Docking light? Lot of people have lights mounted on their grab rail from me with wamart 20 dollar fog lights to the big time led like bolt has. If you have a front stand then even better as you can run the lights up there and dodge the glare you can good off the grab rail. I still have my q beam but do not use it nearly as much with the lights.

 

I run wide open across the bay with these lit up like Christmas all the time. Never heard of any law limiting nighttime light use.

 

I would just be courteous to boats coming at you. You don't want to blind them. Around other boats in the dark, we shine a light down on our deck to make sure that they see us.

 

Up until now I have used a really bright Q-beam to help me see at night, but the glare from the handheld light is very annoying. My plan is to mount two, bright LED lights under the front "lip" of my boat so there will be ZERO glare from them, with a switch at the console........I have measured that each of the two LED lights use less than 1 amp each and are really bright.

 

I did this before. It didnt work as well as I had hoped. You see the way I set up my boat above bease thw under lip wasnt nearly effective.. Plenty of room under the lip but I wasn't going to repeat that mistake. Unless your bow is square in front get a light bar platform. Under the lip does not project enough.

 

http://www.basspro.com/Optronics-BlueEye-Beam-Deck-Mount-Marine-Spotlight/product/858/

We have used these for many years for running at night and are very satisfied with them. Inexpensive and easy to mount while eliminating glare in the boat.

Two guys we know ran under a dock and got decapitated which would not have happened if a light of this type had been used. A hand held can get you in a lot of trouble.

 

^^^^ that light has some bad reviews.

 

I use a handheld 3mill candle power brinkman if I run in the dark but I aint running no wot at night ive seen what can be floating out there these boats aint got no brakes.I fish for fun and have no problem rolling slow to my spots while sipping coffee.

 

Saw the bad reviews on the Optronics but have experience with three of them which do/did everything needed. Two of the three are in service and the other finally lost the bulb after being in service since 1979 a couple of years ago, so my experience has been extensive.

We duck hunted for years and also shrimped in the dark, so we have depended on the lights for years.

Anyone had a bad experience to report?

 

I work with a retired coast guard of 25 years. He told me you can not run with those type of lights on. He has told me the technicalities but I don't remember them. Personally we use a light bar on the boat when going duck hunting. To me if you have good moon light I prefer to use the moon light and then spot check with the bright light.

 

10 knots at night. spotlight on and off to watch for stuff. You lose your night vision and wont see the port and stbd lights coming to you and will blind them as well. If you have ever been hit by a tug spotlight you will know why headlights on boats are not the norm

 

Call Kenny with G Spot Services (Yellowskeeter is his handle). Did mine and it works great, and Kenny gave me some great advice. Well worth your time.

 

I do not intend this to be argumentive or offend anyone, but the subject of lights such as this has come up on several threads.

It is dangerous to blind other boaters with a light and also dangerous to run with out a means to spot floating objects or snags in the water. The wardens I have come across at night would much less like to be out there investigating an accident than citing someone using a light for navigation. By the same token, the user should make certain that he does not cause problems for other boaters.

We have been blinded at times by boaters using hand held high power spotlights used carelessly which can put you in danger. I would squawk like mad at anyone doing that. I have also used handheld lights and seen how lighting up the inside of a boat blinds the operator of the boat. The worst offenders use the very high power hand held lights.

The only time a warden had words for me was when shrimping close to the shore with no lights showing, as you must show some light in order to be seen by others to prevent collision. Two drunks running at high speed near the bank nearly hit us within ten feet of the shore one night. We also had a boat showing no lights run directly in front of us once which we would have hit had we not had the light in operation.

That is exactly why we use the bow mounted light of only moderate intensity and never shine it at other boats. The light is aimed at the water directly in front of the boat and depressed so as not to blind other boaters. It is swung away from other boats or turned off to prevent blinding others.

Just using a little common sense makes the difference in running safely or being a problem for yourself or others. A proper bow light would have probably prevented the two men I referenced from being decapitated by running under an unlighted dock. They may have been using a handheld light, but who knows as they were the only people in the boat.

In another case in this area a man was wearing a headlight while running at night and ran into trees which killed him. The reflected light inside his boat prevented him from seeing the danger until it was too late.

 

Lights just take out your night vision. I only use them when pulling out of or into the dock. I only travel in areas that I'm familiar with and prefer to only go out with some moon light. The thing that helps me the most is that I save a track on my plotter during the day and follow the track at night to help clear the inlet. Going slow is also key to minimize damage if you hit a floater. I typically don't go faster than 15 knots in the open ocean and may bump it up to 20 if there is a good moon. Also, I would never leave the dock without good electronics, plotter, radar, radio etc..

 

Thanks for the replies........particularly frankcr. I intend to use the lights sparingly, particularly around other boaters......these new LED lights are painful when looking at the source and would destroy anyone's night vision.

 

Here's a picture of the lights that I mounted.

 

Buy a light bar and you will never want to use a Q beam again. They are super bright so turn them off if you have a boat coming at you as to not blind them. People use light bars all the time now on the coast so I doubt you'll get in trouble. They are very bright and will light up your path at least 50 yards ahead so you can run safely at night and see everything.