“No more trips up the mast”? I have been sailing in the Caribbean over the last twelve years, of which the last two years permanently and I think cruisers should share their experiences. When I read that Orcagreen`s OGM anchor light, with daylight sensor, in a sealed, aluminium, completely waterproof housing, would make it unnecessary for me to go up the mast (again) for repairs, I decided to buy the 140 dollar product from Budget Marine, Grenada, although it seemed expensive. Turbulance, Grenada, who was then just doing my rigging and did an excellent job, Tanchor light had failed. There was a lot of moisture in the housing and signs of heavy corrosion on the bottom, where the wires come in. From my first contact with sales@orcagreen.com I learned that they knew about the problem (capillary action) and had consequently changed the design. Thank you! Were former customers informed about the problems? No! Are there still products of the former design in the stores? Yes! Orcagreen did not recall them. They suggested that I should send the product to them for verification and possible free replacement. However, this would mean that I had to pay for shipping the product to them “since this is the company’s policy”. I checked with various couriers and concluded that I would in fact thus pay for the replacement myself! This may work within the US, but not elsewhere. A proposed deal through a Budget Marine store would not work, because there are none where I will be sailing.
I took the product apart and this confirmed my earlier impression. I think that Orcagreen should not sell their products outside the US, if they are not wiling to provide the usual customer support outside the US and maybe you should think twice before buying a new anchor light, if you don’t want to go “up the mast again”
Wim van den Toorn
SY Thetis
I took the product apart and this confirmed my earlier impression. I think that Orcagreen should not sell their products outside the US, if they are not wiling to provide the usual customer support outside the US and maybe you should think twice before buying a new anchor light, if you don’t want to go “up the mast again”
Wim van den Toorn
SY Thetis