Attwood LED Dock Lights

[l008com]

Does anyone have this model of Attwood LED dock light?

http://www.attwoodmarine.com/store/product/LED-Docking-Lights

I found them the other day and I really liked them. I was looking for some lights to put up front. But I'm wondering how bright they are. Thats a very arbitrary question that's hard to answer. I would use them as dock lights, but I'd also want to use them just as headlights at night. So I could see if anything was coming up in the water. These things only have 6 LED's apiece, but Attwood repeatedly claims that they are brighter than 55 watt halogens??? That's awfully bright?! Plus I love how these are super low profile and easy to mount, and LED so they stay super cool. All these 'sales' points are legit really good features.

Sooooo if anyone has these lights and uses them, I'd love to hear about them. Particularly how well the light up the area in front of your boat after the sun has completely set.

 

[atistang]

Re: Attwood LED Dock Lights

I'm curious on how well these lights work also, i would like something i can use as a head light

 

[spikeitaudi]

Re: Attwood LED Dock Lights

I would like to do this also and see some reviews? It seems from an installation perspective you have to drill a 3/8 inch hole into your hull to get the wire through. In doing so how to you seal to hole in the hull. I am new to boating (but am mechanical) and have had my boats for 2 months. Alittle weary of drilling a hole into a perfectly good watertight boat.

 

[JoLin]

Re: Attwood LED Dock Lights

I'm curious on how well these lights work also, i would like something i can use as a head light

Docking Lights on a boat are legal, and are used for the purpose of lighting up a docking area when you are tying up after dark. Docking lights are useless as spotlights, as they only light up the area directly in front of the boat. That's what they're designed to do.

Spotlights (handheld or adjustable mount) are useful in picking up channel markers or hazards to navigation after dark. They must be used sparingly (a few seconds at a time) in order to help preserve your night vision, and must never be shone directly at another boat for the same reason.

Showing headlights on a boat underway in low/no visibility conditions, is both blatantly illegal and incredibly dangerous to other boaters who know what lights are supposed to be displayed, and what they mean.

PLEASE take a safe boating class.

Sorry to pick on you, but boating after dark is inherently risky for everyone out there. Don't add to it.

My .02

 

[NYBo]

Re: Attwood LED Dock Lights

+1 to JoLin's post. An additional problem with "headlights" is ruining your night vision. Very bad idea.

Otherwise, those lights do look cool, and LEDs have come a long way in the past few years in terms of brightness.

 

[l008com]

Re: Attwood LED Dock Lights

The issue is that the Mystic River in boston has lots of dark floating objects in it, and often times piece of old abandoned piers float into the river. I need some kind of light if I'm going to be boating through there at night. If dock lights only light up the area in front of the boat, that sounds like a pretty good fit. Maybe I was unclear when I said headlights. I didn't mean I was going to flip em on and leave em on. But theres buoys in the mystic river that are giant metal and basically black. And theres this thing that looks kind of like an anchored, half sunk barge that's been there since I started boating on that river. Thats in addition to the wood. Hopefully the light from the city will give me really good visibility but I definitely need something as a backup.

 

[JoLin]

Re: Attwood LED Dock Lights

I see your dilemma, but I think a hand-held spot will serve you better than fixed headlights. I don't want to be overly dramatic about it, but if I'm running at night and see 2 white, fixed lights ahead of me, it can "technically' mean only one of 2 things:

1. 2 boats are rafted together in a 'side tow' configuration

2. 2 boats are rafted together, and both are at anchor

In either case, that light configuration says that I'm overtaking 2 other boats... not that I'm on a bow-on collision course with another boat.

Hopefully, I'll also see your red/green bow lights above your 2 headlights (which would essentially constitute an 'unknown' lighting configuration), and be confused enough to chop throttle until I can figure out what's going on...

I'll tell you, though, if we pass within earshot of each other, you're gonna hear a few choice words from me...

 

[RickJ6956]

Re: Attwood LED Dock Lights

Can you mark the obstacles on your GPS? The buoys should already be on the GPS. You can't use it for absolute positioning to avoid the obstacles, but it will let you know when you get close enough to use your handheld spotlight.

At night, I use the reflections on the water from shore or the moon as roadways. When your eyes are acclimated it's relatively easy to see floating objects as they interrupt the reflections.

Also, I never run on plane at night. Even with a good spotlight I've found that I wind up getting dangerously close to the nav hazards before I see them.

One guy in town recently ran full-bore at midnight in a 33-foot sport cruiser coming from Buffalo harbor to his home marina. He hit a water intake head-on. As the boat rode up the steel plates it ripped several fist-sized gouges in the hull and tore off the two Volvo Pentas along with the transom. When it flipped over it tore off the radar arch. Miraculously all five people were thrown into the water and were rescued unharmed.

His dock light switch was on.

(How do I know this? The boat is now on a cradle at my marina. I'll see if I can snap some pix and upload 'em.)

 

[spikeitaudi]

Re: Attwood LED Dock Lights

I see your dilemma, but I think a hand-held spot will serve you better than fixed headlights. I don't want to be overly dramatic about it, but if I'm running at night and see 2 white, fixed lights ahead of me, it can "technically' mean only one of 2 things:

1. 2 boats are rafted together in a 'side tow' configuration

2. 2 boats are rafted together, and both are at anchor

In either case, that light configuration says that I'm overtaking 2 other boats... not that I'm on a bow-on collision course with another boat.

Hopefully, I'll also see your red/green bow lights above your 2 headlights (which would essentially constitute an 'unknown' lighting configuration), and be confused enough to chop throttle until I can figure out what's going on...

I'll tell you, though, if we pass within earshot of each other, you're gonna hear a few choice words from me...

I had this exact scenario happen to me last week. I was like what the heck is coming straight at me. He turned off those lights after we got about 500 ft from each other and turned on his nav lights. Was really confusing to me what the heck was coming at me.

 

[roscoe]

Re: Attwood LED Dock Lights

And even using them as dock lights, those 55w equivalent led's just don't cut it.

LED's may be bright when you look at them, but they just don't cut through the and have the distance of other lights.

I don't know why, but comparing hand held flashlights will show you what I mean. Take a maglite and shine it 25' and you can easily see what someone is holding in their hand. Take a "comparable" led flashlight and you will barely be able to see their hand.

In addition, the color temperature of led's is not the easiest on your eyes, and adding late night fog to the equation makes it worse.

 

[dbkerley]

Re: Attwood LED Dock Lights

The issue is that the Mystic River in boston has lots of dark floating objects in it, and often times piece of old abandoned piers float into the river. I need some kind of light if I'm going to be boating through there at night.

Stealth operation - Hand held spotlight and some reflective spray paint so you can spot those unmovable obstructions easier. Do everyone a favor and drop a marker. We used to use those blue reflective drive way markers to stab into floating junk that was to large to put in the boat and haul back to the ramp.

 

[Hawk Eyes]

Re: Attwood LED Dock Lights

Do that on the Columbia and the tug captain going to light you up with his spotlight. You can't see after that, its like looking into the sun.