Spot Lights

[Escape with LG]

just wondering if you ppl run spotlights on your boat when heading out early morning of getting round at night or do you just trust your electronics and drive blind? And what are some of the pros and cons of having a spot light! Im thinking they might not be so good as like on the road you can blind other skippers.... Anyways whats the norm on this topic?

[Blackened]

G'day

I'm judging you haven't been out on the water at night?

Long and the short of it, any kind of "Headlight" will blind your night vision totally. If you want to work around the boat, a red light is best to preserve your natural night vision.

Use a spotlight only for just that, spotting what's out there, not as a head light.

Dave

[Escape with LG]

Yeah I have however have never used a spot light out on the water.

[The Mad Cat]

I remember in 2007 4 people were killed when there boat crashed into a barge parked off Carnarvon WA. They were headed out in the pitch black very early in the morning. Would some sought of driving light given them just enough time to avoid or at least lessen the impact speed ?? From memory the barge had lights but the problem was the length between the lights.

TMC

[waterbouy]

They are handy for going through some bars we use one up D.I and so do most other boats. Bar is always moving. Handy tool.

[Angla]

I definitely have a search light for night travelling with confidence. It sits under my bow sprit and is remote controlled. It does not affect my night vision due to its position and has saved at least 1 x Kayakker from a near certain death. Also has helped hugely in some terrible conditions that I have been caught out in. I also have 3 watt high powered LED spotlights attached to both sides of the rocket launcher, which are also extremely useful.

Cheers
Chris

[Back In Black]

Hi Angla,
Thats a pretty impressive unit. Is it an off the shelf item, or did you have it made up?
I crossed Noosa bar in the dark last week & admit a "down low" light under the bowsprit would have helped.
Thanks,
Tony

[waterbouy]

I definitely have a search light for night travelling with confidence. It sits under my bow sprit and is remote controlled. It does not affect my night vision due to its position and has saved at least 1 x Kayakker from a near certain death. Also has helped hugely in some terrible conditions that I have been caught out in. I also have 3 watt high powered LED spotlights attached to both sides of the rocket launcher, which are also extremely useful.

Cheers
Chris

That looks like a serious spottie, what did you pick that up for and where?

[gunna]

G'day

I'm judging you haven't been out on the water at night?

Long and the short of it, any kind of "Headlight" will blind your night vision totally. If you want to work around the boat, a red light is best to preserve your natural night vision.

Use a spotlight only for just that, spotting what's out there, not as a head light.

Dave

Would you include the fresh water impoundments when you are looking out for dead trees all the time ??

[Sevric]

I recently purchased a hand-held blue spot light to aid negotiating the narrow and some times non existent drain i have to negotiate before i cross the bar. According to the spiel it is supposed to cut through fog, rain etc and not reflect back at you as with normal white lights. As yet it is untried but i live in hope it will illuminate the channel markers when they are there that is as well as make the narrow channel easier to find in adverse conditions.

[ozscott]

I have the same one as Angla - a Jabsco...remote control is very handy. At the Pin it is invaluable due to the amount of idiots who fish in the middle of channels with no lights - usually unpainted tinnies so in pitch black nights you would have to have the night vision of a bat to see them. Yes the light kills off the night vision, but I know which I would rather have at the Pin in particular. Its also very handy if you are going to get in close to Mangroves etc for a fish. I imagine it would also be very good for spotting MOB. I wouldnt be without one. Easy to wire up yourself too.

Cheers

[Timfishin4fun]

I recently purchased a hand-held blue spot light to aid negotiating the narrow and some times non existent drain i have to negotiate before i cross the bar. According to the spiel it is supposed to cut through fog, rain etc and not reflect back at you as with normal white lights. As yet it is untried but i live in hope it will illuminate the channel markers when they are there that is as well as make the narrow channel easier to find in adverse conditions.


Hi I have a blue eye mounted on the front of the haines.

It is very good to not have blinded vision from the front of the hull but does not shine as well as I have wanted. A spottie like the picture posted is the go.

Timbo

[Angla]

Hi Angla,
Thats a pretty impressive unit. Is it an off the shelf item, or did you have it made up?
I crossed Noosa bar in the dark last week & admit a "down low" light under the bowsprit would have helped.
Thanks,
Tony

It is a Jabsco 12 volt 50 watt spot light with a damn good beam. Originally I mounted it on top of the bow sprit like the wife wanted, but it's small reflections off the bow rails and white surfaces meant that I couldn't see shit.
I then removed it and pulled it apart to make it waterproof while upside down (not too hard to do) and reinstalled it under the bow sprit and out of the way or the anchor when it rest on the front of the sprit. It is absolutely invaluable now and a sight whenever it is dark and others are struggling to light their way.
It would be 7 years old now and has been serviced only once to re seal moisture from the little motors (and free them up). No new parts have ever been required. I have also had to clean up the joystick (switch) mechanism a couple of times.

cheers
Chris

[Back In Black]

Hi Chris,
Thanks for the info. Definitely on the shopping list.
Tony

[deckie]

Cant understand anyone thinking they're useless...u go out at night enough u NEED a good one.
Might be ok on moon lit nights on open water/bays but the idea is not so much to pick out things like landform or to navigate..its to pick up what is directly in front to give u some warning, any sort of warning. On open water the light might just melt into the disatnce and seem no use but you need to be looking at the water 50-100m in front of you in a similar way as u do during the day.

Its that big arse branch just sticking up but hiding an entire tree under the water..thats what you're looking for...or the goose sitting in his 11ft tinnie with nothing but a lit ciggy as a warning he's there. A good spottie is essential. Sure on plenty of nights its like you can see for miles and seems better without the light but i want to see the water in front of me thanx.

In my local haunts with steep sided hills and still water if there's any fog or mist a klight is usually not much help BUT great backup even as a navigation tool. If you know the area well and the shoreline is good you can actually shine the spottie on the shoreline and stick 50-100m from it and follow at slow speed..rather than that awful feeling of "wtf is about to come out of the mist in front of me"

Right now the HID spotties are coming right down in price to the point u can get a 55W HID handheld for maybe 100-150 bux. A good remote spottie up on the bow such as in pics above is brilliant and especially useful back to the ramp or when in shallow water.

Just make sure it doesnt shine onto the deck in front of you...i.e no reflected light or your vision is impaired...same with your anchor light. Easy to just cut a piece of ally or anything and glue it underneath your anchor light so it ddoesnt shine down at all, and especially so its never in your field of view. Bizzaree how many boats come out of the factory with an anchor light place smack in front or just to the side of the helm. I guess the new regs make it even more common. With your spootie have it mounted on the bow rail far fwd as you can, or off to the side of the gunwhale up front.

Hell i wouldnt be without them ...if u really want to light things up get a cpl of big arse hella driving lights with an HID conversion..one pencil beam and one flood hanging off each side of the bow rail. Some nights you'll p[refer them off but others you'll thank yourself for putting them on.

[Tazmaniac]

I have a Jabsco like Angla, but mine is mounted on the hardtop. Do get a little bit of glare off the bowrail and you get the impression that you can see stuff all, but if there is anything in front of you it sort of materialises out of the darkness. I wont drive a boat at night unless I can see what is in front of me. One of the problems encountered fishing out of Perth is the cray pot ropes/floats on the surface that can be hard to see in the dark with a spotty but impossible to see without one.
Taz