Why only ONE light?

I

inkblue

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Jan 18, 2007
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24914
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705
Why do most boats only have ONE light? Do any of you add more lights to your boat?

[:-spin][:-sonar][:-snorkel]
 
I've never seen a boat with just one light... at least not anything larger than a canoe.
 
Which light do you mean?

Interior? Exterior?
 
Don't just add more lights! Please. You'll change what you look like at night and it could lead to an accident.
 
InkBlue,

The navigation lights on the bow and stern cannot be diffused and polluted with a lot of other ambigous lighting. They're there for a reason.

As to interior cabin lighting...I have a dome and two reading lights in the cuddy, three cockpit lights, the ambient light the dash puts off (which is a pain for night runs...so I replaced all the bulbs with red) and a 1 million cp spotlight if all else fails.

Oh yeah...then there's my lighter. ;)
 
Get a Chapmans and do some reading, it will be good for you . Trust me.
 
I have one red light, one green light and two white lights that I display at night while underway. I also have one all-round white light that I display while anchored at night. I don't need anymore than that, I'm pretty sure.

I also have dome lights, flashlights, spotlights, lanterns, etc for other uses.

So, I would say if your boat has only one light, it's either really small, or you got gypped.
 
Yes, as advised, I bought the Chapman book... freaking heavy... argh!
 
I have two spotlights. One hand held I have had for years, and one bow mounted that came with the boat. Seldom use the mounted one.
 
What do you use the spotlihgt for?
The admiral loves to use our portable one "checking" on every marker along the intercoastal at night.
I think it's wrong to use them because they blind incoming ships.
Am I wrong?
I don't have a fixed one, but aren't they prohibited for use for long period of times?
 
Nothing will destroy your night vision faster than a spotlight in the eyes. Use it very sparingly and be sure to not shine it on other boats.
 
We've got 1 fixed remote and two hand held spots. When you're running home at night and come across a small (14-16') aluminum boat in the middle of the St. Lawrence River in the dark with no lights and 15 people on board the spotlights help to avoid a tragedy even if none of them are Canadians or Americans! Get the picture? At least the guy that runs the duty free booze, gas & cigs runs with his lights on.
 
I use the spot to shine buoys denoting the channel when I'm on the ascending bank. When I come in, there's usually no traffic...and very dark. Aside from that, the spot doesn't get used too much.
 
Yup, I do like Mike and others above. Short periods with the spot on to identify a buoy or the end of my slip, then off. I've also found a fixed spot to be pretty useless on my flybridge boat. The hand held is faster to aim and is thus on less with less time to destroy my and others night vision. I understand running with a spot on continuously as a violation of the navregs????
Greg
 
spotlights are not headlights.. you're not driving a car ! they shoudl only be used a few seconds at a time to locate a marker. they destroy your night vision and blind other boaters.

i agree about electric vs handheld. with a handheld, you find the marker much quicker...
 
...but by the time you find it, you're blind! I had a 3 Million candlewatt handheld, and found it to be completely useless. Even at half power, it would reflect off the boat so much that I'd be night-blind for minutes after even a short burst.

as far as locating unlighted vessels, I'm not sure that's a good idea either. Now YOU can see THEM, but now they're blind and can't see YOU. If you don't have radar, maybe you shouldn't go faster than ultra-low idle at night.
 
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