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Where do you put your steaming light?

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  • 19 Aug 2014 15:16
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    Reply # 3078141 on 3077601
    Anonymous member

    My other idea was to replace the rubbing strake with a big clear PVC bumper containing a programmable LED light strip and simply convince other vessels that aliens had landed and they should keep well clear.
  • 19 Aug 2014 15:08
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    Reply # 3078128 on 3077601
    Anonymous member

    I've been thinking about this. Tammy Norie currently only has deck-level lights and so when I'm motoring I'm just putting up my utility anchor light alone. Since I'm under 7m this conforms to rule 23, but I'd much rather have coloured lights.

    I was planning to go with the all-round masthead white and bi-colour bow lights described by other people here, but after hearing the stories I think I'd like something at deck level. I'm wondering about simply illuminating the transom with a non-navigation light. Light the back of the boat and its nameplate at a reasonable brightness so that anyone nearby can see you.

    The other solution I can think of is to have a masthead white light (to 22.5° abaft the beam) and a stern light and show them both when motoring or at anchor.  I'm wondering about modifying a Supernova Combi to do this. A bit of tape might do it!

    Note, though, that the Supernova Combi is only visible at horizontal ±25°, so my 8m mast height means it becomes invisible at 8m/tan(25°) = 17.2m from the boat. If she's heeling at 20° it becomes invisible at 91m. Another reason why this particular kind of light might not be great at close quarters.

    Last modified: 19 Aug 2014 16:03 | Anonymous member
  • 19 Aug 2014 14:14
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    Reply # 3078087 on 3078035
    Deleted user
    Peter Scandling wrote:

    In terms of the 'Rule of the Road'  the combination tri-colour and all round white at the top of the mast meet the requirements for vessels under 20m, as stated in rule 23.

    At close quarters with other small craft a powerful hand torch is always useful.

    From the bridge of a ship, deck level nav lights are very difficult to see unless it's mill pond calm, due to the pitch and roll of the yacht.

    Peter

     


    Interesting you say that as I've been told the exact opposite in the past. Deck level lights being far easier to spot because they're less affected by rolling and pitching. Seemed to make sense to me, particularly with unstayed masts.
  • 19 Aug 2014 12:51
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    Reply # 3078048 on 3077601
    Deleted user

    Paradox no longer has one. When motoring we use the masthead anchor light and the bow lights, and when sailing a tricolour offshore and bow and stern lights inshore. Whatever you use I think it pays to stick to the rules in order to keep your insurance company on side.
  • 19 Aug 2014 12:30
    Quote
    Reply # 3078035 on 3077601
    Anonymous member

    In terms of the 'Rule of the Road'  the combination tri-colour and all round white at the top of the mast meet the requirements for vessels under 20m, as stated in rule 23.

    At close quarters with other small craft a powerful hand torch is always useful.

    From the bridge of a ship, deck level nav lights are very difficult to see unless it's mill pond calm, due to the pitch and roll of the yacht.

    Peter

     
  • 19 Aug 2014 05:21
    Quote
    Reply # 3077827 on 3077601
    Anonymous member
    The all-round-white steaming and stern light combination, is quite legal for boats under (I think) 14 m.  However, I quite agree with you, John, that a white light at the masthead is likely to be missed by someone looking around for possible boats in close proximity.  (A masthead anchor light is equally useless, for the same reason.)  Nowadays, an additional drawback of a white light 'in the sky' is that LED lights are at the same end of the spectrum as a star or planet and on a clear night, difficult to identify.  I remember being nearly run down  from astern, while steaming under a masthead stern light, in the Intra Coastal Waterway in Florida.  The other boater (quite rightly, really) hurled abuse at us for not showing a stern light: he hadn't noticed it 40 ft in the air as he was concentrating on what was in front of him.  The only sensible solution that I can see, even if not strictly legal, is to have a second stern light on the stern rail.  (To avoid the business of having to wire yet another light, you might want to look at www.navisafe.com, who make LED battery lights for boats.  They meet all regs and have cunning mounting devices.  The tricolour, apparently, has separate switches so that you can just show red and green, or white, if this is what you prefer.  While battery-powered lights are obviously a nonsense for a masthead light, they are worth looking at in this situation).

    If you want to be super-pragmatic: ie just want someone to see a stern light as they approach within 100 yards or so, one of those solar-powered garden lights would provide due warning (and can easily be secured to the stern rail), while not being sufficiently bright as to cause confusion.

    I think it is far more important to make other sailors aware of your existence than to point out, after an accident, that you were, strictly speaking, entirely legal! 

    Last modified: 19 Aug 2014 05:25 | Anonymous member
  • 19 Aug 2014 04:35
    Quote
    Reply # 3077788 on 3077601
    Anonymous member

    Hi, on Arcadian I mounted the steaming light on the fore mast above the highest point that the yard comes to but about two feet below the cap. It is a combined steaming and deck light and lights up the fore  deck when needed. The stern light is a separate unit and is mounted on the cross member above the davits and is about eight feet above the water which gives good visibility for following craft. This has worked well and, in combination with the separate port and starboard lights on the bow pulpit, meets all of the requirements for steaming lights. I also have a tricolour/anchor light on the top of the main mast.

    Last modified: 19 Aug 2014 04:37 | Anonymous member
  • 18 Aug 2014 22:56
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    Reply # 3077660 on 3077601
    Anonymous member

    I don't think there is a better way. I use the same configuration as you, and don't see a better one. 

    Actually, I'd like the sidelights to be higher, above eye level, where they won't reflect off the fog, but I don't see a way to achieve this - unless they were mounted on a high cockpit hoop, and then they'd get fouled by the sheet. 
  • 18 Aug 2014 21:34
    Quote
    Message # 3077601
    Anonymous member

    With a junk rig it seems impractical to mount a steaming light part way up the mast as the  parrels would snag on it. So it seems that the mast head is the only place that you can put it. 

    At the moment I have a tricolour and an all round white at the mast head, so under sail use the tricolour and under power use the all round white together with a deck level red / green light. As far as I can figure out this gives a valid set of lights, but it seems a bit unsatisfactory in harbour or close to the shore. I'm concerned that the white light viewed from astern is rather high up and hence is not easy to see against the background lights.

    Is there a better configuration than this?

    With thanks,

    John
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