Stern + Steaming = Anchor Light?

[OliverSnowbird]

I guess I already know the answer to my questions but hope dies last.

Our 18' sailboat has green / red side lights and a white stern lights. All are mounted on the deck.
In addition to that, it has a steaming lights, mounted just below the mast head.

Now, if I turned on only the steaming and the stern light, I would show white lights 360 degree of our boat.
The regs however state that the light must be uninterrupted. Since these two lights are be horizontally as well as vertically separated, I guess this means it doesn't count as an uninterrupted 360 degree light.

Am I right or would this actually be legal?

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by OliverSnowbird

I guess I already know the answer to my questions but hope dies last.

Our 18' sailboat has green / red side lights and a white stern lights. All are mounted on the deck.
In addition to that, it has a steaming lights, mounted just below the mast head.

Now, if I turned on only the steaming and the stern light, I would show white lights 360 degree of our boat.
The regs however state that the light must be uninterrupted. Since these two lights are be horizontally as well as vertically separated, I guess this means it doesn't count as an uninterrupted 360 degree light.

Am I right or would this actually be legal?

Your legal anchor light will be marked as such, although I remember the days of hoisting an oil lantern in the fore triangle which was fully legal and I never heard otherwise.

[rslifkin]

Stern and steaming lights would not form a legal anchor light. The lights need to appear as one light from some distance away. So a steaming light plus another 225* steaming light (so there's some overlap) mounted opposite it on the back side of the mast (or 3, 1 on the front, 1 on each side to keep the sail track area clear) would count as a legal anchor light.

[tkeithlu]

Consider setting aside the legal question and think for a moment about what you are trying to accomplish with your anchor light. You are trying to avoid being run down in the dark, which happened to a friend of mine recently. He's still in physical therapy.

A single anchor light is easily lost in a background of either lights on shore or celestial bodies above. It also supplies very few cues to distance. You may have had the experience of not realizing that a navigational light was near until it started to rise above the horizon or you saw the square or triangular sign. One anchor light, I contend, is not adequate for safety.

Our answer is to outline the wheelhouse rim in rope light. That supplies bunches of depth cues. Lights in a string up the mast would do the same job. In any case, the advent of LED lighting means that you can pursue a solution without much concern for your batteries.

I recommend thinking about a solution to the problem rather than about meeting the legal requirement. Good luck with it.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by tkeithlu

Consider setting aside the legal question and think for a moment about what you are trying to accomplish with your anchor light. You are trying to avoid being run down in the dark, which happened to a friend of mine recently. He's still in physical therapy.

A single anchor light is easily lost in a background of either lights on shore or celestial bodies above. It also supplies very few cues to distance. You may have had the experience of not realizing that a navigational light was near until it started to rise above the horizon or you saw the square or triangular sign. One anchor light, I contend, is not adequate for safety.

Our answer is to outline the wheelhouse rim in rope light. That supplies bunches of depth cues. Lights in a string up the mast would do the same job. In any case, the advent of LED lighting means that you can pursue a solution without much concern for your batteries.

I recommend thinking about a solution to the problem rather than about meeting the legal requirement. Good luck with it.

Good point. Additional lighting to light the decks and show the shape of the boat (beyond the required anchor light) is actually encouraged by COLREGS (and required for vessels over 100 meters IIRC). So adding some extra lighting as described above is both a good idea and legal.

[thinwater]

This is what the rule says (COLREGS Anex I), no opinion offered.



(i)All-round lights shall be so located as not to be obscured by masts,
topmasts or structures within angular sectors of more than 6
degrees, except anchor lights prescribed in Rule 30, which need
not be placed at an impracticable height above the hull.
(ii)If it is impracticable to comply with paragraph (b)(i) of this section
by exhibiting only one all-round light, two all-round lights shall be
used suitably positioned or screened so that they appear, as far as
practicable, as one light at a distance of one mile.”


Another thought, for an 18' boat, is to anchor out of the way of traffic. Anchor in the shallows and no one will bother you.

[El Pinguino]

Just buy one of these
https://www.cruisingsolutions.com/co...y-anchor-light
Problem solved.

[deblen]

18ft is less than 7 meters,so no anchor light reqd if you are outside the fairway,etc.
However,this could be dangerous.

[wrwakefield]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

Just buy one of these
https://www.cruisingsolutions.com/co...y-anchor-light
Problem solved.

^^

The following photo is of Denali Rose showing 3 of these anchor lights (2- portable- right and center {which is inside cockpit enclosure}; one fixed on stern; left in photo) from ~2.5 miles- taken with a smartphone camera from our dinghy.

The masthead anchor light is off in this photo; you are seeing 3 of these portable anchor lights. Bow is on the right in this photo. (Highest light.) There are no shore lights or other vessels in this (calm) anchorage- which is the norm for us.



FWIW

Cheers, Bill

[GreenWave]

Originally Posted by deblen

18ft is less than 7 meters,so no anchor light reqd if you are outside the fairway,etc.
However,this could be dangerous.Attachment 274845

I was just going to say...
Given this on the COLREGS, I think the OP's original idea is sufficient.,

[OliverSnowbird]

Thank you everyone for your responses, sadly confirming what I had already figured.

I have to admit that I didn't realize that under 7 meters no lights are required at all.
Not that I would want to do this, but this would give me quite a bit more flexibility in what exact lights I can use.

I am not the biggest fan of an anchor light on the mast head, as this puts it pretty high up, even on our small boat. Like several others suggested in this thread, I believe that it is actually a better idea to have multiple lights at a lower height, also illuminating the hull.

I was planning anyway to hang two or three rechargeable camping lanterns on the boom and the forestay. Since I just learned that I don't have to have a certified anchor light, I could leave it at that. We will be using our boat primarily for day and weekend trips. Rechargeable lights should therefore be perfectly fine.

This way, I wouldn't have to re-do all of the electrical work, associated with adding a circuit all the way up the mast.

Originally Posted by wrwakefield

^^

The following photo is of Denali Rose showing 3 of these anchor lights (2- portable- right and center {which is inside cockpit enclosure}; [...]

Hi Bill, are you talking about this light, with the integrated dusk to dawn sensor?


I was looking at it before, but didn't quite understand how it is installed.
It only seems to come with a clip for the cable, what however means that it would be hanging upside down.
My concern was that it might then fill with water when it's raining, as it doesn't appear to be sealed.

Am I missing something? Am I overthinking this?

Oliver

[s/v Jedi]

It is important to realize that even when you are not required to have an item aboard… when you decide to have it anyway then it must meet the requirements for that item.

Famous examples are VHF radios, anchor lights etc.

Also, you are not allowed to have multiple anchor lights, not strobe lights except to signal emergencies etc.

[OliverSnowbird]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

[...] Also, you are not allowed to have multiple anchor lights, not strobe lights except to signal emergencies etc.

I am aware of this but was under the impression that work lights are even encouraged. No idea what the exact definition of a work or deck light is, but would think that from a 100 feet away they might look the same.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by OliverSnowbird

I am aware of this but was under the impression that work lights are even encouraged. No idea what the exact definition of a work or deck light is, but would think that from a 100 feet away they might look the same.

True… a cruise ship at night looks like nothing from the colregs

Our cockpit lights are more visible than our anchor light.

[NorthCoastJoe]

If you have a fishing rod holder. Get a length of 1" pvc with a cap, a cheap led anchor light as seen above. Drill the cap to hold the base of the light. Place in a fishing rod holder that is vertical.

Simple, fast, cheap, and easy to remove