Spreader Light Question

[noelex 77]

Red light is better at preserving scotopic (night ) levels of vision, but even red needs to be very dim to achive this. Red light would not be an advantage for most spreader lights as they are much too bright to preserve night vision.
It is good to see cruisers considering night vision once it is lost it is going to take 15 to 45 mins to recover. I think cruising sailors often give away their night vision foolishly.

[Songlines]

With 2500 hrs flying low level night vision goggle special operations missions, we used a low intensity blue. Red was ok, but blue was better. At 300 ft and 250 mph.. vision was just more than a bit important. We found low emitting blue LED's the best.

Of course, this doesn't address the need for others to see you....

[davidschiff]

marvelous. what a diverse and knowlegeble group, thanks to all
david

[FSMike]

Seems to me that every time I've wanted the spreader lights on I've wanted a lot of light. I like my night vision as much as the next person, but when I need light I need light. One thing we have which is helpful is a deck light as an integral part of the steaming light. This angles forward from the bottom of the steaming light and is helpful in maintaining the night vision of the helmsperson. I also recommend switching the port and starboard spreader lights independently. There is no point in producing more glare than is necessary to get the job done.

[Extemporaneous]

Originally Posted by FSMike

Seems to me that every time I've wanted the spreader lights on I've wanted a lot of light.

That's what I was thinking. Perhaps white light with a dimmer has merit.

Extemp.

[zeehag]

why are w eusing spreader lights while sailing?? they are for parties and for work on th eboat LOL....there are steaming lights and anchor lights -- why use spreader lights while sailing?? isnt a smart idea no matter what color they are.

[Roy M]

I have red LED lamps directed at my windlass and at the bow roller to allow low level light when retrieving or deploying the anchor. It's just right, and it provides plenty of illumination for the foredeck. I installed a set of high intensity discharge lamps at the spreaders of a big catamaran, with individual switches port and starboard, aimed at a point just outboard of the hulls. These lamps are hard to find and relatively expensive, and worth every penny. They provide 2 1/2 times more lumens (meaning they are MUCH brighter) and use 35 watts (3 amps) instead of the standard 55 watt (4 1/2 amp) deck lamps commonly available. That means almost daylight when docking, retrieving an overboard crew or when you hear a bump in the night and want to scare off the riff raff looking for an easy snatch of deck gear. I also have an Aquasignal foredeck light that is OK for general lighting without the overkill of the H.I.D. lamps. But I'm definitely installing the H.I.D.s when I pull my stick, and I'm adding one on the arch, facing aft. I also have a 55 watt lamp at the underside of the pulpit to really light things up if I'm trying to remove a bunch of kelp entangled in the chain or anchor. It can also be rotated up to act as a headlight, if necessary. I like having light where I need it.

[Extemporaneous]

Originally Posted by Roy M

I have red LED lamps directed at my windlass and at the bow roller to allow low level light when retrieving or deploying the anchor. It's just right, and it provides plenty of illumination for the foredeck.

Excellent! Do you have a model # for the lights you used?

Originally Posted by Roy M

I installed a set of high intensity discharge lamps at the spreaders of a big catamaran, with individual switches port and starboard, aimed at a point just outboard of the hulls. These lamps are hard to find and relatively expensive, and worth every penny. They provide 2 1/2 times more lumens (meaning they are MUCH brighter) and use 35 watts (3 amps) instead of the standard 55 watt (4 1/2 amp) deck lamps commonly available. That means almost daylight when docking, retrieving an overboard crew or when you hear a bump in the night and want to scare off the riff raff looking for an easy snatch of deck gear.

And I would Very much like to know the model # this one.

Originally Posted by Roy M

I also have a 55 watt lamp at the underside of the pulpit to really light things up if I'm trying to remove a bunch of kelp entangled in the chain or anchor. It can also be rotated up to act as a headlight, if necessary. I like having light where I need it.

Another good idea.
I also like light when required. There is nothing more frustrating then not being able to see when you need to.

Also if anyone else have lights that they are VERY impressed with, I'd be interested.

Thanks in advance,
Extemp.

[osirissail]

- - I would go with FSMike and RoyM - when I turn on the Deck Lights I want "daylight" conditions. I don't turn on the lights unless something is not right or something suspicious is happening. So I would also love to install those HID lamps. I have a ketch rig so two lights on mizzen and 3 on main plus two outside the pilot house. The easiest vessels to see at night are the cruise liners lit up like Broadway/Times Square. I do the same if there is a possibility of conflict with a big vessel - I turn on all my deck lights and they spot me real quick. I only use my strobe as a confirmation when in radio contact to let them know which boat out there is me.
- - I consider the deck lights as a primary safety factor for a single-hander at night. When something goes bump in the night, on come the lights and I can see every nook and cranny on deck and in the rigging and around the boat.
- - Using red lights for night vision went out of style in airline aviation decades ago. We use normal white lights in the cockpits. The reason is that red only washes out the contrast between many colors and everything is either red or black. Best example is to put your electronic chart display into "night color" mode and watch a lot of the details of the nautical map disappear or become very difficult to see. The key to success of maintaining your "night vision" is selective focusing of the low level white light strictly on the required instrument or chart instead of flooding a broad area.
- - On deck I would never consider "red lights" as the color differentiation problem of recognizing various parts of the rigging and deck areas would become very difficult and they would become almost invisible.

[Roy M]

Extemp and osirissail:

HID lamps:
https://www.magnalight.com/pc-1345-1...rn--white.aspx

Conventional tungsten filament lamps: https://www.portsupply.com/webapp/wc...nlz5DY0A%3D%3D

The costs go from reasonable to absurdly costly (about $500 for the 50 watt HID lamps). But if you want lots of light, you'll gladly pay for them.

[Christian Van H]

Back in my astronomer days, I knew observers who wore an eye patch over one eye to protect their nite vision...this also explains pirates!

[Albro359]

How much light do you need ?

If its night time you are adjusted to the dark anyway, seems to me low intensity spreader lights would be the go...

If you've got a 12 v system try fitting 24 V globes...or if 24V system, 32 V globes....they'll last longer too !

Alan

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by Albro359

How much light do you need ?
If its night time you are adjusted to the dark anyway, seems to me low intensity spreader lights would be the go...
Alan

- - A couple of years ago I was underway on an overcast rainy night from Antigua to St. Martin clipping alone at 8 kts with all sails flying. All was going fine and things felt good when at about 03:00 there was a loud cracking sound, the boat shuddered, and speed dropped in half. That got my attention real quick. Nothing could be seen outside the windows and nothing was on the radar. I sent one crew below to check for collision damage. I switched on all my deck lights and carefully went outside to see if anything was amiss. Main mast fine, shrouds and stays okay but something looked funny. We were on a beam reach and now the mainsail was lying along the pilot house amidships. Thanks to the "daylight" amount of lighting from the spreaders I saw that the main boom had split in half. We secured the boom and proceeded on to St Martin.
- - How much light do you need? As much as you can get, the more the better to discover the problem with minimal exposure to safety of crew.

[Lbjordal]

I have no input on the nightvison thing. but I recently found these great LED sprader lights from another site

its 150$ if I remember correctly

Lumitec Abaco LED Cockpit Flood Light

aswell as a nice floodlight (but expensive, 550$)

Lumitec Lighting Maxillume 45 Watt LED Flood Light

[barnakiel]

Maybe. But you need stronger bulbs if going red.

Remember if you use red light you will judge distances differently from any work in 'white' light. Go into any darkroom and you will see my point. Could turn out unsafe.

b.