Boat lighting

D

doc

New member
So I don't hi-jack the boating accident thread, I'll start a new one. So, Bob. Do you think our boats are adequately illuminated or should we be upgrading? I notice that many of the boats I see out after dark are difficult to see and even when I'm traveling at slow night time speeds, they can be pretty close by the time I spy them.
 
Steve, I'm not Bob, but what lighting are you talking about? Nav Lights? If not, any other lighting topside at night will only confuse other boaters. If your Nav lights are working properly, with the proper bulbs in there, that's all that should be necessary.

Charlie
 
In my experience many boats standard navigation lights are inadequate. This can be simply that they are not very bright or that owners have installed other things blocking the light. Over the summer I watched a neighbor come in on his Grady and the all around white light was not visible from in front of his boat because of the Radome location and speed he was running.

I do know that our lights meet USCG regulations, but I don't know how easy they are to see. My general policy at night is to monitor the radar closely and avoid everyone else.

I think the original poster is asking Bob if he thinks the lights that come on C-Dory's are bright enough since he mentioned in another post that he has replaced running lights that he didn't think were bright enough on previous boats.
 
Years ago on one of the Delta cruises I was told that my white light was not visable from behind as it was in front of the dome.....so I went to West Marine and bought a new light....with a longer shaft....probably about 4' long...... and now it is way high....and easily visable in 360 degrees..... easy cure...

Joel
SEA3PO
 
Generally speaking the C Dories have adquate navigation lights. Some of the problems which arise are: The all around white light being too low and obscured by radar or other objects. A few C Dories had separated aft light and foreward steaming light.

Another issue is the separation of red and green--again in the C Dory this seems to be fairly well addressed (you should only be able to see both when the boat is heading directly toward you. I have seen boats where the course was 20 degrees off the straight ahead line, and you could see both red and green.

Probably the best upgrade would be to be sure that the all around white light is the maximum wattage which the fixture will handle. The rules call for a 2 mile visability for the white light and one mile for the red and green sidelights. Going to the next size up gives 3 miles white and 2 miles red and green. My Tom Cat has the 15 watt 2 mile visability red and green.

My comment was aimed mostly at the very small deck or hull mounted lights, especially the bicolor side lights which often are not visiable at a mile, with any haze or fog. I did put a larger bulb in the all around white light in the Tom Cat, and a higher pole on the C Dory 25.

Another issue, is hazing of the lenses of these lights--often the UV will destroy the plastic and decrease the transparency of the lense.

As far as my larger boats; I went up to 25 watt side lights, and 50 watt white light.
 
right on, as usual. I noticed that the newer16 footer has a raised red/green forward. On the 'older' boats (including my 2004) the single fixture is flush with the foredeck and probably easily blocked by the bow. Thanks for raising this issue.
 
I think most stock manufactured lights are adequate. Especially on dark nights with minimal backlighting. In areas where there are a lot of other lights to clutter the visual image, none of them are all that great. Elliott Bay is a tough place on some nights with all the ships, boats, the waterfront lights. Greys Harbor is one of the worst I have experienced. As you cross the bar inbound there are a ton of lights to the east and most are very bright. Running lights on small boats will be virtually invisible. Navaid lights will be difficult to see until you are right on top of them. The background is at least as important as the lights themselves. The thing that never ceases to amaze me is the lights on fishing boats off in the distance on a dark night at sea. To me they always give the illusion of being distinctly downhill.
 
Due to several things this last weekend, (heavy overcast, and probably poor planning on my part as well) I was out on the water, looking for the entry into a fairly circuitous channel entry after dark. Due to the rapid onset of the dark, our dusk light time was about 3 minutes that night, and then we were in the dark. I did have the all around light mounted before we left, expecting it to be dusk (not dark) prior to our arrival, and I did have a spot light onboard and plugged in. I was thankful for the radar and the time I had spent with it on prior to, but I was wishing for just a hint of light to light up the face buttons on the Raymarine display. They are not backlighted except for the soft buttons at the bottom. I did not know that before (we just don't run after dark). Anyone using something that works for helm station light for emergency night running. I do have a couple of the solar Starship LED lights, but even that, with 1 red LED was much to bright. I also had a small LED flashlight, cupped in my hand that worked, but it had white lite. Found the most comfortable for viewing was to stand and look out the open center window, with frequent checks on the radar/plotter screen.

ONE thing I would do different, even running at 3 - 4 knots was a bit spooky, (crab floats, logs, traffic etc), would be to shut one engine down and raise it up out of the water.

I did talk to a tug and tow about 1 mile off and he did report seeing me both on the radar and the lights.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
You can buy both neutral density filters or red filters for many sized lights. Colored plastic, (smoke/gray or red) and dim down the light that way. We have a light on a flexiable arm over the dash area, which has a red filter. We also have red LED's built into the overhead lights with switches where necessary. Another good reason to know the buttons by feel so you don't have to take the eyes off the water. Also I usually have my wife watch the chart plotter and radar and I keep my eyes on the "road". Also sometimes putting foam (like wrapping water pipes) over SS railings will decrease the flash back from running lights.
 
SleepyC,

We run quite a bit at night between Anacortes and Decatur Island. Like Bob said, it helps to know where the buttons are on the plotter and radar. We keep a handheld spotlight ready to illuminate anything that we can't otherwise identify or to warn other boats of our presence if they do not respond on VHF 16 or don't appear to see us.

Regardless who has the right of way, I take evasive action to avoid collisions. Assume that the other boats don't see you. Keep a careful eye on the radar and also out the windows for floating debris that doesn't show up on radar.

We typically run at between 16 and 18 knots, but if anything appears out of the ordinary we slow down until we can figure out what is around us. Boating at night in the San Juans is, in my opinion, much easier than in more heavily populated areas because there are not many lights on shore to confuse things. A properly lit boat stands out and the radar does a tremendous job of showing boats far before you can see them with your eye.
 
Has anyone found a good replacement LED or complete light unit + LED for the Navigation lights on a CD22. My regular bulbs burn out several times per year- there is often condensation inside the plastic perko light cover.

Has anyone put a bicolor up front on the railing - [one meter below anchor light? If so what brand?

Are internal battery LED bicolors illegal for CD22 since we have an onboard power system?

Thanks

Jim
 
Jim, I replaced my all around with a fold-down mount style. This is so I don't have to remove the light at high tide to get under the RR bridge.

I bought a Hella LED All Round/Anchor Light. Not cheap, but a very well built, long lasting and approved by USCC to 2 NM. Bulb should never need replaceing.

I bought it at Fisheries Supply, part number 959910621.

Fisheries Supply

Robbi
 
Sounds like some are running with the anchor lights on. Good way to get into a bad situation. And a ticket if the man is around.
 
No it didn't fit the the old base. I removed the socket, and mounted the light on a small piece of starboard that I attached and sealed over the old mounting area. I can't remove the light, but I can fold it down and out of the way. This fits my needs, but I know some folks like the stock nav light because you can remove it and not have it in the way of inflatables etc when put on top of the boat.

Hella makes a 24" Plug in Pole nav light, but my guess is that it doesn't match up with the standard C-Dory Perko socket.

Robbi
 
Thanks
I should have been more clear in my post - it’s the port and starboard navigation lights that burn out. I am looking to replace either the bulb with LED or the whole unit - haven't seen LED replacement bulb that would fit.

I looked at WM catalog on line on the replacement Perko LED series 25 but some had terrible reviews and leaked after one year. Wonder if I should move up - to a higher series or perhaps mount a sealed bicolor LED instead on the bow rail [1 meter below anchor light]. Has anyone done this on a CD22?

Also I don't travel with the anchor light on - unless its dark then the all around anchor light and the side navigation lights are on at the same time. -I replaced the all round anchor light last year with Dr. LED and it works fine .

Thanks
Jim
 
One thing that helped tremendously with night running (which I avoid as much as possible) was making a light shield for the all around light to shade the fore-deck. I used cardboard cereal boxes for cut-and-try sizes until I got full shading of the deck and handrails and made the permanent one from natural gas or propane flue pipe; it is a thin aluminum that can be cut with scissors (not the admirals sewing scissors, please). To mount it I cut a hole the size of the spigot on the plastic lens and simply slip it on the lens and screw it all back onto the light fixture (which is an extra long one from Perko to get above canoes or kayaks I have on a roof rack I made).
 
In response to the earlier mention of difficulty in reading the buttons on the Raymarine displays: Wear a white T shirt and get your belly up close to the display. The light from the display will reflect off the T-shirt and you can read the button letters.

If you have yet to develop the belly necessary for this maneuver, you can hold a white sheet of paper up from the bottom, or tape it to the dash under the bottom of the display so it reflects the display light back onto the buttons.

John
 
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