Remote Spot Light

[LaLa]

Any recommendations for a good all round Spot Lite for my hardtop Grady 248?

Not looking to break the bank

Thanks

Thomas

 

[gradyfish22]

I have a Jabsco on my 22' Seafarer, it was a good light, but unless you spend $1000+ do not expect to use it often for navigating, most remote spotlights will only let you see 50-75ft at most infront of you which does not help when running at night. I only turned it on to find unlite bouys or jetty's and turned it off when running, it will not help you see wood or anything in the water infront of you, by the time you see it it is too late even at a slow cruise speed. At night I found it was easier to see running without it then with it and the glare it produced off the water. My 265 express does not have one and I am in no rush to add one, I have a good radar and gps and my marina and area i fish are marked well. If you have trouble seeing landmarks or bouys, having one cannot hurt, but I am personally not a huge fan of spotlights. On most boats I have been on they blinded me more then helped me, but there is a time and place where they can be very useful. Not trying to persuade you to not buy one, but I know a lot of guys who bought them thinking they would "see" at night and could run faster and safer, and you really cannot. Just trying to give you an idea of what its practical uses will be.

 

[freddy063]

I broke off 2 quest lights, snow breaking the neck. The plastic just don't cut it for me any more. I got this now, http://store.hamiltonmarine.com/browse. ... 83.htmlI't not the greastest looking, but it will be there when i need it.

 

[catch22]

Just installed a Golight "Stryker" today. Model 3067, (white). This model includes a dashmount control and hand held remote. Both are wireless, and waterproof. Has 2 speeds too.... very cool.

http://www.golight.com/products/stryker.html

 

[Gman25]

Just installed a Golight "Stryker" today. Model 3067, (white). This model includes a dashmount control and hand held remote. Both are wireless, and waterproof. Has 2 speeds too.... very cool.

http://www.golight.com/products/stryker.html

I have the same one...so far-so good.

 

[LaLa]

Thanks Guys!!!

I will take your advice. I am going Grady crazy and just love the sight and all the pics. I have HPDI's (150's) on my boat. Is there that great of a fuel consumption difference?

Thomas

 

[Enough Already]

Just installed a Golight "Stryker" today. Model 3067, (white). This model includes a dashmount control and hand held remote. Both are wireless, and waterproof. Has 2 speeds too.... very cool.

http://www.golight.com/products/stryker.html

Any photos of the install? Where did you mount it? If I did something like that I might mount it to the underside of my hardtop as far forward as possible. Any pros/cons to that install location?

 

[Reel Soon]

I have the Stryker GoLight as well and I have been very happy with it and the 2 wireless remotes. I have mine installed on top of the hardtop on my Tigercat. 3 years so far and no problems whatsoever with it.

 

[gradyfish22]

Enough Already-
I've seen a few guys with 265's who have a custom aluminum plate cut and then mount it to the bow rail up forward, it extends from the front of the bow rail back about 8" and they installed the light on the underside. Very nice installs, but being that far forward, it may bounce more and move a lot making targets hard to view or find, but it will also provide you the most viewing distance. As I had mentioned above, most spot lights only light about 100ft when running so they are not of much use for seeing, but they do come in handy when looking for bouys or markers.

 

[catch22]

Just installed a Golight "Stryker" today. Model 3067, (white). This model includes a dashmount control and hand held remote. Both are wireless, and waterproof. Has 2 speeds too.... very cool.

http://www.golight.com/products/stryker.html

Any photos of the install? Where did you mount it? If I did something like that I might mount it to the underside of my hardtop as far forward as possible. Any pros/cons to that install location?

It's on top of the hardtop, just in front of the radar. The radar is on a 7" high mount, so there's plenty of clearence for the radar beam. That's another thing I like about the Golight.... they have a low profile, (about 6" high). The only negative, (so far) about the Golight is the batteries for the remotes. They use 2 - A23, 12 volt batteries. Not a big deal, just not as comon as say "AA".

I'll take some pics and post them as soon as I can.

A few years back, I mounted an older Golight on the underside of the hardtop, (upside down). It worked fine.... for 1 year, lol. Motor only worked up and down, lost side to side. I thought it might have been the contol, (wired). Golight sent me a replacement, no questions asked, (good customer support). That wasn't the problem, and I never did find out what it was. It very well may have been because of mounting it upside down, so I wouldn't do it again without contacting Golight and see what they say.

Also, if your mounting it on top of a hardtop, it's a good idea to locate the light far enough back, so the front edge of the hardtop blocks any glare. As grady22 pointed out, if your spot light illuminates the front of the boat, it does blind you, and almost defeats the purpose. You may lose the ability to light up close objects, but it's better than being useless.
That's exactly why they have those black plastic teardrop shaped plates, on the all around lights. You know... the one's on top of the windshields.

 

[alantani]

here's an easy and fairly cheap option. nightblaster makes a deck light

i took the stainless steel fittings from an old rod holder, bolted the light to the rail over the bow pulpit, ran the wire back to the aux switch it works great! i also switched out the 400,000 candle beam for a 1 million candle beam for a little more light. it is obviously not ajustable from the helm so i just leave it with about a 20 degree down angle. that's fine for running and light's up about 25 yards ahead of me in the harbor. it was supposed to be a temporary "fix" on my old boat but worked so well that i installed one on the new boat as well. it's nice not to light up the forward deck. alan

 

[catch22]

Here's a couple of photo's of the Golight Stryker;

 

[gulfcart]

I installed one under my hardtop on my 33 express. Reflected so bad I couldn't use it without a relector pan under it. I ended up putting this unit in..(see below) Mounted in pulpit. It has perko socket with remote.. Only has to be out in the elements when you need it.. Slick..... tied it into my power for the windlass.

GL-2100-6-E Golight Remote Control Spotlight with 6 inch post mount - Perko socket GL-2100-6-E