Navigation Lights

[Commander 147]

These are not plated but 304 stainless.

http://www.sea-dog.com/PDF/400035-1.pdf

All of the Sea Dog line of lighting is at this link.

http://www.sea-dog.com/cgi-bin/webdata_pro.pl?_cgifunction=search&_layout=pdfs&pd fs.itemgroup=Lights%20%26%20Switches

[ebb]

USCG regs dictate that sailboats under 65' have port and starboard side lights and a stern light.
The red and green sidelights are often shown in diagrams in the bow of the boat,
and we often see them mounted in a single fixture on the pulpit.
These lights and a stern light can be combined in a single lantern mounted on the mast head.
If we still want the lights on the bow, or separated on the cabin side and on the transom (or pushpit), Regs say that only one set can be on - NOT BOTH.

If we are coming into a marina at dusk and we have to switch running lights on, there are strong arguments for the deck level lights to be used because they can be seen better by others. And when we are moving they can be understood better in the dark by others. A masthead light imco in crowded waters is too tall and gives little information about who we are.

If we go with the side lights on the cabin, we would not have side lights (on) in the bow. One set or the other - altho it is unlikely we would have both.

If we are under power, which we may well be in order to have more control over the boat, Regs say we have become a powerboat. As soon as we get the motor going (even with sails up) we are under power.
If we are under power we have to show an all round WHITE light. The only place on a sailboat for an allround light is on the masthead. Under power we also will have the side lights on - but not the stern light.

This allround white light on the masthead is also our anchor light. Used as an anchor light, our side lights would be off.

LED 2nm
Practical Sailor in the 2010 Feb issue tests four led bulb replacements which might be of interest to those of us rennovating the old fixtures.
They also test three led tricolor masthead lights.
LOPOLIGHT (200-005) at about $700 with a five year warranty.
OGM (LXTA-12v) at $340 - two year warranty.
SIGNALMATE (2-nm Tri) $359 - five years.
None of these tricolors include the allround steaming/anchor light.

Notably absent is the HELLA led tri-color. Why would this manufacturer be ignored by PS boggles the mind - as these four are the only led tricolors with USCG approval that can be found, that I've found.

Not only leaving out a major player, but ignoring the white anchor/steaming light is really whacky.
However, the article redeems itself somewhat by carefully checking RFI (with a hand held VHF). Electricity reaching the semi-conductors, led's, causes EMI. This can screw up the VHF signal in the coils of the antenna mounted close to the led tricolor. The tr-color manufacturer has to shield his product from other electronics at the masthead.
They tested the bulbs too for interference along with the tricolors by holding the handheld VHF radio at close distances to the lights.
Suffice to say only LOPOLIGHT had no RFI at 0 inches.

SIGNALMATE got RFI at 10". Assuming the test procedure is good, there just is no way I'd get this fixture and mount a VHF antenna next to it.
The website advertises the tricolor is fully shielded. Now we know - thanks to P.S.
P.S. also checked out by distance observation whether the red/green overlapped. They also graded how green the green was, Led greens often have a blue cast. And blue is a law-enforcement color. Lopo and the Lunasea bulb got the nod for the greenest green.


I'm attracted to the HELLA NaviLED Trio Masthead / Anchor Light - $340 - with a seven year warranty.
Data sheet, drawings, measurements, installation anst all available online.
"Electromagnetic Compatability (EMC) This LED lamp is an electronic device. The electrical circuits contain components that suppress possible interference, both emission as well as susceptability. to the limits prescribed in EN60945".
We didn't get the skinny from Practical Sailor on this.
HELLA also have some nice side and stern lights at $93 each. Defender has them $10 cheaper.
They don't tell what any fixture or lens is made from (polycarbonate?). If plastic then 7 years warranty is a stretch in southern climes.
A half dozen international certifications including USCG. So the green must be OK.
Just info and all of it my opinion.

Why on water would anybody with an active sailboat go with a plain tricolor?
How would you later add the allround white, if you wanted to? Led's are already too expensive!

[commanderpete]

A tricolor light will draw less power than 3 seperate fixtures. If you're going to install an anchor light at the top of the mast anyway, it might make sense to install a tricolor/anchor light combination.

But, you still need deck mounted lights. You can't use an anchor light while underway (although I see it done frequently). A sailboat under power needs to show a "steaming light" and not an all-around white light.

As far as I know, the rules state that the steaming light must be located above the sidelights. You can't use a masthead tricolor with a steaming light.

I suppose you would use the tricolor offshore, for better visibility to shipping and to conserve power. Near shore, the deck mounted lights are more likely to be seen against the clutter of lights on the shore, and should be used when the engine is engaged.

Seems there are many more choices in USCG approved LED nav lights in the last year or two, and some are fairly reasonable in price. This should only get better.

[ebb]

C'pete,
The Hella lantern has the tri-light in the prescribed separations: green - red - and white stern running light - with a seen from dead ahead separation of the red and green. A slight blank space.

It also has, SEPARATE from the tri-color combo, an ALL ROUND WHITE, on top of the combo. It is a separate light but in the same lantern. This light would NEVER be turned on while the tri-color was being used. And viceversa.

Being an all round light, and UNABSTRUCTED by mast or sails,
I have seen, have downloaded, diagrams like yours above here that show this all round white (USCG Regs) USED AS A STEAMING LIGHT ON A SAILBOAT (but with sails not rigged) when the motor is running.
Imco it would be 'more' legal' than a half mast steaming light that would have 1/3, at least. of the all round requirement obstructed by the mast it is mounted on.
And in a twilight ballet of getting the boat into its berth without running into something, no reg could possibly care if the rags are up or furled. Never know, tho.

Your series of graphics don't show this. And since the tri-color option is relatively new (what, 20 years by now?) the Coast Guard may not have their diagrams up to date. Besides the all round white steaming/anchor light may be stuck in some internal committee and is left in its fuzzy status for decades to come.


Perhaps by sailor use the added FOURTH light on the masthead of a sailboat will become written into regulation. It seems to be allowed by inference and some 'quasi-official' diagrams.

The all round white is already wired on some lanterns as a STROBE light. On the highseas, day or night, with an approaching freighter, switching the strobe on to get attention might save your and your boat's butt.
Regs might someday be rewritten to include emergency scenarios like this as emergencies. Using the strobe to get the attention on the bridge of a cargo freighter. Fat Chance! Radio contact with the freighter would call off any rescue effort or USCG notification that assitence was not needed. If that is the case.

The all round anchor light from a practical aspect has to be stacked on the masthead above or below the tricolor if we have one. Cruisers forums often mention that they can recognize their boat at night - when away from it - by their all round led.
This anchor light can also be found with a PV Sunset On/Sunrise Off feature.

[commanderpete]

I think the problem with using an anchor light/tricolor combination is that the regulations require at least one meter vertical seperation between the all-around white light above the red/green sidelights.

You might be able to use the anchor light as a steaming light with red/green deck lights, but only if you block out the stern deck light. Otherwise a boat approaching from behind will see two white lights "white over white"

[ebb]

C'pete, I finally see what you are getting at.

Any boat with an all round white light ON and not anchored is a boat under power.
Any boat under power with an all round white steaming light will not have its STERN light on.
But any boat will have its port and starboard lights on.
That means, in effect, that the masthead tri-color cannot be on.... Because the tri lights cannot be turned on and off separately.
Because when steaming with an all round white light, the white stern light part of the trilight cannot be on at the same time.

But I can see that in a sailboat not switched correctly that the tri-color and the all round white could be on at the same time. And that would cause confusion for the observer.

That's why a sailboat our size should have separate port and starboard and stern light at deck level.
Cruising or offshore I would definitely include the tri-light and the all round white
anchor light.

[It's a whole other dual fixture, but I know I've seen an all led steaming light and amp-eating deck light combo that is mounted at spreader height. Personally this is an excellent idea. And if attracting attention at sea these lights are perfect.
However, for picky regs I don't see how cutting a major portion of the steaming light by mounting it on the front of the mast makes it legal.
But do see that the mast will create a beneficial shadow for the poor guy in the cockpit.]

Also, I don't recall seeing a halfmast steaming light shown in any required nav light diagram.
Conceivably it is less legal than a tri-light with an all round anchor/steaming light.


Just to make things difficult: I have a diagram here that shows a white MASTHEAD steaming light that has a wedge blacked out on the aft side that corresponds exactly with the stern light wedge shaped light down on the DECK LEVEL. Also the red/green side lights are on.
Thus, you'd have your three normal deck level lights with a three sided white masthead steaming light.
This evidently conforms exactly to USCG rules for a sailboat under power.


BUT, a masthead 360 white light IS also Regulation for steaming under power.....
Have the diagram to prove it.
THAT IS IF YOU TURN OFF THE DECK LEVEL STERN LIGHT AND keep your sidelights on.
That seems simple enough.
As a bonus you get an allround anchor light when the side lights are off.

Whewww!

[commanderpete]

The power draw of the steaming light is not much of a concern, if your engine has a charger.

I don't think powerboats are really looking for lights up off the water. I look for masthead lights, and I see them frequently, although the light usually turns out to be a plane, helicopter, star, tower or something

You can even mistake a traffic light on land for another boat

By the way, I called Sea Dog about their new LED lights C-147 mentioned above. The guy wasn't familiar with the product but eventually told me they don't make an LED stern light. I haven't been able to find this line of products for sale anywhere yet.