Navigation Lights

[Guest]

Does anyone else have navigation lights on a daysailer? Where did you mount the battery? Also, has anyone tried to build storage bins into the cuddy on a DS1? Ideas?

Justin

Justin Andrus (jandrus-at-mail.maine.rr.com)

[Guest]

Justin,

I made a platform (deck) inside the cuddy to carry all of my camping supplies etc. It has a 1x6 support post at the aft end of the deck that supports the center of the platform as well as the cuddy deck. I bolted a small plastic storage crate just forward of the support post, and a small 35 amp hour deep cycle battery fits in easily. I mounted a removeable Atwood all around white stern light near the transom on the starboard side and a standard red/green bow light. A lighted rocker switch is mounted on the support post, as is my lighted compass. The stern light fits into a socket and is installed only when needed. It lights up the sails pretty well, and I'm told the boat is quite visible on the water. The only problem is that it is bright enough to cause some glare and night blindness even if you don't look directly at it. Also, being an all around light, it probably signifies that the boat is under power, so you'd lose right of way to other boats. Good luck.

Lee

Lee Peterson (leep-at-means.net)

[Guest]

Lee wrote about his transom light:

> The only problem is that it is bright enough to cause some
> glare and night blindness even if you don't look directly at it.

When I had my ski boat, I used to put a white T-shirt over the transom light when we anchored at night. A single layer worked great. We were still plenty visible to other boats and the harsh light no longer blinded us. I've also seen folks throw hats on their stern light to accomplish the same thing.

Before my T-shirt solution, we would leave the transom light in the receptical, but only plug it in when a boat was approaching. Of course, eventually, the boat that was approaching was the Lake Patrol. The officer didn't ticket us, but told us we needed to keep the light on.

Kevin Clark
Dallas, TX

Kevin Clark (clarkr-at-aud.alcatel.com)

[Guest]

Hi guys
Why go thorough all the trouble of wiring. I bought these well flashlights that are designed for the purpose. One has a red and green light that mounts with a suction cup to the foredeck. Then I have an all around white one that mounts the same way to the stern. Now I will admit that the suction cups don't work that well on the non skid deck so I usually try to tie them down. But It saved me a lot of drilling. I got them at West Marine I think, so they should be common.

J.P. Clowes (jpclowes-at-hotmail.com)

[Guest]

I used the flashlight style lights last summer, but I found they weren't really doing it for me. I use my boat after work pretty much daily, and I return to my mooring after dark most evenings. I also boat in a sometimes crowded area (Fore River/Casco Bay) with a significant risk of collision in the dark. I found that the flashlights were not bright enough to be seen against the lighted horizon in situations where I did not present enough of a sillouette for the hull itself to show. I also lost one of those lights off the prow to a whitecap that nail me while motoring home one night.

I installed two side lights into the cuddy house, and a stern light into the transom. With the switch and battery the total cost was ~$120. Battery is on the kealson pretending to be balast.


Justin Andrus (jandrus-at-mail.maine.rr.com)

[Guest]

Hey guys, I hope that you all realize that is you display a 360deg. white light as a sternlight....you are telling other boats that you are a (shudder...) POWERBOAT! A sailboat under sail displays a sternlight showing 135deg. aft, this will just about eliminate the glare problem. Now, if you have a motor (gas or electric) when using the motor you do need the 360 light instead of the 135deg light. I carry a 6volt lantern-type flashlight for spotting channel bouys, this is also used to shine onto the sails briefly to further identify my boat as a sailboat.

Rod Johnson (rjohnson24-at-juno.com)

[Guest]

I should have added a few more things to my above posting..... First, I have installed a full set of navigation lights on my 1979 DS II (SUNBIRD), the 12v battery is located just forward of the mast in a box. I installed sidelights on each side of the cuddy, a "sailing" sternlight on the transom, and an "all-around" light to use under power, which plugs into a socket on the afterdeck that I added. I have an electrical switch panel mounted on a cabinet just inside the cuddy, with 3 switches...1) sidelights, 2) a dpdt switch to control both sternlights ( sail-off-power), and the third switch presently controls the compass light. The powering sternlight (360deg) does produce glare, I intend to make a glare shield to shade the deck yet keep the 360 visibility, but have not done so yet. A taller light-pole might help, but 42" was the tallest that the store had. One thing to remember with the "flashlight" type nav lights, the sternlights are never tall enough on their own, the 360deg. white light on a powerboat must be at least 39.4" (1 Meter) above the sidelights.

Rod Johnson (rjohnson24-at-juno.com)

[Guest]

When looking for navigation lights at West Marine in the Boston area, I looked in their catalog to see what was required, and it seemed that a mast top light was required. My strategy (before reading this thread) was to put a 24 point (360 degree) white light on the mast top, put the red/green lights off the side of the bow, and not use a stern light at all. It appeared that would make me legal for both sail and power modes. Did I miss something? In any event, the mast top light was making me ponder a bit. I now have an "L" bracket and a 24 point light - however, it is not yet mounted.

bill

Bill Gassman (gassman-at-aspi.net)

[Guest]

>>>>Bill Gassman (gassman@aspi.net) wrote:
My strategy (before reading this thread) was to put a 24 point (360 degree) white light on the mast top, put the red/green lights off the side of the bow, and not use a stern light at all. It appeared that would make me legal for both sail and power modes. Did I miss something?<

The config you describe will identify you as a power vessel only. If you are involved in a collision, you will not (as i understand it) be able to claim reduced manuverability accorded to a sailing vessel since you were announcing yourself as a power vessel...you will no longer be accorded the right-of-way based on being a sailing vessel.

An all-around (360 degree) white light is required for anchoring, of course.

Eric (hiquk9s-at-netins.net)

[Guest]

Thanks Eric. Today, I removed the mast, ready to install a light on top. From the bottom of the mast, I looked up with a flashlight. About 1 foot up, there was yellow foam. Looks like the mast light is going to be a problem - I don't have a drill bit long enough. Seriously, has anyone been able to wire a mast light in a mast with foam? What is the approach to use? Taping it to the outside of the mast just doesn't sound like an idea that will work well.

Bill Gassman (gassman-at-aspi.net)

[Guest]

Bill, I don't know exactly how your mast came to be foamed....originally made as such, foamed later by owner, etc. But assuming it was foamed all the way up, the only way I can envision to wire internally would be to bore a channel all the way from top to bottom. It *might* be possible to do that with a REALLY long metal rod sharpened at one end that you would force/hammer up thru the foam. (Actually, you can use several rods and some ferrules to connect them as they go deeper in) Most likely the rod would be forced to the side along the foam/mast interface and then ride along there, but that would be OK. Once the rod tipped out at the top, you would put a guideline on it, withdraw the rod, thus pulling the guideline thru the new channel. Then attach the wire to the guideline and draw it thru. If you can find a rod of sufficient length, I'd think this would be the easiest way to go.

As far as taping it to the outside of the mast, that sounds like the beginning of a yearly (more likely monthly!!) problem of retaping it as it peels off in the heat of the sun. Another option would be to use pop rivets every 30" or so to affix plastic or metal guides. However, I'd have to wonder if this might not compromise the stength of the mast? I'd be real concerned about that...kinda like putting a perforation line along the mast!!

Boy, I sure hope for your sake someone has better ideas than these for you!! But if not, I'd consider the rod plan. Good luck!

Eric (hiquk9s-at-netins.net)