Some boats did have headlights: Pacemaker comes to mind. You can still get the hull inset housings. I had to replace one in a friend's boat a couple of years ago.

 

Some boats do have "headlights" but they are docking lights, and best used only for that.
If you would go on deck one night and shine a "super powerful led light" at the water off your bow, watch it for a few seconds and then look around you, I think it will quickly become apparent why boats do not have headlights. Unlike cars on a road, boats can come at you from any angle, not just ahead, behind or at intersections, never mind the need to see navigation marks, etc..

 

I'm not thinking of it to watch for boats coming at me from different directions, but only to illuminate the area in front of me, or since the example I posted is a handheld flashlight, if you were entering an anchorage or rocky area, you could detach it and hold it to look around. Or flash it around to look for those navigation markers. My trickiest time sailing at night was in the rain. Night vision or no, it was hard to see a big rock until I was closer than I wanted to be. Had I a light, I could have illuminated the rock.

I agree not to shine it in the water and hope for good night vision afterwards, and it would only be used in certain circumstances, not like vehicles these days with daytime running lights, or you automatically turn it on whenever sailing at night, but only when needed. And not shone down at the water, but more straight and up. This flashlight I saw online also has different heads you can put on, like spot, wide angle, night, or red.

 

Back in the 1960s and 70s, there loads of powerboats with headlights. They worked great. I know of a dozen charter fishing captains that have them and would not leave the dock without them. Contrary to popular belief, they actually do act just like car headlights, and they're far superior to a spot light because they were mounted below the bow and did not reflect on any portion of the boat - just the objects in front of the boat. They were wonderful for navigating in tight quarters with lots of unlit buoys and day markers, as well as locations where there are lots of anchored boats that choose not to turn on their anchor lights because it runs the battery down.

Many of the powerboats that had them were high-speed boats that zipped along at speeds in excess of 40 knots. When I had my store, I custom installed them on some Chaparral, Donzi, Pro-Line, Boston Whaler, Mako and Starcraft boats. Back then, a pair ran about $400, one for each side of the bow. And you had to cut a hole in the bow to insert the light fixture into. They would sure make life a lot easier when navigating through a maze of crab and lobster pot markers at night in New England and Chesapeake Bay. I wish I would have had them on my boat the night I nearly slammed into a massive stake net more than a mile off Tilghman Island. I can still hear my wife screaming "we're gonna die."

Gary

 

Back in the 1960s and 70s, there loads of powerboats with headlights. They worked great. I know of a dozen charter fishing captains that have them and would not leave the dock without them. Contrary to popular belief, they actually do act just like car headlights, and they're far superior to a spot light because they were mounted below the bow and did not reflect on any portion of the boat - just the objects in front of the boat. They were wonderful for navigating in tight quarters with lots of unlit buoys and day markers, as well as locations where there are lots of anchored boats that choose not to turn on their anchor lights because it runs the battery down.

Many of the powerboats that had them were high-speed boats that zipped along at speeds in excess of 40 knots. When I had my store, I custom installed them on some Chaparral, Donzi, Pro-Line, Boston Whaler, Mako and Starcraft boats. Back then, a pair ran about $400, one for each side of the bow. And you had to cut a hole in the bow to insert the light fixture into. They would sure make life a lot easier when navigating through a maze of crab and lobster pot markers at night in New England and Chesapeake Bay. I wish I would have had them on my boat the night I nearly slammed into a massive stake net more than a mile off Tilghman Island. I can still hear my wife screaming "we're gonna die."

Gary

Do you honestly think any pair of headlights would be of any value at 40 knots? They would have to be incredibly far reaching lights. Even holding a big Q-Bean light, I'm not comfortable going even 10 in my dink, with 25 knots available, and that darned thing leaves me totally blind outside it's light, no matter how much I shield it. On no sport fish boat I've run, that had docking lights, could they be used safely as operating lights, at anything more than idle, maybe 5 knots. When others are operating with their docking lights as headlights, they totally blind everybody else on the water and are extremely dangerous, often overpowering and obscuring their running own lights.

 

NOB

What would you use them for?

Night sailing is fun and peaceful largely because of the lack of light.

I have several of the lower powered personal headlamps for working hands free. Started using them in the 70's for winter camping/climbing They're great. For the boat I have a red lens that flips down to help prevent night blindness.

It sounds like what you're talking about is much brighter, more like a searchlight. I have those too, (handheld) but avoid using them around other boaters. Typically, they get used to help locate an unlit can, nun or a day mark on a black night.

For me it's usually in the same spot on the Miles River route into St Michael's. Md. It gets very black back in there and there are a few unlit marks.

I wouldn't want something that bright on my head on the boat.
Certainly not in any vessel traffic as you're always looking around. That's a sure way to get shot at...lol Like the last man on a match in a foxhole

Most of the time I find that there's enough light on a clear night to locate most unlit Atons If you know where to look, especially if there's a moon out.
Lobster buoys and crab pots show up pretty well too.

 

So, I clearly mis-read headlight for headlamp. Many boats, mostly power, have search lights mounted, many remote controlled but they're not kept on while underway.

Basically, they're not approved navigation lights.

 

I set one up but the fog off the water made it worse than none at all. That was on the Calusahatchee River wanting to see daymarks into channel. Maybe a different color or polarizing would help but white light was worse than usless.

 

The searchlights are usually mounted on top of cabins and T-tops, but unfortunately, search lights tend to illuminate the entire boat unless they're shielded, which most are not. These lights are not meant to replace navigational lights and not advertised as such.

Are they as effective as a car headlight, yep, and you see about the same distance. So does this mean you would be afraid to drive your car more than 10 MPH with your headlights turned on because they didn't illuminate things well enough in front of you? The low beams of a standard automotive light illuminate to a distance of about 60 feet on average, while the high beams nearly double that distance. So traveling at 40 knots in a boat is no different than driving the same speed in your car at night. So if your boat, or car is moving at 46 MPH at night, and you have your high beams on, and something unexpected shows up 120 feet away, at that speed, do you think you can respond quickly enough to either turn the boat or stop it? I would hope so.

Gary

 

The low beams of a standard automotive light illuminate to a distance of about 60 feet on average

Dude, replace your headlights now! If they only shine 60' that's not even close to safe.

 

See: radar.

Better would be either 'starlight vision' or infrared. Away from traffic/civilization, go [starlight/ambient light/night] vision, goggles or scope. In a location where starlights would be swamped, go to infrared.

Not cheap, but better than blinding yourself & everyone around.

Maritime Thermal Night Vision | FLIR Thermal Vision

#include{std-disclaimer}

 

My bad on the range, should have said meters - not feet. There is a huge difference. I have been aboard several large boats with headlights installed -they were great.

As for stopping distance, anyone with powerboat experience knows how fast they come to a stop when the throttle is pulled back to neutral. The boat squats and stops. Granted, there are no street lights on Chesapeake bay, but there are not many on I-95 either.

Gary

 

Fine Gary. You go for it buddy. Anyone below on your motor boat when you pull the throttles into neutral from 40 knots, will certainly thank you from their hospital bed, but hell, you've won this discussion. You go on speeding down the waterways with your headlights blazing and I'll do my best to stay out of your well lit way, just in case. It seems a prudent mariner you are not.

 

I think this thread is hillarious...

 

Won't be long before someone mentions 'high beams' - then the thread will really bust out....

 

Me too, Christian! I don't speed anywhere - I own a sailboat. Yep, ripping right along at 5 to 7 mph on the better days. Hey, I did get er up to 10 a couple times. Man, the wind was screamin that day.

Capta, 55 years on the water, never had a single injury on any boat I've owned - not one. Guess I must be doin something right, even if it doesn't meet your personal standards. I don't want to get into a pissing contest here - the OP asked "Why boats don't have headlights." Well sunshine, they have in the past and some still do. And, to my personal knowledge, which I realize is not as expansive as yours, I've never heard or read of a single accident directly related to those lights - not one. Never heard or read of a boat being stopped by the USCG because the lights obliterated the running lights. Now, if you know something I don't about this, I would sure like to see a link to the information.

Have a fun day sunshine,

 

If you want them, put them on. I've been thinking about putting a light on the lower spreader, shining forward, and shielded so no light goes splashing down onto the deck.


That test easily proved the value of forward lighting when coming into harbor. They tend to be a bit pricey though. Has anyone use one of those LED spotlights and liked them? Which brand did you get? I see them on eBay but don't want to buy one and find out it's not that good.

Regards,
Brad

 

If you want them, put them on. I've been thinking about putting a light on the lower spreader, shining forward, and shielded so no light goes splashing down onto the deck.

That test easily proved the value of forward lighting when coming into harbor. They tend to be a bit pricey though. Has anyone use one of those LED spotlights and liked them? Which brand did you get? I see them on eBay but don't want to buy one and find out it's not that good.

Regards,
Brad

What he said, or this is the device I saw online which I was referring to...

GoBe+ 700 Wide

It's really a high powered flashlight. I called the title headlights, but I wasn't meaning two beams permanently mounted on the bow, but more a removable device like this high powered flashlight, to use only on occasion. I was thinking of the time in the rain and dark and rocks, it would be handy to have a light like this. It would, in effect be a headlight. A headlight meaning a light whose purpose is to illuminate the way forward. But I'm saying in practice it wouldn't be at all like a cars headlights. More really a spotlight to turn on when necessary.

As the spew site notes, there are different heads you can put on, wide, spot, night. It could be a nice gadget to have aboard. And like I said earlier you could use it in your dinghy. It has different settings, low, lasting for hours, and high being about like a single motorcycle headlight. I've never used one...

I could just see a lot of sailing uses for it. Some of you have dogs, you're in a quiet anchorage. Maybe it's just you in there. It's dark, the dog has to go ashore, you grab this light, get I'm the dinghy and pick your was to a safe beach landing amongst the rocks.

You could use it for anchoring. I often arrive really late, like at 8-9. Sometimes it's getting dark. Use the light to see how far you are from the rocks, see how much scope to let out.

 

this one had headlights

 

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSIQTa343NfMfoQc9xx6PIa3Wh9hzVFX2OqmWENzu5wOXgnC988

 

Okay, I'll bite. IMHO there are limited, specific circumstances where fixed lights would be/are helpful, and many, many commercial vessels are so equipped.

BUT, there are huge difference in the challenges facing operators of vessels at night and motor vehicle operators - for one (unlike a vehicle), you can "wander off the road" and not even know it! So you (again, much different than a car going down the highway) must look around for lights, unlit marks, landmarks, and other traffic (some of which may be bearing down on you, unlit or poorly lit). Your night vision is adversely affected by staring into the lit "cone" of the headlights, so you're not going to be able to look around and see these or gauge relative position, and you likely won't be able to see dimly lit marks off to the side, or even those lit marks dead ahead beyond the reach of your lights.

Depending on the type of boating you do, a smokin' powerful handheld spotlight, used judiciously, can be a great tool, because you can shine it where you expect/hope to see something in 360 degrees, AND confirm there aren't any unlit surprises close at hand. Reminds me of night scuba diving where the other guy has the only working divelight - everything is hunky dory until you want to see what's behind you (cue theme music from "Jaws"), but your buddy keeps shining the light the other way

 

Shining any kind of bright light at night is something I try to avoid. As everyone has noted, the affect on night vision is tremendous. It takes a LONG time for eyes to readjust after a spotlight is turned on for any amount of time. I have a couple of zillion candlepower handheld spots. They almost never get used. If it is inky black and some unlit markers have to be seen, I will briefly flick a spot on and off very quickly just to get a quick snapshot so eyes do not really have time to lose the night vision. Except for those very dark, inky type nights when it's almost vertigo time, using a spotlight is not necessary. A light not only screws up night vision but it somehow distorts depth perception. One of the most annoying situations is coming through an inlet while some stinkpotter is shining a continuous beam all over the place and in your face! One reason to not use a spot is because you're messing up everyone's night vision. That would be one huge reason to rethink any idea of "headlights."

 

Here's quite a good article on the eye and night vision. The Eye and Night Vision

This article has been adapted from the excellent USAF Special Report, AL-SR-1992-0002, "Night Vision Manual for the Flight Surgeon", written by Robert E. Miller II, Col, USAF, (RET) and Thomas J. Tredici, Col, USAF, (RET))

 

Hey! You guys have just given me a brilliant idea. I think I'll mount a couple of aircraft landing lights on my spreaders. I bet I can see and be seen more than a mile away!

 

Another good use for the pirate one eye patch....protect your night vision

 

"WHITE LIGHT!...WATCH YOUR EYES!!!" used to echo around the control room of every submarine when the smoking lamp was lit and the room was rigged for red while on the surface or within thirty minutes of going to periscope depth. Smokers would bellow it out before striking their match or lighter. "CLEAR!" would signal the light was out.

When running deep with white lights bright the Officer of the Deck and one other watch stander wore red goggles or an eye patch. Studies in the seventies showed that the eye patch was inferior to red goggles...the brain is used to the eyes working in tandem...and though the eye patch was effective it was not as effective as red goggles.

So the eye patches were discarded...

...or passed to those who drank rum and raced in the Wednesday pm beer can races.../jk

 

Here in the PNW/BC/Alaska running at night you are liable to run into a 2' diameter X 40' log if you don't have a light so we avoid it whenever possible in the sailboat. We have a powerful remote controlled light on the power boat and use it when it's really dark (if I ever encounter another boat I turn it off). It's also invaluable for entering harbors with rock jetties and finding the slip in dark marinas. On the sailboat we carry a very powerful (and very small) flashlight (much brighter than any of the handheld spotlights I've owned) that lights up the world when needed. Got it from a site called Four Sevens, I think it was this one:
https://www.foursevens.com/products/flashlights/Maelstrom

 

I just put one of the new LED spotlights on my bow pulpit. Wunnerful!

 

I win the debate! Sweet. This summer I expect us all to have flashlights...I'm placing my order now.

 

just imagine - you zip along the water with your flood lights ablaze and all clear in the small pathway in front of you, when you decide to turn...
uups - there is an unlit rock now visible because the headlights are now upon it!
enjoy the pleasure of hearing GRP getting torn apart...

how are you supposed to make out some flashlights, leading lights and even lit hazard markers when you blind yourself?
it is difficult enough with all the background lights from streets, cars, villages end so on...
honestly - this headlights for sailing boats is the stupidest thing i heard in a long time...

 

honestly - this headlights for sailing boats is the stupidest thing i heard in a long time...

Yup, I've got to agree with you, there...

What baffles me most, is why anyone would choose a FIXED MOUNT light, facing forward, over a hand held - or at least a swiveling remote control - searchlight... Of what use would such a 'headlight' have in a MOB situation at night, for example? It would not come remotely close to having the utility of a powerful handheld searchlight, having to 'aim' the entire boat - instead of just the light held in your hand - is just way beyond stoopid

Every cruising boat should have a powerful searchlight with the portability of a cordless handheld aboard, in my opinion. Even if one is not anticipating running at night, is it really that difficult to imagine the uses it can be put to as a safety/security/signalling device even at anchor? Has no one else ever been in a situation where someone's tender came untethered in an anchorage at night, for example, and realized how nice it would be to have a 2 million candlepower handheld light to toss in your dinghy, and help with the search for it? In any situation at night with a person or piece of gear in the water, such a light could be one of the most essential tools at your disposal...

 

I actually thought that this was going to be a joke thread.

Headlights on a boat:laugher:laugher

Docking lights...ok

Headlights on a boat:laugher

 

searchlights shouldnt even be árt of this discussion as they are for emergency use only

my only suggestion was the use of decklights for sailboats in again emergency uses....most guys I have sailed with think the same

powerboaters and the mentality of 95 percent of them is mainstream landlubber thought processes and its part of the reason why you see so much gadgetry, car like features and land features on powerboats and not on sailboats(unfortunately sailboats are going down that path too)

to me the question is ridiculous and should be shotdown...but for the sake of objectiveness and ideas I participated

once you go out sailing and cruising a bit I can think of only a couple of times maybe where I needed a spotlight or search light...

we always carried one but man headlights

whats next wipers for the running lights?

 

searchlights shouldnt even be árt of this discussion as they are for emergency use only

Well, this thread is a classic example of a poorly worded subject line on the part of the OP...

Re-reading the first post, and following his link, seems like some form of flashlight of searchlight is precisely what he was asking about...

I've been night sailing some, and I plan to do more. Why don't sailboats have a headlight? Like a super powerful led light? Like something like this?

Sailing

It's supposed to be about as powerful as a motorcycle headlight, it's USB rechargeable and you could take it in your dinghy?

This thread probably should be in gear.