Doug Kelch wrote:
I am thinking of putting masthead running lights on my M15 so that I can be seen better at night among the swells on the way to the Dry Tortugas.
In looking at the catalogs there is nothing that jumps out at me. Any thoughts?
I currently have no lights or battery.
Doug "Seas the Day"
Lights can be a little complicated. I did some research for this when I rewired "Star Cross'd". These seem to be the official rules. Masthead tricolors can only be used when sailing (no power). An anchor light (all-around white) must be put at the top of the mast, as high up as possible. Preferably above the mast head. When "steaming" (motoring), you cannot use a masthead tricolor light. You must have a red/green bicolor up front, preferably mounted on the bow pulpit. You must have a "masthead light", which is a 225-degree coverage white light facing forward, at least 2/3 up the mast. On the stern, you must have a stern light, a white light that covers 135 degrees. So if you don't have a masthead tricolor, when under sail (no power), just turn off the 225-degree white masthead. Vessels under sail only require bicolors up front, and a stern light. --- Those are the rules. Here's how you can implement them. You can get detachable battery (D-cell) operated bicolors and stern lights from West Marine. I think AquaColor makes them. They come with suction cups or mounting brackets, or you can fashion your own. You can get an anchor light that you run up the mast using a halyard, although the mast will block it from dead ahead or dead aft, depending on which halyard you used. The anchor light has a cable running down to the cockpit. Just use one of those sportsmen 12-volt disposable batteries. As for the motoring masthead light, just use the anchor light, and tape over with duct tape or make your own detachable shield, so that the light covers 225 degrees. When you run that up the mast, it must be in the front of the mast, and it can't rock and sway as the boat does. So I suggest making a bracket that both holds the masthead light against the mast, and provides the shield. Hope this helps. It has to be right, or the Coasties can give you a ticket. But more important, when sailing at night, stay awake, stay alert, always look around every 3 or 4 minutes, and remember the rule of tonnage. Don't assume the other boat sees you. When you're a third mate drowsing the night away on the bridge of some rust-bucket garbage scow freight vessel registered in Liberia, it's easy to not see the cockle-shell sailboat just ahead. And for a little bit of friendly advice, you should think seriously about putting permanent lights on, run from an internal battery, if you're going to make open-ocean night passages. Detachable lights have a way of, well, detaching, or getting lost. They're really meant for when your regular lights don't work, and you temporarily need a backup. I hope you have fun in the Tortugas. I'm jealous, I wish we had something like that here on the southern Left coast. Cheers. John Fleming M-17: "Star Cross'd"