Marpac LED Bowlights

[renzoreba]

Stainless steel housing. 1997 MacGregor 26X. Old bowlight on deck was already weathered down and would catch anchor line from time to time. Making room for new anchor roller. Hardest part of the job was sticking arm inside compartment above V-berth in order to cut inside fiberglass panels to make room for socket tools to bolt lights to the bow. For this particular Mac there are 2 additional panels in the inside, separated by about 2-3 inches, which were the ones needed to be cut. For cutting I used a Dremel tool with a carbide wheel. Plenty of fiberglass dust so wear appropriate mask and eye goggles. Sealed with 5200. Lights come with screws but for my peace of mind I used stainless steel bolts with big washers. Weekend project working at my own pace. If you are not a big, hulky, claustrophobic person then this job's for you!

[Russ]

Very nice.

[renzoreba]

Thank you!

[moondancer]

Very good looking and now they are out of the way of anchor when manuvering it under the pulpit. I have hit mine pretty hard holding the anchor when I lost my balance. Good job. Mike

[Russ]

Very good looking and now they are out of the way of anchor when manuvering it under the pulpit.

Yes, I have always liked that style of nav lights. Looks classy to me. Seems the the ideal location to get out of the way of rigging etc. Can't knock it with anchors. LEDs make them sip juice and last forever.

I don't know what Roger was thinking when he mounted that bow light where it gets in the way.

[kurz]

I don't know what Roger was thinking when he mounted that bow light where it gets in the way.

I can tell you: It it the most cheapest solution: You need just one light instead of 2, and have just ones the work for the electricity...

[Divecoz]

I agree as well.. It was cost factors both with the single unit and the cost of install. If you all recall , we had a discussion here not all that long ago about, a few INternet suppliers dumping old generation LEDS / junk.. cheap.. They could last 5 years or 5 days.. Not a problem with the newest or even newer LEDS.. I got had with this scam.. I bought a 4' light bar for the back of my Pickup and mounted it up under the tailgate . It is completely protected and soon after the install LEDS began dieing.. hummm ... I for one have not had issues with the single unit bow light under any circumstances.
That said I seldom need to raise or lower the mast.

[mastreb]

Found my lens cover has been stolen from my boat when putting in last Saturday. Guess someone took a trip to midnight Marine. I've got a westmarine stock piece of junk tie strapped in place as a jury rig, but this looks like a great permanent solution.

Plus I'll be able to use the existing electrical cable to pull through an NMEA cable to make my bow-mounted anemometer more permanent.

[vizwhiz]

I had asked about doing something like this but the concern I have is that the angle of the bow, both the V-shape and the point toward the front, have me concerned about mounting them without some kind of backing block that is shaped to make them point straight forward and be vertical from the side... Is that a concern on the ones you installed, or maybe I just got some cheap ones that only work for a flat, straight surface??

[Tomfoolery]

They're all designed for 112.5 degrees coverage in plan, AFAIK, though I don't know if there's a bias built into some units to compensate for the bow angle. There's also a spec for up/down rate of intensity reduction, but I don't have that stuff handy right now.

[DaveB]

I had same concern after reading original post and went to web site and they have two types and picture of original poster had the flat one installed, not the Horizontal one that was cheaper.
I would think the cabin Deck forward would be better location and able to direct dead ahead to 2 points abaft the beam.
It also would be much closer to the Elect. panel and easy wire feed lines.
I often get a lot of water at forward Bow location and sometimes that Bow light location would be under water.
Dave

I had asked about doing something like this but the concern I have is that the angle of the bow, both the V-shape and the point toward the front, have me concerned about mounting them without some kind of backing block that is shaped to make them point straight forward and be vertical from the side... Is that a concern on the ones you installed, or maybe I just got some cheap ones that only work for a flat, straight surface??

[renzoreba]

They are very bright. Very minimal power consumption. The stainless steel frame has reflection angulation that points the beam straight ahead back to a 112 angle. They are so bright you might even see them at a 135° angle from the front. Can't really judge as she is under tarps. Maybe when I take her out this weekend I'll be able to judge it better.

[vizwhiz]

they do look good...the part I'm concerned about is outlined in the drawing below...are the angles going to be correct, or are they built to compensate for the two angles of the boat hull??

[renzoreba]

I'll take a few pics at night this weekend and post them when I come back.

[Tomfoolery]

Do check for an arc where neither the side lights nor the stern light is visible. The masthead (steaming) light should cover the same arc as the side lights combined at 225 degrees, and similarly fade out as the stern light takes over, though under sail alone, there would be no lights visible in that arc (if it exists).

Vizwiz makes a valid point about the bow angles. Here's some more reading in recent threads.

http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... =9&t=21711

http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... 6&p=266735