On ships with "all around" lights mounted close on the mast, it is common to
have two lights mounted on each side of the mast. Two lights mounted 12"
apart should not be confusing, and while a sail may block a light, it would
also be illuminated by it.

Pete Albright
Tampa, FL

"Lee Huddleston" wrote in message
...

SNIP

The second set of questions have more to do with the electronics and
building news groups. I seem to remember reading somewhere that
lights in a vertical stack should (or have to) be separated by one
meter. Since the red over green lights would be entirely optional,
you probably could get away with less separation but there probably is
a minimum separation to keep the lights from appearing to merge when
sighted at a distance. Anybody have any opinion on what the minimum
distance would have to be so that the lights would appear as separate
lights at say 2 nautical miles? The distance apart also complicates
the installation. One idea I had was to hoist two lanterns up to a
block on an upper spreader. The lanterns could be powered by their
own batteries or I could run wires down to an outlet on the deck.
What do you think of this possible arrangement? It would not be at
the peak of the mast and would be blocked from vision from one side of
the boat at times by the mast. But, it would have the advantage of
being removable and repairable easily. Such an arrangement could also
be used for displaying red over red or red/white/red when those
signals might be necessary.

Since I already have a tri-color light at the peak of my mainmast, any
permanent extension above the peak would interfere with the visibility
of the tri-color (and its anchor light) when I chose to use it. Since
I have a mizzen mast, I have considered building an extension for the
peak of that mast. The added advantage of this arrangement is that it
would not increase the overall height of my rig for purposes of
vertical clearance. But even with some kind of extension, how do I
keep the pole or extension itself from blocking the light from certain
angles? Well, experts, what do you think of all this? Of course,
would be a lot of work to design and install such an arrangement. But
if it kept me from getting run down just once, it would be well worth
the effort. Or, on the other hand, have I just lost my mind? :-)

Thanks in advance for your advice and help.

Lee Huddleston
s/v Truelove
Bruce Roberts Mauritius 43
43 foot seel hulled, center cockpit, raised poop, cutter/ketch