How much of a PITA is it to install an anchor light on top of the mast?

T

tadslc

Member III
Tom Metzger said:
Tad - You are 100% correct. You pass the test with an A++. :cheers:

Now that we have determined you know what you are talking about please explain to us very young men and women who don't know their way, exactly how one hoists a light to the masthead. My halyards don't go that high. :unsure:

It would seem to me that the Colregs would have written "masthead" if that is what the meant. Since they didn't it must mean "where it can best be seen" for the existing situation. No one will argue over the degree or two that is blocked by the mast.

If you hoist a light above the furled mainsail and away from the mast you have what has been used by sailors for hundreds of years. That's good enough for me.
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Gotta love a bit of sarcasm

Personally I think the top of the mast is a stupid place for an anchor light, way to high for my taste. I usually hang an LED from my boom at night also.

And Tom, let me guess, you use a whale oil lantern for this purpose?
 
Tom Metzger

Tom Metzger

Sustaining Partner
tadslc said:
And Tom, let me guess, you use a whale oil lantern for this purpose?
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Tad - Good guess! But I had to stop when Sperm whales went on the endangered species list. You can't buy the oil any more. :mad: In my first job out of school running a college physics lab I bought whale oil for an experiment we had. I can't remember the experiment or why it needed whale oil.

Actually, I now use a truck marker light run up on the main halyard for a spare anchor light. The same light was the primary anchor light on my previous boat. It works great for me, but I suspect it would require frequent change-out in a salt water environment.

Funny story: several years ago while anchored in an urban anchorage with a Coast Guard station. A CG boat pulled up and the chief told me the anchor light should be on the mast head. I told him that the Colregs allowed my light and he told me to produce the book and read it to him, which I did. He looked at my book's cover and questioned the publication year which was about a dozen years out of date. He scoffed and said he would give me a current book. The new book had the exact same wording, of course, which pissed him off. He did leave, but told me to raise the light higher. I let him have the last word, but I anchored in that harbor for several more years and was never bothered again.
 
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