"Chuck Gould" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Feb 12, 2:41?pm, "Tim" wrote:
On Feb 12, 4:29 pm, "Chuck Gould" wrote:

in the pilothouse to better facilitate night vision. The red or blue
portions of the spectrum will provide adequate visibility without
destroying the ability of the eye to see clearly after dark.

whatever happened to old fashioned oil lanterns? or candles under
glass?

I keep a functioning brass oil lantern suspended over the dinette
table. With a bit of lamp oil and a properly trimmed wick, it can
create a very romantic ambience after dark at anchor.

Downsides;

1. No matter how carefully you try to manage one of these things it
can and will smoke a bit. Screws up the headliner and can be tough to
clean off.

2. In a severe storm, you need to remember to secure the oil lantern
or it could conceivably come flying off the hook and crash into
something or somebody.
One more unneeded distraction at a time when full attention needs to
be paid to operating the boat.

3. Fire hazard. No matter how carefully managed, it's just not as safe
as a light bulb.


Most candles are just not a good idea, either at home or on the boat.
The stuff that goes into the wick, particularly, is pretty nasty once
it's airborne and getting sucked into the lungs. May be some "organic"
alternatives. But with a greater fire hazard than an oil lamp and all
the lead etc in the candle smoke I personally have learned to avoid
using candles aboard. (Wife sneaks a candle in a jar into the head
once in a while and claims its an air freshener- and we usually have a
"discussion" about it.)


A 50 some foot SeaRay was sunk to the waterline at an exclusive marina in
the Sandusky, OH area a few years ago all due to a candle knocked over in
the cabin area. Yes, they are indeed dangerous to burn on a boat.

A fuel oil lamp (burning a Class II combustible liquid with a flash point
between 100F and 140F) is certainly more dangerous if the fuel container is
ruptured or turned over.