Reply With QuoteIf it is for fishing are sure you want spot light or do you mean deck lights (work lights)
BigE
I intend to do a bit of night fishing and I'm currently looking to mount spotlight(s) on my Cruise Craft 595 Outsider. I guess I have two options with regards to the type of spotlight, either hand held or mounted. Not sure that the hand held option is for my but never say never. With regard to the fixed option, the most obvious position would be to fix the spotlight to the canopy framework. Anyone care to share their thoughts on appropriate spotlights / positioning?
Thanks in advance
Mark
If it is for fishing are sure you want spot light or do you mean deck lights (work lights)
BigE
We use a Light bar, sourced from OZLED, they are only small but light output is fantastic, cant remember the name of them, but give them a call,
Best location is on the bow rail well forward so as to minimize the glare off the deck. You can if desired set them up on plastic bimini fittings so they can be removed if not required and simply cable tie the cable down the rail and through the clears into a power socket that is switched. I use a good quality LED torch (Maglight 3 or 4 "D" cell) as a handheld these days - gives a range of a few hundred metres and is just as good as a mid quality 12 volt spotty and a lot more useful away from the boat.
They are only useful for seeing objects close by. On a road you have a lot of light reflected back at you, on the water there aint much light reflected back at you. Add boat bounce and its not all that better than your eyes alone. I abandoned the idea after a couple of nights. One day , radar will be cheap enough. Raymarine have cameras for their new axiom systems. That looks interesting but i cant see how they justify the cost. Stick the word boat infront of electronics and it instantly doubles in price, sheesh
If you intend to use it as "headlights" then forget it, far better to have the legal navigation lights and travel at a speed that is safe, rather than run around blinding other boaters with headlights.
I spent half my working life operating boats in the dark, commercial fishing, and lighting on small boats is hard. it's nothing like a motor vehicle. On the bigger boat, I'd be up on the flybridge, big floods and a fixed metal halide spot, plus a swiveling spot. Wonderful. But mount a light overhead on a small boat, and about all you will see is reflection off the bow and rails, particularly if you are looking through glass, perspex or clears. Having nothing between you and what you are trying to see is the first step. It is difficult to juggle a handheld spot and control a boat, that is better left to the passenger, who must be thoroughly schooled on what you want from him. There is certainly a case to be made for not using light of any kind, apart from nav lights, but this will depend on the conditions and what you are actually looking for. Trying to pick up a mooring will require a light of some kind, running down an open channel is better with no forward lighting, let your eyes get accustomed and you will see a lot. Plotters can be useful in this, as long as you dim them right down, keeps you on track. Mounting any lights as far forward as possible is always advisable, bow rail maybe, but will always look ugly. And will be pointing at the sky on the plane if you set them up at rest. Lightbars up on the bimini might look cool but are more or less useless unless you are manoeuvring slow and close to something.
I have deck lights, just looking for something with a bit of distance when coming through the heads - on a calm sea.Originally Posted by BigE
Using lights for that type of thing will be worse than useless, as mentioned a small hand held light to illuminate close objects like markers or the jetty when close are OK, but the use of headlights to see where you are going is a waste of time.
Thanks for the info guys. I can see the limitations with fixed lighting. I really just need a bit of extra light when coming through the heads. Agree that maintaining night vision is the best all round option. Hand held light source, something a little more powerful than the Dolphin, as a back up is probably the most sensible option. Thanks again for your input.
On hand held, I would go for an LED spot. There are some which look OK, battery powered, so you are not tangling leads up. I couldn't give any specific recommendations, but, IMO, a hand held spot is something which you should always carry if there is the remotest chance of operating in the dark. And anything is better than a Dolphin torch
We always found a pencil beam for spotlight is best for picking up markers and landmarks at night.
Light force 140 Lance (marine) or a Narva Colt 100 (very robust ) are two handhelds I have used in boats as previously mentioned best to have a well trained co-pilot do the focusing duties.
BigE
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I also like to fish at night and I like to be able to clearly identify small unlit marker buoys etc.
If you are going to mount lights for this then you must mount them so that there are no reflections and you must have a switch that you can operate without taking your eyes off the water in front of you. They are not left on they are flashed briefly when needed.
There have been times when I would not have navigated without them, coming into Lady Musgrave on black nights with a fair swell across the entrance comes to mind along with coming in over the 1770 bar at 3am due to a chronically seasick fisher onboard.
If you cross a remote bar with the intention of not returning until next day then I think you need some reliable lighting system in case you have no choice but to come back in through the dark (for whatever reason)
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