My son wanted to add Mast lights at the top of the mast. There was one existing mast light about halfway up the mast on our forty-year-old boat.
We made two aluminum brackets from flat stock scrap we had on hand, purchased two LED lights and a dimmer switch so we could adjust the brightness. We used the existing mast light circuit for the power source, but with the addition of the dimmer switch we can turn the new lights on or off independent of the existing mast light. These new lights do require that the breaker switch for the existing mast light be on. We would have the running lights on anyway, if anchored out on the lake.
The new lights work well. We can light up the boat and a bit of the surrounding water at night on full brightness or dim the light so the boat is visible to other boaters that might be out on the lake. This also provides a way to light up the slip at night. Hopefully, these lights will add some level of safety when we are anchored out on the lake at night.
All boat lighting has been changed out to use LED bulbs so the battery can power the lights for days before needing recharging. Even a small battery we can hold in our hand can power all the light for twenty-four hours. We plan to add a larger battery and a solar panel to charge it whenever the boat is in our slip, during sunlight hours.
I have a blog where I am documenting our sailboat restoration progress. We are learning as we go and studying as much as we can. We purchased this boat four years ago and recently got it to a point we could launch it. We have done all of the work ourselves. All new paint, new lines, and LED lighting. We launched the boat last weekend. My son motored ( 6 hp outboard ) it a couple of miles to our slip. The boat now sits on a boat lift in a slip. I hope to learn how to sail pretty soon. The weather is getting cooler, and we are having nice breezes every day.
I have learned a lot from reading and studying posts on this site. I hope by sharing some of our restoration experiences, both new and existing sailors might gain some helpful information from our learning curve.
https://sailboatprojectorbust.wordpress.com/
We made two aluminum brackets from flat stock scrap we had on hand, purchased two LED lights and a dimmer switch so we could adjust the brightness. We used the existing mast light circuit for the power source, but with the addition of the dimmer switch we can turn the new lights on or off independent of the existing mast light. These new lights do require that the breaker switch for the existing mast light be on. We would have the running lights on anyway, if anchored out on the lake.
The new lights work well. We can light up the boat and a bit of the surrounding water at night on full brightness or dim the light so the boat is visible to other boaters that might be out on the lake. This also provides a way to light up the slip at night. Hopefully, these lights will add some level of safety when we are anchored out on the lake at night.
All boat lighting has been changed out to use LED bulbs so the battery can power the lights for days before needing recharging. Even a small battery we can hold in our hand can power all the light for twenty-four hours. We plan to add a larger battery and a solar panel to charge it whenever the boat is in our slip, during sunlight hours.
I have a blog where I am documenting our sailboat restoration progress. We are learning as we go and studying as much as we can. We purchased this boat four years ago and recently got it to a point we could launch it. We have done all of the work ourselves. All new paint, new lines, and LED lighting. We launched the boat last weekend. My son motored ( 6 hp outboard ) it a couple of miles to our slip. The boat now sits on a boat lift in a slip. I hope to learn how to sail pretty soon. The weather is getting cooler, and we are having nice breezes every day.
I have learned a lot from reading and studying posts on this site. I hope by sharing some of our restoration experiences, both new and existing sailors might gain some helpful information from our learning curve.
https://sailboatprojectorbust.wordpress.com/
