Anchoring deck light

[sunshinecoasting]

A while back I had a serious middle of the night mishap with an anchor drag and got my dinghy tow rope tangled around a buoy, anchor alarm went off and I was being pushed sideways in a 4 knot current, boat was on a 15degree list, middle of the night and pitch black, long story short I managed to untangle rope from buoy, started motor and reset the anchor, all in the dark with nothing more than a small penlight torch held in my teeth. So just before my last trip (2 weeks and two hundred and fifty nm's) I decided to change that stupid and useless factory steaming light halfway up the mast to an LED flood light so I can flood the bow and general anchor area with real light. Wow, what a difference, I highly recommend the change, $39 and about an hours work. Pictures below were taken in total darkness.

[NiceAft]

Highlander installed down illuminating lights on his spreaders. I think it was more of a concern to be more visible when anchored at night.

[Russ]

Nice work.

How do you switch between steaming light and deck light?

Something I'm going to add to the boat is a head lamp for such situations where I need light on a subject and have my hands full.

[C Buchs]

I mounted one of these lights https://a.co/d/2LKOnjx with steaming and deck light in one fixture.

I added the BWY four-pin deck plug https://shop.bwyachts.com/DECK-PLUG-SCR ... 14-1v4.htm

I added this diode https://a.co/d/91qsGnC so that I could use this switch https://a.co/d/b5enf6c and use this trick https://macgregorsailors.com/mods/index ... tem&id=453 with reversing the polarity for the anchor and steaming light. I wish the switch lit up when it was on like the original switches. If anyone can send a link for one, I'd like to change mine out.





I cut the "wings" off the light and mounted it to the original mast bracket.



The final product looks like this.



It lights the deck well, but not the water forward of the boat. So I still use a spotlight if I'm anchoring late. It's also not as bright as sunshinecoasting's solution.

Jeff

[Russ]

I mounted one of these lights https://a.co/d/2LKOnjx with steaming and deck light in one fixture.

Nice. I did almost the exact same thing for my anchor/steaming light toggle.

I used ONE switch labeled "mast light" and another to reverse the polarity.

[sunshinecoasting]

Nice work.

How do you switch between steaming light and deck light?

If you zoom in on the first photo and look closely at the bottom of the mast you will see a toggle switch, up is for mast head light, down is for flood light or steaming light.

[OverEasy]

Hi Sunshinecoasting!

Great mod! It obviously makes a big difference for your nighttime operations.
Congrats on a job well done!

As we operate in ‘cruiser mode’ we’ve been getting by with a pair of solar walkway lights.
Our PO was nice enough to have mounted a short section of PVC pipe to each of the two lifeline stantions nearest the cockpit.
They provide about 4 + hrs of light after sunset.
We also have a remote control removable spotlight up on the anchor line locker lid for night use.

A stub mast is in the To-Do-List which would be an ideal location for a deck lighting approach like yours.

Nice job!

Best Regards
Over Easy