Anchor light on Mizzen mast?

[Formosa Scott]

My mast are off and in the shipyard. I am getting ready to put them back on but I ran into a problem. The main is 63' and wood, the internal wires are bad and stuck. The only solution I can come up with is to run the wires down the outside of the mast or down the stays There will only be 2 wires, anchor and steaming lights.
So there is the reason for the question, would it be ok to mount the anchor light on top of my Mizzen mast or ?

[UNCIVILIZED]

I can't imagine it being a problem, & if anything, it might be more visible. In that since it'll be a fair bit lower, it won't get mistaken for a star.
Someone might grouse, & tell you that it's partially occluded by the main mast. But it's less occluded than an anchor light that you hang in the rigging. So I say if you ccan plumb the mizzen for the right wiring, go ahead.


That said, I'm guessing that your mainsail track is attached with screws. And if you aren't opposed to pulling some of them, you could fabricate brackets to hold conduit for the wiring, external to the mast, up it's back side. To be held in place by said screws, when you reinsert & rebed them.

[Formosa Scott]

I have steps going 2/3 of the way up that would make it easy to use clips for the steaming light wire. The anchor light would have a 15' or so section where I would have to add screws and tubing or? I really hate to do that on a newly repaired and painted wood mast.
I have easy access to run wires in the Mizzen.

[zeehag]

scott--consider placing anchor light on spreaders facing down to light cockpit to enable visibility an anchorage surrounded by hills. .
i use no masthead lights on my formosa--masthead lights are useless and not mandatory.
i make sure my anchor lights are visible by pangas and by other boaters, especially after my experience in zihuatenejo, where masthead lights are totally invisible against the hills of well lit homes and businesses. i make sure my cockpit is recognizable as a part of the boat, and i make sure my light is visible for 2-3 miles as directed by regulations. i MAY consider adding a mizzen spreader light if i can find a nice led one to match the new lights going onto my mainmast spreaders once i step and maintain my wood masts. my new mizzen will be aluminum with perota spreaders and boom.

[Don C L]

The mizzen is fine if not preferable. I am with Zee on that too. Sometimes it is hard to see the boat attached to an anchor light when it is too high. I hang mine from the boom and many others do something similar here.

[model 10]

Originally Posted by Formosa Scott

or ?

How about putting it where it's supposed to be, in the fortriangle. That's not near your mizzen mast.

[JPA Cate]

He didn't say if he has a masthead tricolor. If he's going to sail offshore, he should have one on top the mainmast. Way, way easier to see him sooner than with deck level running lights.

Ann

[four winds]

Here's what rule 30 says.

Rule 30 Vessels at anchor.

(a) A vessel at anchor shall exhibit where it can best be seen:

(i) in the fore part, an all-round white light or 1 ball;
(ii) at or near the stern and at a lower level than the light prescribed in Rule 30(a)(i), an allround white light.

(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 Rule 30(a).



Notice it says fore part not foretriangle. Because it is for all vessels not just sailboats.

Notice (a) calls for two all arounds.

Notice (b) says vessels under 50 meters at anchor can carry a single all around where it can best be seen.

In the annex for light positions it says all arounds must be at least 3 feet above the deck directly below the mounting position.

To me, and this is just my opinion, it seems an all around light used while anchoring can be anywhere the skipper believes it can best be seen and at least 3 feet off the deck directly below it, for vessels under 50 meters.

No requirement to be at the masthead, or in the foretriangle.

Again this is just my opinion, don't shoot me.

Mine is at the masthead, BTW.

[Jim Cate]

This subject comes up often, and sometimes generates some heated controversy. Four winds post above covers the legalities well. Seems that us little guys have lots of leeway in the rules, and depend upon our own judgement as to what is best seen.

My take after a lot of years living at anchor:

In some anchorages, background lighting from shore installations is distributed up hills as Zee keeps saying. In such places a lower anchor light is better for sure.

In other anchorages, the background lights are near ground level, and low anchor lights are mixed in with them, so a masthead or other high anchor light is better.

What to do? Well, it seems pretty obvious to me: have both! With LEDs, the energy requirements are trivial, and your chances of being seen are far better than with o nly one light.

We use a masthead light with a sun sensor... leave it on all the time. We also have another that we hang above the boom, also with a sensor, and it gives some light to the rest of t he boat. This lamp is removed under way, but is simple to deploy.

If one is serious about being visible at night, anything less is inadequate IMO.

Finally, the oft repeated "masthead lights will be mistaken for a star" mantra is not based on observation. There is no way that our masthead light could be mistaken for anything less than a supernova when viewed at a distance where one would be making course adjustments, for it is way brighter and larger than any star's image.

Jim

[GrowleyMonster]

Remember that you will also need a white masthead light when motoring, visible from two points abaft the beam on either side, through dead ahead, in order to comply with the rules.

[four winds]

The star thing has always puzzled me too. Maybe Venus just before sunrise or just after sunset, but that's about it.

The OP is an old marina mate of mine, hey Scott, and our cruising grounds are all flat on shore. In my opinion the light on the mizzen is a reasonable solution.

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by GrowleyMonster

Remember that you will also need a white masthead light when motoring, visible from two points abaft the beam on either side, through dead ahead, in order to comply with the rules.

Yes, masthead lights are mandatory if motoring between dusk and dawn or in unfavourable environmental conditions. How many of you have an inverted cone flying for daytime running under power ? I've only ever seen one.

[four winds]

Originally Posted by GrowleyMonster

Remember that you will also need a white masthead light when motoring, visible from two points abaft the beam on either side, through dead ahead, in order to comply with the rules.

The OP wrote, ".... 2 wires anchor and steaming....", but then only asked a question about the anchor light.

So an implied question might be can the masthead (steaming) light be on the mizzen mast?.

My first guess would be no, that wouldn't comply. Wonder what the reg wording is?

Edit,......

Rule 21 Definitions

(a) "Masthead light" means a white light placed over the fore and aft centerline of the vessel showing an unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of 225 degrees and so fixed as to show the light from right ahead to 22.5 degrees abaft the beam on either side of the vessel.



Unlike "anchor light" masthead light appears in the definitions.

On centerline and unbroken arc seem to be key phrases to me.

[four winds]

Boatpoker, unlike your vessel, my vessel is not required to display an inverted cone shape while motoring.

I wonder how well skippers can judge the length of an approaching vessel?

[CarlF]

On a sailboat, the masthead steaming light is normally 2/3's of the way up the mast not at the top of the mast (forward mast if more than one) And a tricolor should not be used if the engine is on.

On a powerboat, the steaming light is at the top of a short mast. It must be at least 1 meter above the side lights.

To the OP's question. I have my anchor light at the top of the mizzen to have one less thing to worry about when going under ICW bridges. Because the mizzen and main masts are almost 20ft apart, only an extremely narrow angle is blocked. On a dark night,the anchor light also reflects a bit off the top part of the main mast which help when looking for the boat in a crowded anchorage. I have tried motoring my dinghy towards my boat directly from the bow but could not keep a straight enough course to not see the mizzen mounted anchor light.