Anchor Light

[IslandHopper]

Originally Posted by Jammer

Lopolight makes one, but it's crazy expensive.

Thats not expensive, that's extortion....

[gs41escapade]

If you choose to replace the whole fixture, Weems and Plath offers a really good one with some unique features. LED Navigation Lights

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by thinwater

There is nothing wrong with letting someone else do it.
[...]
Is it worth learning and getting the gear (not cheap to do it right, and very expensive to do it wrong) for something you will do very rarely? Perhaps not.

I see it as a core maintenance skill, like knowing how to use epoxy and fiberglass, or making a splice.

[wrwakefield]

If you want just a good LED bulb... we retrofitted the incandescent anchor bulb in our old Aquasignal 40 series strobe- tricolor- anchor stack with this dusk-to-dawn anchor bulb.

Later we retrofitted with a more compact (and less prone to damage from large birds... photo appended below...)
masthead anchor light fixture with a single bulb that performs all 3 functions.

However, I like to have light lower than our 60ft mast allows for better visibility nearerer to water level, and for some light on deck should I have to deal with anything in the dark. We use these lights all of the time: portable anchor lights (with the cool white 12 LED bulb; .1A @ 12V DC.)

Below is a photo of our boat with 3 of the portable lights lit (masthead anchor light is off in this photo) from ~2.5 miles out (from this blog post about Sleeping Well at Anchor):



Best wishes deciding what is best for your needs.

Cheers, Bill


PS: A case can be made for sturdier, more compact masthead light fixtures than the old Aquasignal stack we used to have... (Following is a photo I took of a dockmate's boat...)

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by sailingharry

A flashing light in the US, and perhaps internationally, is an official distress signal. Leaving that on while you go ashore or using it to help someone find you is just as illegal as setting off a flare to help somebody find you.

In US inland-water collision rules, a rapid-flashing white strobe light is a distress signal, but it isn’t a distress signal under international COLREGS.

E-flares, which blink a continuous Morse code S-O-S pattern—a distress signal in all waters—also meet Coast Guard requirements to replace the common handheld flares.

“Whether it’s electric distress lights, pyrotechnic flares or orange flags, if they are Coast Guard-approved or certified visual distress signals, they are equal in meeting the carriage requirement,” says Joseph Carro, who works in the Coast Guard’s Office of Boating Safety. This includes all navigable waters of the US, as well as Coast Guard enforcement aboard US-flagged vessels in international waters.

E-flares—battery-operated bright lights that automatically flash the Morse code S-O-S distress signal—can replace red handheld pyrotechnic distress flares as required nighttime distress signals. There is a caveat, though. Red handheld pyrotechnic flares fulfill both nighttime and daytime distress-signal requirements; e-flares only meet the nighttime requirement, so a separate daytime signal is needed.

Reference link: https://www.boatingmag.com/gear/e-flare-options-for-boaters/

An anchor light is a continuous white light signal, NOT a flashing signal.

Besides a flashing light would be extremely annoying to have in one's viewscape be that onboard your boat or on land looking out on the water. Please do not use flashing lights except for true emergencies.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by Papawads

We have a 2001 Jeanneau SO 43DS.

I'm uncomfortable with heights, but absolutely terrified of having my wife controlling the winch, for when I change the anchor light. She's doubled the life insurance and is pestering me to get started!

So I'd really like to arrive at the mast top, with everything I need. Does anyone know how I can determine whether i can move to LED by just changing the bulb? Maybe which one to buy? Or is this a whole light replacement. Maybe after 22 years, that would be good??

Thoughts welcome. If you see a boat like mine for sale in Corfu soon, with an Irish widow, call then police.

Yes, Marine beam has replacements for about every IC bulb. Also IMTRA

Also, your anchor light need not be on top of the mast. It’s far more useful down near the deck where it can actually be seen by people under a Bimini or wheel house.

[Hugh McCormack]

Use the foretriangle as someone has already indicated. It's where an anchor light belongs and it has the added benefit of actually being visible to late arrivals. You'll need a lanyard to attach the bottom and a halyard. No more battery drain, and your spouse can relax.

[Happ]

If you want to replace it with a LED I would recommend spending less than $50 more and get one with a Photosensor. When you anchor turn the anchor light on. The photosensor will turn the light on and off by how much ambient light is available. The benefit is you don’t have to be aboard when it gets dark to turn it on or get up at dawn so you aren’t burning the light. Defender Marine sells them and a quick search on the internet will give you many more options.

[Shaneesprit]

Originally Posted by Papawads

We have a 2001 Jeanneau SO 43DS.

I'm uncomfortable with heights, but absolutely terrified of having my wife controlling the winch, for when I change the anchor light. She's doubled the life insurance and is pestering me to get started!

So I'd really like to arrive at the mast top, with everything I need. Does anyone know how I can determine whether i can move to LED by just changing the bulb? Maybe which one to buy? Or is this a whole light replacement. Maybe after 22 years, that would be good??

Thoughts welcome. If you see a boat like mine for sale in Corfu soon, with an Irish widow, call then police.

like you wife having the winch is a scary thought, more because the admiral is a passenger not crew so I am told.
however take a couple of pulleys probably a couple of suitable ones at the back of your boom. it’s not so difficult to haul yourself up the mast, allowing your wife or other to control the safety line. Recommend a full harness but as long as you have 2 lines.
Or you can get a flexible mast ladder.
Go prepared it’s harder to haul yourself up a 2nd time, also be aware of the length of the knots and pulleys as you will soon be missing the top by a couple of feet.
Although I might have a look at those hanging mast lights

[thomm225]

Many boats don't have any lights at the mast top.

Hang a lantern someplace as an anchor light and forget it until next time you have another reason to go up the mast

I've always used lanterns as anchor lights.

Also a lantern tends to light up a lot of the boat itself rather than just a dot at the mast top.

I'm about to replace my steaming light soon.

It's been out for 11 years now.

Recently bought a webbing ladder that I have been using to go up the mast with

Btw, you don't need anyone's help to go up the mast using a webbing ladder.

[subdude]

The tricolor-anchor light on my masthead failed, too, up I went using my ATN mastclimber with safety halyard tied on, managed from below. Like the op, I thought all that was needed was a bulb change from incandescent to LED. The old Hella was hella fried, and of course I discovered other stuff needing attention. Replaced fixture with a Weems&Plath OGM: wiring is there, so why not upgrade? I also use a lower anchor light in certain conditions, but having the photosensor on at the masthead is super nice. And of course, a dependable tricolor nav light at the masthead is a little more consolation in fog and swell. It did require a total of four trips aloft��

[sinnerman]

Originally Posted by IslandHopper

Thats not expensive, that's extortion....

I just found the Lopolight anchor light on the internet: $865.00 USD...!

It must be powered by a flux capacitor or plasma reactor...

Wow

[Hugh McCormack]

The masthead anchor light began appearing in the late 80s, and it belongs to the school of ever-diminishing rituals of shipboard life. On a wooden 44' Alden ketch my family chartered for 8 years, my father hung the ship's brass kerosene lamp just abaft the headstay with one lanyard to secure it to the headstay, and one to the deck - the 2 lanyards were spliced to the lamp's padeyes.
Each morning he loved to wipe the carbon off the lens and hang it back in its place below decks. He took immense pleasure in this simple daily ritual performed over coffee before his sons turned to. Using a masthead light was for steaming not anchoring, and belongs with the in-mast furlers and stackpacks, and all the rest of the missing rituals that make cruising a constant vigilant delight of the here and now. We still look at roller-furling jibs with a bit of resignation. https://bit.ly/3L0kqGQ

[jalmberg]

Originally Posted by thinwater

There is nothing wrong with letting someone else do it.

• I climb masts. My other hobbies include rock and ice climbing.
• I pay someone to do my taxes.
• I do electrical and fiberglass work.
• I pay someone to do sewing that requires a machine.

Being nervous can lead anyone to mistakes. Is it worth learning and getting the gear (not cheap to do it right, and very expensive to do it wrong) for something you will do very rarely? Perhaps not.

The correct answer. A guy who knows what he’s doing can replace the light and make a good job of it.

On the other hand, being able to go up the mast yourself is extremely handy. I’m sure you are exaggerating the wife problem. Anyway, with safety strap around the mast, you can (and should) protect
Yourself against any mishaps down on deck. Obviously you want to think about the ropes and blocks you are trusting your life to, but if they are sound, you are good to go.

After my first ascent, (in a DIY bosun chair!), my wife surprised me by saying it looked like fun and could she try? Now both of us are pretty good at both jobs.

Good luck!

[jalmberg]

Originally Posted by Hugh McCormack

The masthead anchor light began appearing in the late 80s, and it belongs to the school of ever-diminishing rituals of shipboard life. On a wooden 44' Alden ketch my family chartered for 8 years, my father hung the ship's brass kerosene lamp just abaft the headstay with one lanyard to secure it to the headstay, and one to the deck - the 2 lanyards were spliced to the lamp's padeyes.
Each morning he loved to wipe the carbon off the lens and hang it back in its place below decks. He took immense pleasure in this simple daily ritual performed over coffee before his sons turned to. Using a masthead light was for steaming not anchoring, and belongs with the in-mast furlers and stackpacks, and all the rest of the missing rituals that make cruising a constant vigilant delight of the here and now. We still look at roller-furling jibs with a bit of resignation. https://bit.ly/3L0kqGQ

I also had a kerosene anchor/running lights, and still have a (empty) kerosene tank on my current boat. In case there are any romantic newbie’s reading, these relics are unusable in most areas of the world because of light pollution. The day before I last lit a kerosene anchor light, I was nearly run down by a fishing boat that couldn’t see it against the wash of shore lights. A good 2 nm LED light is a very good thing to have these days. Unless you have a time machine.