All About Marine-Navigation-Lights

All About Marine-Navigation-Lights

If you have a sailing sailing yacht then you also comprehend that they are relatively complex and have a number of systems that can break or require upkeep. You may own one of my marine electrical or marine electronics books or a book in the Understanding Boat series and I trust you found it helpful and enlightening

I am a qualified and practising marine electrical and electronics engineer as well as a marine surveyor. I am also a yachtsman just like you and I have fabricated and cruised several cruising yachts. I have performed sailing sailboat service work on loads of other yachts lived aboard several cruising sailing yachts for a decade or more. You realize a lot about what works and what fails. I offer real world tips based on experience and reality. Like many I choose to do my own sailboat repair work as professionals can charge some dreadful hourly rates.

It is a truth that the majority of all cruising yacht electrical and electronics failures are directly caused by incorrect wiring and unsound cable connections. These same failures are also a fundamental cause of fires on sailing yachts. Just because the average sailboat has only a 12 volt electrical system, this will not prevent severe breakdowns or fires. One improperly rated and installed wire and an equally deficient connection could potentially destroy you cruising yacht.

If you are sailing in navigable waterways you will have display lights in accordance with the requirements of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 and local or national rules.

Each circuit should be protected by fuse or circuit breaker. Wire sizes must be rated with a maximum voltage drop of 3 – 5%. A circuit breaker supplying all navigation lights has the risk of a single fault tripping the breaker and all lights being unavailable until the fault is cleared.

This may not be possible in bad weather conditions. Where possible, separate circuit breakers or fuses should be used. On most small trailer boats this is not normal. Alternatively where a single breaker is used, each circuit should have a replaceable fuse and switch installed.

Click on this link to find out more about Yachting and Sailboats All About Marine Wiring and all you need to know.

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