A cosmetic question?

[BellBoyBob]

Hello all:

I purchased the Jabsco 6" spotlight for the BellBoy and when it arrived, I was surprised at how large the light actually is. I bought it after selling my older Jabsco on Ebay (for more than I paid for it!!) because this one has a 200,000 candle power spot and a 50,000 power flood. I like that kind of power on Lake Ontario at night. And I love the chrome look of the light! Anyway, if I put it where the other spot was mounted on the starboard side of the front deck, it looks huge there. I could leave it there. I temporally removed my bow nav light and placed the big spot right up at the bow in front. If I left it there, I would buy Perko individual port and starboard nave lights and mount them on the hull right behind the reg. numbers. What do you all think??

Thanks in advance for your input!

a confused BellBoyBob

[Marty Loken (Norseboater)]

Spotlight

Bob -

For what it's worth (not much), I'd put it right where the previous light was mounted.

- Marty

[slo-mo]

Your Bell Boy is looking sweet Bob- I think the large center mount spot looks great within your bow rail, side nav. lights would be perfect- makes it look official! and substantial, says "don't mess with me"!

[John Berg]

Lower the light

If you put it where the other one was it might not look as big if you cut the base down so it was as high as your horns. I dont think you can get it wrong. Nice boat. John

[McSkagit Tim Jones]

Spot lights

I too like powerful spot lights. I had a manual control 7" Perko spot light on my Glasply tow boat. It looked kinda big, but was mounted on the hardtop. Stray light was a bit of a problem with that many candle power.

I also like docking lights like the Barnegate lights on the bow of my Glasply. Instead of the standard flood bulbs, I substitute GE 4509 aircraft landing lights. These are 100 watt pencil beams and have a range of 1/4 mile or so. I call these lights "Flame Throwers". Technically illegal to run with them, so you have to be careful not to point your boat at another boat heading in your direction. If you are, gota turn them off. Can see even small debris in the water at night. I used to run at night all the time in the San Juans. Flame throwers, radar and GPS plotter. Great combination!

I'd mount the light on the cabin top. May have to make a small light shield to minimize the stray light. Or you could mount it on the bow and paint the light with camouflage paint. That way you won't see it....

This is more than a cosmetic issue. This is a practicality issue.... Function over form.....

My two cents worth...

McSkagit

[GregJ]

Bob, I wouldn't put it on th bow at all. It seems like if it were located almost anywhere on the bow it would obstruct the view. If you have a hard top maybe that's an alternitive. I just bought a front windows in the fiberglass frame for my Skag. 17 from Chuck C. and it has this funky hand directed 6" light mounted throu the starboard side of the window frame.

[BellBoyBob]

I would like to put the light on the cabin top but it won't clear the garage header if I do. What to do??

[McSkagit Tim Jones]

What to do???

I would like to put the light on the cabin top but it won't clear the garage header if I do. What to do??

Let the air out of your tires.....or.....raise your garage.....or.....put the light on a hinge...!!!

[Bflaherty]

I remember from my time designing cruisers at ACB that there was a great deal of attention paid to "stray light" as Tim put it. From the look of it in your pictures it seems to me that with it mounted in the original location you might get a lot of glare back from those well polished bow rails and it is a little more likely to light up the deck which then casts a shadow over the water (or dock) directly in front of the boat. I know I designed a light/radar arch for a patrol boat in Miami that had the same light on a hinge mount so they could trailer the boat. The photo is of another boat with radar arch I designed to fold down off the back of the cabin, just had two mounts with a pivot point on each end and a pin lock to hold it in position (the radar on top of that little structure was nearly 100lbs) you should be able to divise a simple system that would rotate the light sideways and hinge it over to clear the garage..

If you can post some details of the lights dimensions I am sure there are a few of us that could help you work out a pretty slick system that would get where ever you want it and keep it descrete...

Although letting the air out of the tires works pretty well too, I have to completely air out my vanagon syncro tires to get it through our garage door then air them back up in order to get the jack under to service...

[BellBoyBob]

These are very interesting solutions for this mammoth light! The previous Jabsco light sat lower than this one and the beam shot right under the right bow rail so there was little reflection from it at night. I noticed that the 6" light I have now sits up a bit higher and the rail is directly in the line of fire. Jabsco does offer a lower mount and I will contact the online dealer ( IMarine.com) to see if I can swap out the mounts free of charge. They are individually quite expensive. OR, I could put it up on the cabin roof with some sort of hinged platform so that I could swing it over the roof edge on the side to get the boat in the garage. No amount of air letting in my 12 " tires would lower the boat enough.
Again, the easiest thing to do would be to center the light at the tip of the bow and then buy side mounted nav lights...

[Tim McCrain]

Bob,

You have 12" tires under that thing? My 404 is on a trailer with full size light truck tires and hydraulic brakes. How does yours tow?

Tim

[Tim_Mattson]

Bob ,
I sold a few New boats over the years that were rigged with Bowlights mounted in various places.The Railings will light up and draw your eyes when in pitch Black conditions and some wished they never put the Spotlights on Cabin Roofs for this same reason.
I painted my SAFE Boat railings Grey because of this but not likely to happen or look right on your old cruiser.
Boats are also moving much more up and down and lights may work well on the Highway,but are useable on pretty rare occasions on our bumpy waters.With Trim angles and weight changing almost all the time,it is hard to balance it all and have them pointing where you truly need them.......at least when running.
Docking or searching for Crab pots ,buoys ,etc,it will have it`s place.
Like a Flashlight at Night,you want to be behind it instead of in the Beam.
Boat is looking nice, too!

Tim M
ps ,A small castor wheel on Bottom side of tongue of trailer allows lowering the tube almost to the ground,usually way more that just the tongue Jack allows.....

[McSkagit Tim Jones]

More on stray light

Stray light is reflected light from white surfaces or shiny surfaces usually on your foredeck, but since the light rotates, most anywhere on the boat.

With high power spots, this reflected light will destroy your night vision in an instant, temporarily blinding you.

I painted the deck area in front of the windshield of my Glasply flat black to minimize reflection.

Putting the light on the top will allow you to look aft as well.

Now three cents worth...Megaphone1

Tim

[BellBoyBob]

So, today, I mounted the helm control and ran the wiring out the right cabin window so I could experiment with light placement. I used duct tape to hold the light base securely where the old light had been mounted. I pushed the boat out into the driveway at night and turned the thing on. WOW! the spot is very focused and penetrating. The flood option really illuminates the area right in front of the boat. There was little to no reflection from the bow rail. The Jabsco 6" model has the SOS option that automatically sends the distress code while rotating the light from side to side. Love that!
I decided to mount the light where the old one was.

Thanks for all the input...

Bob

[BellBoyBob]

Bob,

You have 12" tires under that thing? My 404 is on a trailer with full size light truck tires and hydraulic brakes. How does yours tow?

Tim

Its on a Holsclaw tandem that came with the boat. The rims are twelve inches in diameter. There are four wheels. It tows well - very stable. The difficulty is in maneuvering the trailer by hand. The wheel truck does not want to turn so the tires "scrub" when you are trying to maneuver by hand. That said, everything is made easier if the tire pressure is right at 80 lbs pressure for all 4 tires.