rated, with a shallow vertical angle (power boat rated only). The Aquasignal 33/34 units are 2 mile rated LEDs, with a wider vertical sector angle (sailboat rated).

Maybe it's just as well, as you'll end up with a much more visible light.

Gotro,
What is source and item # of light you installed?