Dinner by oil lantern or other?

MitchM

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Jan 20, 2005
1,031
Nauticat 321 pilothouse 32 Erie PA
love the weems and plath oil lanterns, just enough light for fine dining. (buy them at the tent sale at t he boat show, not at full west marine price. ) love the den haan oil anchor lights, one in the cockpit . i love the W and P so much i also installed them all over the house (because we are at the end of the electric lines and power often goes out for days ...)
 

capta

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Jun 4, 2009
5,069
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
We serve 90% of the meals to our guests at the cockpit table. We've tried kerosene lighting and LED lights of various types, but are moving toward a brighter, more dedicated LED light that will only light the meals. Nikki goes to a lot of trouble to make the meals aesthetically pleasing and this seems to be the best compromise.
fresh caught marlin dinner.jpg

The green mats are way ugly, but they keep things from sliding around.
 
Jul 27, 2011
5,180
Bavaria 38E Alamitos Bay
We only rarely “dine” in the cockpit after dark, preferring to finish a cockpit dinner by sunset, especially if I’m grilling. Comfortable temperature and lighting after dark has always been the challenge. I’ve tried the Weams & Plath lanterns but have found them too dim for effective dinner lighting. Fluorescent lights haven’t worked well either. The other evening I put the lantern right on the table instead of trying to hang it overhead and that worked well, it having a large globe. I’ll keep working on various arrangements. Dinner by flame light is more relaxing than by bulb lighting, IMHO, as long as you can see the food your plate! We typically use lantern/flame when eating below after dark. The lighting environment there is different, however.
 
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TomY

Alden Forum Moderator
Jun 22, 2004
2,769
Alden 38' Challenger yawl Rockport Harbor
We use candles in the cockpit, and below. The soft light is nice and the scented candles give off a nice aroma.
Castine candle  (1 of 1).jpg
 
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