temporary/backup anchor light

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Moersea

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2021
Messages
29
Vessel Name
Mahanda
Vessel Make
GB 36 Classic
Greetings,

My regular, wired anchor light has become temperamental and I'm looking for a backup until I can get it sorted out. Ideally, something USCG compliant that is battery powered (solar would be ideal) and that I can haul up the mast with the halyard. Haven't found quite what I have in mind in the usual sources.

Suggestions welcome!

Grand Banks 36 CL (with the usual mast setup).
 
Problem with battery powered ones, they may not last all night. The one linked above I do not think meets requirements as it may be bright enough, but I have similar ones and they shine downwards instead of outwards.

There are LED hanging lanterns that are bright enough, but ensure they stay on for at least 2 hours longer than dusk to dawn where you are. Walmart or anyone who sell camping gears has dozens of models.

I preferred a 12V hard wired old anchor light I had hanging around and used that taped to a boat pole on the flybridge next to the electronics access panel. Even a new cheapo is less than some of the battery lanterns suggested and guaranteed to meet USCG requirements and duration need.
 
Agree on the hardwired 12 volt all round light. It doesn’t have to be all the way up the mast but high enough to be seen all the way around. And if you haul a light up with the halyard the light will be partially blocked by the mast since the light won’t be above the top of the mast.
 
If the light isn't on top of the mast, no matter where it is it will be blocked by something.... if nothing else... the mast will.

I wouldn't worry about that as much if the halyard is several feet away from the mast. I would worry about the brightness (required range) and that it lasts from dusk to dawn.
 
I would get an all round legal light and fabricate some way to mount it on a boat hook. Then stand the boat hook up on the bridge so the light is visible all round. If you have a 12 volt outlet get a plug and wire the light to the plug. Then when anchor light is needed stand up the boat hook and plug in the power cord. Also put an appropriate fuse in the positive lead.
 
Have you done any diagnosis on it. I anchored a couple weeks ago and noticed my anchor light wasn’t very bright so I got out the ladder and took the cover off and messed with the bulb and it came to bright life. May have gotten jogged when I lowered the mast to do some canal traveling.
 
Back in the day, I would hoist an oil lantern on a headsail halyard. It would burn all night. Yeah it isn't at the top of the mast, it would be partially blocked from one direction, but I believe it met the requirements and it worked.
 
It happened to me that while at anchor and prep for the night my anchor light played tricks on me. As I had no real alternative handy, and not willing to start playing with wires at dusk, I used a led lantern attached to the mast with 2 tie wrap. It last til dawn and was bright enough to be seen around. Was it meeting regulation, I doubt, was it better then nothing, certainly.

L
 
dhays said:
Back in the day, I would hoist an oil lantern on a headsail halyard. It would burn all night. Yeah it isn't at the top of the mast, it would be partially blocked from one direction, but I believe it met the requirements and it worked.
Click to expand...
We did that, using the headsail halyard on top and the kite downhaul underneath. Worked ok, no one hit us. These days you`d use an LED lantern.
 
Well, you were lucky because if there had been a collision you would have been found at least partially responsible since your anchor light wasn’t legal.
 
Back in the days of my early bigger sailboat experience, say 1960s, many, many sailboats used kerosene lanterns.

Many sailboats barely had a start battery let alone a serious electrical system. My first liveaboard only had a few 12V lights, a flasher sounder, no radio, icebox only....etc..etc... no 110V at all.It did have electric nav lights, but I like many didn't use them for anchor lights as they drew down the battery too much. The cabin has kero lamps too for the same reason

I remember, this was still the era where the coasities still had memories of fuel lit lighthouses that weren't even starting to be converted until around the beginning of the 1900's . Probably because some of them had to go clean up and remove the old fuel systems.

I am not recommending using one, but they did used to work. The Fresnel lens worked pretty well. In the 70's, on my one sailboat, I took the oil burning part out of it and replaced it with a 12V bulb. While I can't say it met USCG regs, it worked and looked cool (back in my romance of boating days :) )
 
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Can you turn on the running lights and cover the red and green lights with something opaque (or take the bulbs out)?
 
I looked at this, but couldn't get one delivered in time for our trip. I would think this would be a perfect back up, and looks like it will last a min of 17 hours.

www.mantusmarine.com

Mantus White Navigation Light for the Boat Transom - Mantus Marine

USB-C and Solar Charging USCG Approval: 2 Nautical Miles 5 Modes of Operation: 360 all around white light, 135 deg white stern light, 225 deg masthead light, 360 Flashing SOS, Dim 360 white light 1/5 th max luminosity - (not to be used for navigation) Water Resistant IPX8 Contains...
www.mantusmarine.com
 
Comodave said:
Well, you were lucky because if there had been a collision you would have been found at least partially responsible since your anchor light wasn’t legal.
Click to expand...
I am not at all convinced that it wasn't legal. I am not terribly well versed in the COLREGS but from Rule 30, (b)
A vessel of less than 50 meters in length may exhibit an all-round white light where it can best be seen instead of the lights prescribed in paragraph (a) of this Rule.

Again, a lantern is not ideal but when an electric light fails it provides a reasonable backup. As near as I can tell, non-electric lights are fine as long as they "so far as practicable" meet the same minimum intensity requirements.

Additionally, we would often use that lantern as a lower light as described in Rule 30 (a) in addition to our electric masthead light even though it wasn't required in (b). The reason was simple. Folks don't tend to look up and many times miss the masthead light of a sailboat. The lower aft light often is more visible in my experience.
 
Comodave said:
Agree on the hardwired 12 volt all round light. It doesn’t have to be all the way up the mast but high enough to be seen all the way around. And if you haul a light up with the halyard the light will be partially blocked by the mast since the light won’t be above the top of the mast.
Click to expand...
It's pretty easy to get it above the mast. Mount the light to one end of a stick about 4 feet long. Fasten the halyard to the middle of the stick and a downhaul to the bottom end. Raise that and the light will now be 2 feet above the mast top. They used to do that with flags back in the old days.
 
known as a "pigstick" in many regions.

If you jam the bottom end through a tennis ball you won't have to listen to it banging against the mast all night.
 
IRENE said:
VERY low power draw

Davis Mega Light

Click to expand...

Capture.JPG
 
When I anchor for the night I turn on the anchor light and leave a couple of lights on in the boat. The visibility of the cabin lights are better, I think, than the anchor light alone.
 
I have used this many times at anchor. I like the automatic on/off dusk to dawn automation to it. I clip it to the top of the VHF antenna. Not worries to turn it on or off as long as it's plugged in the upper helm cig lighter.
 

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I used to use a small solar lantern that I would haul up the mast.
I'm sure it was not CG compliant, but it was visible enough that I never worried about it.
 
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