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I had the same problem when I first got Tern. Discovered that someone had installed a 20 point steaming light instead of a stern light. The darn thing was really offensive. Swaping out to a true stern light made a huge difference in my ability to see at night. Worth checking into.
Boyd
s/v Tern
CD30 MkII
Fort Lauderdale, Fla
Bill wrote: Bill
I would add that the light on the stern pullpit destroys night vision (at least it does mine). I would perfer to have them at the mast head and save the lights on the railing for an emergency.
MTCW
ill
Captain Commanding
S/V Rhapsody (the Original)
CD25D #148
Oklahoma Contingent if the NE Fleet, CDSOA, Inc
Galley Wench S/V Evening Light
<b><FONT COLOR="#ff0000" SIZE="+2">Gunnery Officer F/S Evening Light</B></font>
<A HREF="http://www.applegatemarina.com/">Kerr Lake, OK (Oklahoma's Outlet to the Sea)</A>
I operated tugs on the ICW and near coastal areas. The masthead lights, both anchor and tricolor, sometimes get mixed up with background lights. Lights closer to the water are more easily seen inshore.
Offshore, the masthead is probably better for seeing from a long distance.
Another thing that may be even more important is a radar reflector. Radar may be the first sighting that the other boat will see.
I was looking at the LED replacement bulbs for anchor lights, and my lord..they want a bit of cash for those puppies!! $395! Jeesh..not in my lifetime.
I think i will look into making my own up and try that out. First thing to cut out is the Pulse Width Modulation for the light brightness control, and instead just set it at the center of it's current range. The light does need to be seen 2 miles afterall.
Cheers,
Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
CD30 Lake Superior
Ken Cave wrote: Bill:
I really don't know, but when I went to our West Marine they quoted me a price of $47.00! Now I call that expensive!!
Larry,
They are around $150, not $395. Santa told me so. I think that you were looking at the combination tricolor/anchor light. Still a large piece of change.
If you're still following this thread - look at the CG regulations on light displays. As I remember it, the tricolor light isn't approved for inshore sailing, only offshore. FWIW.
Rule 25 is the same for both Intl and Inland. "In a sailing vessel of less than 20 meters in length the lights prescribed in paragraph (a) of this Rule may be combined in one lantern carried at or near the top of the mast where it can best be seen."
I'm resurrecting this old discussion because these days we have new choices. The Orca Green Masthead running lights come in several varieties. They are long-lasting and pretty much maintenance free. Since I'm tending to pretty much everything in this refit, I must decide what to do about the running/anchor/strobe? lights. I do understand about the need for sometimes having the lights down low (fog, close-quarters, etc.) but I sure do like the idea of having them all in one unit at the masthead. I could just forget about those bow and stern lights. They have one unit in particular that I really like:
a masthead unit with daylight sensor, anchor light, tricolor light, and strobe mode.
Thoughts?
A related subject: Has anyone asked the Coast Guard about a mode which would automatically switch between tri-color and strobe? As in aviation, the strobe would draw the eye, then the tri-color would indicate position. I don't know how this would or would not jive with the Coast Guard idea that strobes are a distress signal. Also, maybe the masthead strobe would be distracting. I know in my planes I had to add "blinders" to keep the strobe from bothering me. Still I just had to turn them off in fog.....
I just ordered the DR LED bulbs for my bow and stern running lights. I have nice new fixtures with bright and shiny lenses so I figured it was worth putting $100.00 worth of bulbs in them. I looked at the OGM masthead units and they are exactly what you would want for offshore use. I would not feel comfortable running around local waters in close quarters with only a mast head light though. People just don't tend to look up. Even mast head anchor lights are not as good as something down lower in a crowded anchorage.
Having both would be the best you could ask for. You could then run the bow and stern set up when you expected to meet with boats in close proximity and smaller seas. Once you cleared protected waters the tricolor would really come into it's own.
Troy, this should be a no brainer for you as you are likely to have the absolute nicest CD-36 in existence when you complete your restoration. We would expect to see nothing less than a full compliment of LED lights in the photo spread of the finished boat.
It will be nice not to worry about the choice between running down the batteries or getting run down, Steve.
I hope I live up to the expectations. I'm really trying to do a good job. I think I probably suffer from some sort of disorder that makes it impossible for me to be satisfied with just "good enough". Another problem is Champagne tastes and a beer budget. This means I have to do most of the work myself, because I can't afford to pay for the quality of work I want. I work for a living, so I don't have as much time for the boat as I would like. All this means that this refit is taking longer for me than it would for most folks. In an effort to keep this project affordable, I spend a lot of time shopping around to find just the right equipment at the lowest price. Wish me luck and continued enthusiasm!
Important: I think it is an either/or situation. Unlike a certain poster, whose identity will remain unpublished, you may--under sail--display either the tri-color masthead light OR the deck level lights. You may NOT display the masthead light and the deck level lights simultaneously.
We can talk about masthead strobes another time.
Mitchell Bober
Sunny Lancaster (where you should see our nav lights during the annual holiday Parade of Lights.) VA
I could just forget about those bow and stern lights.
Not really. When you start the iron genoa you need a steaming light well above the red/green/stern lights. How you gonna get the steaming light 3 meters above the masthead?
I resolved this by installing both tricolor and anchor lights at the masthead for when the engine is not running and deck level lights for when it is. The thought that the deck level lights would only be on when the motor is running eliminates the need to be stingy with the amps and suggests having very bright lights there. The need to keep the amp draw down when the engine is off suggests LEDs for the masthead.
Per Matt's message on the requirement for both masthead and deck level nav lights, I replaced my mast head light with the Orca LED unit Troy is looking at (w/ Strobe and photosensor). Very happy with it after 2 years.
I replaced the deck level nav lights with the exact same Aqua Signal units as the original... and much cheaper than LED. The original had very weathered lenses and intermittant bulb contacts.
My logic was to spend my $'s on low power consumption lighting where/when it matters - at the masthead/under sail.
That makes good sense. The only thing I would add is: I read recently in a magazine article that some folks had replaced their incandescent bow lights with sealed LED units because of corrosion and failure issues with the incandescent style. I do recognize that these failures were more likely due to failure of the seals rather than of the design..... We'll see. My old fixtures are 21 years old and a little shabby....; they were "average" when new. If the checkbook holds out I may just end up with an all-new exterior lighting system.
Another reason to keep cheap lights down low is that they are more exposed to docking accidents, anchor handeling, winter covering activities etc. Sadly, I have first hand experience in this area.
that makes it impossible for me to be satisfied with just "good enough". Another problem is Champagne tastes and a beer budget. This means I have to do most of the work myself, because I can't afford to pay for the quality of work I want. I work for a living, so I don't have as much time for the boat as I would like. All this means that this refit is taking longer for me than it would for most folks. In an effort to keep this project affordable, I spend a lot of time shopping around to find just the right equipment at the lowest price. Wish me luck and continued enthusiasm!
