Anchor light recommendation?

[karonoko]

Replacing the original anchor light on my CD 27. Desire LED, not tri color. The original has a nice little mast. What do you recommend?

[John Stone]

I am very fond of my kerosene anchor light on the Far Reach. I hang it off the forestay about 8' above deck. there are several things I like about it.
1. Simple. It always works.
2. The warm color is easy to spot in a crowded anchorage. It stands out from the blue white LED anchorl lights. Easy to find my way back to the boat.
3. Because it's only about 15' above the surface other boats see it when they are driving too fast through the anchorage. It's in your normal line of vision.
4. I like the ritual of trimming the wick. Lighting the lamp. Hoisting the lamp, etc. I get to rub elbows with Slocum, Pigeon, and Drake.
5. The warm color cast a welcoming glow on the deck. Not the cold blue white most LED anchor lights throw off.
6. By hanging it off the forestay, I can look up through the forward hatch while laying in the forward double berth and see it's gentle swinging motion and feel reassured that our presence is known to other nearby boats.
7. I have a back-up Davis LED anchor light on a 15' cord I can plug in if my oil lamp should ever fail. It hasn't.

[tjr818]

I really like that idea. What type or brand do you have.

[John Stone]

Tim
I think it's a Den Hann. I've had it for maybe 25 years. Perko used to make one way back in the day and you can sometimes find them in excellent shape on eBay.

[David Morton]

I found this one at West Marine. Wonder if I should get the large or the small size. Also curious, John, as to how you rigged it to your forestay. Thinking about the backstay with easy access from the cockpit since I have roller furling up front. Also, note it is not USCG approved.

https://www.westmarine.com/buy/den-haan ... DQodRFECsQ

[John Stone]

Chris,
Those rings on the side are for rigging it on rods--old merchant ship style I think. I recommend the same light but without the rings. I'll see if I can find a picture. As I recall there are two sizes. I purchased the small one but if I did it again I might buy the large one. I bought it when I had a J24 and it worked great. Still works great but I might like the larger size. Also, mine is brass and if they offer it in copper that's what I would choose.

Rigging. I have two brass snap hooks (not a snap shackle) on the top handle. I attach one hook to the forestay and the other one to the stays'l halyard. I have short length of line with a snaphook (a downhaul) which I attach to the ring on the bottom of the lantern. I hoist the lantern up about eight feet and secure the halyard. Then tie the downhaul to the rope drum on the windlass or bow cleat. I don't pull it tight . . . kind of lightly slack so the lantern won't swing wildly if there is a big wake in the anchorage.

Some folks will insist you have to have the brightest possible light for an anchor light. Check the coast guard regs so you make an informed decision. But, keep in mind these are the same people that insist that to sail without a SSB, every imaginable safety device, a life raft, and engine is reckless and endangers every living thing at sea. I am confident mylantern meets the requirement.

Attached are two pictures. The first is the lantern at night. Very bright. The second piccture shows the anchor light over the bow of the FR. It's not fully raised as I lowered it that morning to blow out the flame. But you can see the basic idea.

[John Stone]

Chris. I think this is the one I have.
https://www.boaterbits.ca/products/den- ... r-lamp-oil

I have had great customer service from boater bits. They are in Canada and the exchange rate is very good.

[Sea Hunt Video]

Chris. I think this is the one I have.
https://www.boaterbits.ca/products/den- ... r-lamp-oil

I have had great customer service from boater bits. They are in Canada and the exchange rate is very good.

John:

At $228 for your kerosene lantern I am wondering if I can just hoist up an Eveready flashlight for $5.99 plus the cost of two (2) D cell batteries

[Paul D.]

Hey Tom, Hope you regretting some good sailing in on the east coast there.

I replaced my original anchor light bulb with a festoon from Dr. Led. Works great and uses .1 amp hr. My old 20w Incandescent bulb was 1.5.

http://www.doctorled.com/p79.htm



The housing is an old Aqua Signal series 25 I believe. For a few seasons I used a Davis spare anchor light, which works very well, now it is our spare. And back up to anything electrical is the old wonderful oil Yacht Lamp



If you are looking to replace the full light and housing then I would consider something like the Signal mate

http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?nam ... id=2015671

Or the Hella.

http://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?na ... &id=769978

You could also put one together using a new cheap Aquas Signal incandescent housing and replace the bulb with a Dr. LED bulb.

[karonoko]

Thanks folks,and Paul good to hear from you! Going with the Davis low amp masthead mount and aspiring to the old school brass lamp!
Alas the change over will have to wait for fall when her mast is unstepped. But i ordered it up so i can plan my attack!

[John Stone]

Roberto, have you seen the cost of Duracell D batteries lately?

Seriously, you can find find used brass and copper anchor-lights for $25-50. I would not buy a new one.

[Dick Kobayashi]

On my 25D I use a Davis light and plug it into the power outlet on my panel or into the outlet on my power pack. I hang it from the boom - very easy to see from the water's surface and a somewhat different color from the LED and typical masttop lights. Very satisfied with this modest approach.

[John Stone]

Dick
I use that same LED as a back-up and it works very well I think.

[Terry]

Snip. . .And back up to anything electrical is the old wonderful oil Yacht Lamp.

The Weems and Plat Yacht Lamp is very similar to a Welsh Miner's Lamp. I have one that was made in Wales in the sixties. It is similar to my grandfather's, which he carried in the mines from the late Nineteenth Century into the late 1930s. My grandfather's lamp wasn't shiny, though. And, no, it is not going to be slung from a spreader as an anchor light.

For a cheap, bright kerosine anchor light, W.T. Kirkman has a No. 1 Little Champ Cold Blast Lantern for twenty bucks. Buy two, burn Lamp Oil (not paraffin lamp oil--there's a difference). With the right oil, it can be burned inside or out. Also, these lamps are available with colored globes. Red and Green are options. And when my battery went dead one night, it would have been a nice thing to have.

All the best. . .

[John Stone]

Roberto,
Here ya go. Ebay. Same lamp I use and new is about $230. This one is supposed to be like new for $79.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-ANKERLI ... C1&vxp=mtr