My recently purchased H23 has a masthead light, stern light, and r/g running lights on the bow, but it does not have an all around light, which, as I read the regs, it must have for anchoring (Chapmans explains that only boats under 23 feet can anchor without one). Has anyone installed one? If so, what kind and how was it to install? I assume I would have to run extra wires up the mast. Is this easy to do? Thanks! Kris Cox
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mike43067
As I understand it.......the anchor light IS the masthead light. Need only nav lights while moving..........masthead light while at anchor. However, I made a light for general lighting. Used a basic teardrop trailer light on a long wire with a thumb switch. I run it up the mast or attach it to the topping lift when I want to flood the cockpit with light. It has a cigarette lighter plug that I insert into the control panel.
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Michael Cohn
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Kris Cox
225 deg. vs. 360 deg.
Chapman says, "Masthead lights are misnamed as they are usually mounted below the masthead. They are white and cover an arc of 225 degrees." This describes the light on my mast. My reading of both "Chapman" and "Boating Skills and Seamanship" (USCGA) is that the masthead light is to be used in addition to the other running lights (stern and side lights) when motoring at night (motoring = "power boat" rules). However, the masthead light does not satisfy anchoring requirements. An all-round light, on the other hand, shines in a 360 deg. radius and must be used when anchoring. This all-round requirement is for boats 7 meters and larger, which the H23 exceeds by 6 inches, LOA (LWL would be shorter, but I have not seen any black & white that allows the use of LWL for these rules). I have checked and rechecked these rules, and am pretty sure I have it right, but please let me know if I am wrong!
Chapman says, "Masthead lights are misnamed as they are usually mounted below the masthead. They are white and cover an arc of 225 degrees." This describes the light on my mast. My reading of both "Chapman" and "Boating Skills and Seamanship" (USCGA) is that the masthead light is to be used in addition to the other running lights (stern and side lights) when motoring at night (motoring = "power boat" rules). However, the masthead light does not satisfy anchoring requirements. An all-round light, on the other hand, shines in a 360 deg. radius and must be used when anchoring. This all-round requirement is for boats 7 meters and larger, which the H23 exceeds by 6 inches, LOA (LWL would be shorter, but I have not seen any black & white that allows the use of LWL for these rules). I have checked and rechecked these rules, and am pretty sure I have it right, but please let me know if I am wrong!
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Stephen Ostrander
let there be light
My boat has a 360 deg. anchor light at the masthead, and a steaming light mounted just above the forestay. I suppose that the anchor light could be used as a steaming light, but the steaming light cannot act as an anchor light because it is not 360 deg. So I beleive you would have to run a new wire up the mast to rig an anchor light. Drop a chase line with a weight on it (a box-end wrench works nicely) down from the mast head and chase the wire back up. Or wait until the stick is down.
My boat has a 360 deg. anchor light at the masthead, and a steaming light mounted just above the forestay. I suppose that the anchor light could be used as a steaming light, but the steaming light cannot act as an anchor light because it is not 360 deg. So I beleive you would have to run a new wire up the mast to rig an anchor light. Drop a chase line with a weight on it (a box-end wrench works nicely) down from the mast head and chase the wire back up. Or wait until the stick is down.
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Mark N
Buy a Davis Mega Light
They cost about $45, meet USCG 2 mile requirement, burn a fraction of an amp, and have a built in photo eye which turns it off in daylight. I plug mine into a cig lighter and hoist up the flag halyard. Technically speaking, this does not meet the 360 deg requirement due to blockage on one side by the mast, but thus far passed DNR/USCG/USCGAUX scrutiny.
They cost about $45, meet USCG 2 mile requirement, burn a fraction of an amp, and have a built in photo eye which turns it off in daylight. I plug mine into a cig lighter and hoist up the flag halyard. Technically speaking, this does not meet the 360 deg requirement due to blockage on one side by the mast, but thus far passed DNR/USCG/USCGAUX scrutiny.
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Jon Bastien
Kris, You're right about needing a 360-degree light in addition to your "Masthead light". My 23 has a "split" masthead light at the top of the mast which has two bulbs in it- one facing forward (225 degrees) and another facing aft (the remaining 135 degrees). The light is available at West Marine (I forget how much I paid, I think around $39). On my mast, there is a mounting plate at the top of the mast with a hole in it to pass wiring through. I was able to use existing wiring, though it sounds like your boat may not have the wiring in place. The drawback to this setup is that you need to turn on both bulbs when anchored, thus draining your batteries faster... Also, the wiring can be tricky- I wired mine to two seperate switches at the electrical panel to avoid any short/open problems. (I suppose it should also be noted here that I rebuilt the entire electrical panel from scratch- I have TONS of extra switches now for the radio, vhf, instrument lights, etc). One final thought- Previous posters mentioned that the light does not have to be at the top of the mast to qualify as an anchor light, as long as it is above the cabin structure of your boat and can be 'reasonably expected' to be seen by any oncoming vessels from any direction. I tried one of those "flashlight" style anchor lights (looks like a flashlight on a long pole) attached to my boom, but recommend against this. The battery life of the flashlight is EXTREMELY short-- only a few hours, at best. Mark N's suggestion for a Mega Light is a good one, if you'd rather not muck about with mast wiring. Good luck with your project! Let us know how it turns out... --Jon Bastien '2 Sheets to the Wind' Key West, FL
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mike43067
mega light
Thanks Mark! My homemade light was basically the same as the Mega light, but it was bulkier with some rustable parts. I have ordered the Mega light!
Thanks Mark! My homemade light was basically the same as the Mega light, but it was bulkier with some rustable parts. I have ordered the Mega light!
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Dave Condon
Anchoring
As I understand the regs, when anchoring you must display a white 360 degree ligtht. If sailing at night, no 360 degree light is necessary except for steaming or running the motor which then requires a 180 degree white light light forward. On a practical side when anchoring, I would display a 360 light at night so other boaters will see you particualy the bass fishermen who like to fish at night. If on l battery, I would use an alternate choice for a white light as you do not want to run down the house battery on your boat. On inland lakes, I find the light closer to the top of the deck to be the safest as most boaters at night look foward and not up. If on the coast, you may want to put the light at the top of the mast but bear in mind to have a dual battery system. There are many other suggestions that I could give but you must decide.
As I understand the regs, when anchoring you must display a white 360 degree ligtht. If sailing at night, no 360 degree light is necessary except for steaming or running the motor which then requires a 180 degree white light light forward. On a practical side when anchoring, I would display a 360 light at night so other boaters will see you particualy the bass fishermen who like to fish at night. If on l battery, I would use an alternate choice for a white light as you do not want to run down the house battery on your boat. On inland lakes, I find the light closer to the top of the deck to be the safest as most boaters at night look foward and not up. If on the coast, you may want to put the light at the top of the mast but bear in mind to have a dual battery system. There are many other suggestions that I could give but you must decide.
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