I have to replace my anchor light on my Beneteau 343. Would like to make it an LED light. Any recommendations for a manufacture and model light to get. Wass looking at a Perko, all-round light offered by West Marine as a replacement.
Anchor Light
- Thread starter Soldier
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Installed Hella NavaLED surface mount on top of Hunter 41 DS mast in spring of 2014. Appears well made & easy to install. Has worked well.
Check the LED bulb that you install. The LED one I installed looks like an incandescent bulb ( yellow ). The other boats that were at anchor, their bulbs were bright white.
I've installed this fixture on our Bene 331 and also on our previous boat. A solid unit you won't have to touch again.
Take the opportunity to install a sealed LED anchor light, take advantage of the very long LED life, and avoid the climb up the mast to clean a corroded lamp contact. I have the Marinebeam anchor light and it is brighter than my old incandscent lamp.
There are people who advocate for an all-around light hung lower than the top of the mast. Depends on where you're going to anchor, I suppose. I know I have to worry about small powerboats, fishermen, zipping around reasonably close by, and not looking up at the top of the mast. From what I've seen, the average Caribbean anchorage could be a similar situation, with drunken dink captains zipping around at night. For this reason, I bought a Marine Beam corded anchor light: https://store.marinebeam.com/utility-led-anchor-light-w-dusk-to-dawn-photocell-fx-ml-01 Others hang a LED lantern somewhere. An old salt told me that his kerosene lantern meets the spec for visibility for anchor light, but just burns up too much kerosene. He has now moved to the Marine Beam light, which can also do double duty as a cockpit light for dinner and stuff. Mind you, I haven't even thrown over my new anchor this season, but hey, options, right?
I have an LED anchor light on the masthead, but you are right most boaters are not looking up there at night, so I put a 99 cent solar walk light from Wal mart through the end of my outhaul on the boom which give me all night white and illuminates the cockpit for evening activities.
I'll add my recommendation for MarineBeam's sealed LED lights. I installed their anchor light and nav lights, and I've been very happy with them; I'm replacing our nonfunctional steaming light with their steaming / deck light combo this week. No bulb connections to corrode, and the LEDs should outlast me.
Just one caveat: I bought the anchor light with built-in photocell, so it turns itself off at dawn. That seemed like a great idea at the time, and a way to save a little energy automatically. But on a trailerable boat, we have to plug in the mast wiring when we raise the mast, and I'd like to be able to test all the lights at that time. With the photocell, I can't tell for sure that it's working until dusk. I wish that had occurred to me before I bought it.
Just one caveat: I bought the anchor light with built-in photocell, so it turns itself off at dawn. That seemed like a great idea at the time, and a way to save a little energy automatically. But on a trailerable boat, we have to plug in the mast wiring when we raise the mast, and I'd like to be able to test all the lights at that time. With the photocell, I can't tell for sure that it's working until dusk. I wish that had occurred to me before I bought it.
It sure looks well made to me. Only one complaint - the unit is a little wide for my mast, so the mounting 'ears' would have to bend back at a severe angle, and place a little to much stress on the plastic ears. So my install is waiting for a little black Starboard to arrive from eBay so I can make a smooth pad beneath the mounts. And that's only a problem for us small-boat sailors - it would work perfectly on a larger mast section.