Anchor light?

[Maddie'sDaddy]

My boat has what appears to be two anchor lights ,but one is on top of the cabin area of my boat, I was told i dont need the one on top of the roof to be legal, anyone know if thats true or not?


MD

[timinthegorge]

Red/Green on the bow, and clear white on the stern. More than that isn't required....

[Starfish]

Red/Green on the bow, and clear white on the stern. More than that isn't required....



Actually it depends on the length of the boat (a single white light is OK for boats under 12 meters)... but also, a single light has to be an "all around" light so if its mast isn't tall enough to allow the light to be seen from the front, then technically you do need another light on top. There are a lot of boats that are legal when the top is down but not when the canvas is up because they have too short a mast.

[Maddie'sDaddy]

I am glad you mentioned that Starfish cause this is an older boat and it looks as though the light that was on the roof of the cabin is original and the one in the traditional place seems to be added and would probably be obstructed from veiw if looking at the boat from an angle or ascew of headon, So maybe i do need to put one back in its place to be legal .

Otherwise i think i would have to put one on the back that is 6-8' high.

MD

[joemomma]

There are a lot of boats that are legal when the top is down but not when the canvas is up because they have too short a mast.

[/quote] :yeahthat:

[Maddie'sDaddy]

This boat is a hardtop, doesn't come down.

MD

[Starfish]

Note that the term "stern light" is a misnomer for some boats-- if the light on top of your hardtop is visible from 360 degrees then it will serve as an all-around light and you don't need to have one on the stern. If the masthead light (the top one) is only visible from 225 degrees to the fore, then you need a 135 degree stern light. Since your hardtop is presumably already wired for the masthead light, you might consider just rigging a 360 degree light there and not have to mess with having a stern light in the way of your fishing lines.

Take a look in the Oregon Boater's Guide or the coast guard booklet to see some diagrams of acceptable lighting setups.

[timinthegorge]

I stand corrected... Thanks for the clarification Starfish. :cheers: