Mast wiring quandary

[BethandNorm]

I am adding an anchor light to the mast of my 1975 C&C25. There exists a masthead light and foredeck light, so the mast is wired with 3 conductor cable ans has a bulkhead connector on the deck by the mast step. I need help / sugestions to find a suitable 4 conductor connector and appropriate cable. I purchased a 4 pin connector advertised for this exact application from Catalina Direct; however, the largest cable diameter it can accept is 1/4 inch and that would be a stretch! One thought I had was to use a strain relief at the deck and put a small terminal strip below inplace of the plug type connector. The other was to add a second 2 conductor cable and connector for the anchor light alone. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[knothead]

Originally Posted by BethandNorm

I am adding an anchor light to the mast of my 1975 C&C25. There exists a masthead light and foredeck light, so the mast is wired with 3 conductor cable ans has a bulkhead connector on the deck by the mast step. I need help / sugestions to find a suitable 4 conductor connector and appropriate cable. I purchased a 4 pin connector advertised for this exact application from Catalina Direct; however, the largest cable diameter it can accept is 1/4 inch and that would be a stretch! One thought I had was to use a strain relief at the deck and put a small terminal strip below inplace of the plug type connector. The other was to add a second 2 conductor cable and connector for the anchor light alone. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Here's my suggestion. Get one of these, a Davis LED mega light,



hang it from the boom and forget the light at the top of the mast.

[mitiempo]

That's my plan too as I don't have a masthead anchor light.

I have not heard anything bad about the Davis light and it uses very little power. Apparently not led though. It comes with 2 bulbs, one drawing .110 amps and the other .320 amps.

Mega Light Utility by Davis

[knothead]

Originally Posted by mitiempo

That's my plan too as I don't have a masthead anchor light.

I have not heard anything bad about the Davis light and it uses very little power. Apparently not led though. It comes with 2 bulbs, one drawing .110 amps and the other .320 amps.

Mega Light Utility by Davis

I thought they made an led model.

Here's a link for a
Davis Mega-Light LED Replacement Bulb

Replacement LED bulbs for your Davis Mega Light

[Arpegecap]

Funny - my boat had an anchor light at the top of the mast - some 66 feet in the air. I would hang a Davis mega light from my Bimini. Not only did it make a nice cockpit light at anchor but it made my boat a lot more visible. Entering a very dark and crowded anchorage, it is hard to figure out where boats are by looking at lights way up high!

So my anchor light was to keep the C.G happy whereas the Davis light was actually useful in preventing a collision.

[mitiempo]

The Davis light is legal as an anchor light.

[rayncyn51]

+1 for the Davis light hung from the boom. Inland Rules do not require the light to be at the top of the mast.

[mitiempo]

Nor do Colregs.

[mm2187]

I am not saying I disagree, I also use a light hung from by boom for an anchor light, but it is not viewable from 360° (technically) which is a requirement for an anchor light, and the only place on a sailboat that that can be true is at the top of the mast.

[mitiempo]

The rules are a bit confusing. Here is an excerpt from the rules: