Masthead Floodlight
January 9, 2008
by Michel & Jane DeRidder

In the early 1960s when we were sailing our 24' Cutlass class sloop we often left Vancouver for weekends in the Gulf Islands. At 49 degrees latitude the days are short in the winter and we found ourselves arriving and sometimes leaving in pitch black nights. We soon discovered that using a powerful hand held spot light was not a good way to see ahead, because the beam would light close objects, such as our sails and deck, blinding our distance vision. I installed an automobile 6 volt high beam headlight at the top of our mast so that we could see ahead in the distance. This proved very efficient and made our night sailing much easier.

In 1964 Magic Dragon inherited a similar thing, this time a 12 volt high beam sealed-beam, higher and more powerful. Used on cars with four headlights in 1960-70, these dedicated high beam sealed-beams project a wide concentrated horizontal beam, ideal to light up distant objects without lighting up the foreground. This simple solution has helped us countless times to see our way in the dark. It is sometimes simply an added convenience but very often an important safety asset, and possibly one of the reasons why we have not gone to the trouble of installing a radar.

A would-be buyer of Magic Dragon who sails a large charter ketch was surprised to see that we sailed radar-less. When I told him that I preferred to sail where there is little fog, rather than install a radar, he did not seem impressed. "You get nights everywhere," he assured me. I wonder if he uses a radar to drive at night in his car? On the road motorists drive at high speed in the dark with no visibility problems. We have found that at the speed that we get out of Magic Dragon, our mast light gives us adequate vision at night when we need it, be it following river channel buoys, entering a harbor entrance, a pass between breakers, an anchorage full of unlit moored boats, or just to see other boats, breakers, beaches and rocks in time to avoid them.

I am always amazed to see that yachts are sold without any headlights - or sheltered steering positions, for that matter. How would a car sell today without headlights and if the driver was told to put on wet weather gear when it rains?