Hoistable Mast Top Light

[Jason]

As winter freezes on.....        I've come up with a gadget that I will try next year.  It's a battery powered 360deg LED white light that can be hoisted up the mast track with the main halyard and pulled back down with any spare line.  Nylon surfaces for contact with the mast track.  It is offset to allow the light to clear the pulleys at the top of the mast.  Goal is to have a non-hard-wired anchor light that I'm hoping provides more visibility than the 360deg light I currently have at the stern (which is about 4-5 feet up on an extendable pole).  I'll let you know if it works!  -Jason

[Bob23]

Jason:
  Pretty cool. I don't know what the masthead on the 16 looks like but on my 23, the light would hit before it went above the masthead. Because my anchor light died last summer, I hoisted one of these up the spreaders.

   I tied a downhaul line so it could be held taught and not swing.
  No, it probably couldn't be seen for 2 nm but in the anchorage where I was, it served it's purpose. One night I took a row in the dingy to see just how far it could be seen. At about 1/2 mile, it was still pretty bright. 4 AA batteries...still was working strong at last seasons end. About 4 bucks from WallyWorld. One of this winters projects is a new LED anchor light.
  But I like your idea...I may alter it a bit and give it a try. Thanks,
Bob23
 

[mikew]

Jason, that looks like a good idea, I use a similar light made by ACR ( non LED that uses two D bats) on my cp-16. I hoist it just above the boom and bimini, not too high. Some where I read that anchor lights hoisted too high ( masthead height) may be hard to see close up. It made sense to me
so I only hoist it about 10' up just enough to clear everything.  
Story- I was anchored once in a cove on my local lake on an overnight trip with my 8 yr old son. He was in his pj's  and I was reading him a story.
It was dark out already with the anchor light set. I heard a sharp wrap on the hull! I opened the companion way and there was a 18' power boat with 4 crew. They lost engine power and saw my anchor light and used an oar to paddle over. They wanted me to tow them 3 miles away to the nearest ramp. I explained I had my young son aboard, it was 10pm, DARK, and my 3 hp motor wasn't up for the job. I sent them to a close by dock, with payphone. So- they did see my 2D cell light, 10' up, from a mile away.

Mike