Tom Cunliffe and the oil-fired riding light.

Tom Cunliffe shares some of the joy of an age-old tradition of lighting a riding light.
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copyright Tom Cunliffe 2020

[@dusanmilanovic6398]

There I have it! I've been wondering for years about that strange relation with the sea, and it is finally explained "Nobody goes to sea cause it make sense" :)) Thanks!

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Yup! Glad you picked up on that. Tom

[@chimneyrock123]

Very beautifully done. Thank you so much and God bless.

[@JIFD]

This makes me happy :)

[@DrCrabfingers]

Thumbs up from me! It's a beautiful lantern and as you say, it has soul and romance. And I also have to say that anchorage looks like a very sweet spot....I can see why it's your favourite place. Wonderful video.

[@user-me9ov3hr1y]

Hi Tom. Graham Cox here. I've never been able to find an oil anchor light in Australia with an inner glass cone. As a consequence, I've had mine blow out in strong winds. I eventually made up an LED light with dioptric lens, and an extension cable that plugs into a 12V socket below decks, which I lash in my topping lifts, since I am lazy, and find it easier to leap up onto the cabin top and rig it, rather than follow your seaman-like foredeck drill. It is often the brightest light in the anchorage, with the added benefit that it illuminates the deck, making the boat so much more visible to traffic. Inspired by your video, I looked online and saw a Weems and Plath oil anchor light that looked like yours, but the advert did not mention if it had the inner glass cone. Yours, of course, would be classed as vintage now (definition: anything earlier than 2000 AD, I believe). Some of our gear, by that definition, could be classed as antiquities! My sextant dates back to 1945.

[@paulwilfridhunt]

I love it. The guy who taught me to sail was the same. Bringing in the colours at a certain time. Having a lamp like that too. He even used to wear a kerchief around his neck like Tom. They were usually blue but sometimes red. He loved sailing. He’d be 103 if he was still around.

[@astrobuddsy6230]

Lovely to see something primordial, analog in a digital world.

[@clutchy26]

It fills me with joy to have found your channel. You may not be aware of this but your presence provides stability and assurance.

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Thanks Andy. Very kind remark. Tom

[@funkyprepper]

I had no idea they had those special lenses on them. Now on my shopping list. Thanks for making the video

[@stephencass8118]

Delightful as ever Tom. Your videos always bring a smile to my face.

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Thanks for the feedback Stephen. It makes my day.

[@stephencass8118]

You're an inspiration Tom - even for non-sailors believe it or not! You make us wish we were!

[@blackbeardsailing1669]

Tradition is always best

[@user-ey5gm7ws8i]

I just love this guy!

[@jeffjames4064]

No matter how much things change , the more the need for some things to remain a timeless ritual.

[@londonman8688]

these videos are so life affirming

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Thanks Man from London. Really appreciate you watching. Tom

[@aljotock]

Beautiful! I totally understand the simple joy these routines bring you.

[@ashleyhoward8926]

At that time on my boat I always recall the motto of the French navy "To the water, it is the hour" ( a l'eau, c'est l'heure).

[@blaynealamo7682]

Awesome video. Very informative and interesting. My husband just found an old lamp tossed out. He brought it home. It's missing the inner workings, but it's interesting to know a little history. Thank you!

[@paulmadruga9786]

So great to watch someone do something so simple with so much passion! The secret of his success!

[@Blastfence1]

Excellent!

[@serodiob]

I love it; no one goes to sea because it makes sense... just great.

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Glad you enjoyed that remark Bruno. Tom

[@AndyUK-Corrival]

Simple but lovely. I have just found an old light like this for my Rival so looking forward to hoisting it soon. Andy UK

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Good for you Andy.

[@meh4743]

Awesome prayer, Tom. Thank you.

[@AlbertoA15]

I love the sentiments you show in your rituals and in everything you do. Really nice video 👏🏻

[@dr-stephennewdell3882]

G'night Tom, G'night photographer. Have a good one and thanks again! sn

[@adammccarthy2157]

You brighten my day

[@vincegordon6830]

Outstanding!!!! 👏👏👏

[@joejunior1974]

Thanks for the video!

[@AfricanSouthernCross]

You can learn so so much from old sailors....great upload sir, you are a gem to sailing !

[@georgestratis1430]

So romantic! The good old days, that nearly most of us didn't have the chance to see!

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Hi George. Always good to hear from you. Cheers Tom

[@AfricanFlightStar]

Great stuff indeed, thanks for sharing another gem of nautical knowledge with us 👍🏼☺️

[@johnhawthorne716]

One of our favourite Anchorage’s as well, been in a few times

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Magic, isn't John. I wish I were there now. Tom

[@kaisersose3323]

I like it. Much better than flicking a switch.

[@canyonhaverfield2201]

As you say- ' pull out the business' , well not to be a no-it-all, yet will share, that wick section is the mantle. I fancy those brass housings too. One style features port & starboard lenses, green & red- we are privileged having these fine pleasures ! Fair winds bro !

[@onawhim9079]

Great video once again Tom with Ross on the camera doing all the hard work! I'm try to convince Ally that a lamp like yours would be just the ticket. Now to find one... Google just isn't doing the job for me here!

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Keep trying. I bought mine years ago at a jumble from an Irish gypsy woman. The price was right after a good haggle enjoyed by both parties. I had a lot of fettling to do, but it's a beauty. The one before that I bought from a notorious chandler in Nova Scotia. Galvanised. Didn't have the class, but it worked well for years.

[@awuma]

Excellent points about height. Furthermore, not only is one close by not looking up, but the masthead light is often shielded by the masthead itself, so the light cannot be seen at all close by (which is where it's most needed!). Also stopping the swinging. I used a small "hurricane" oil lamp in my liveaboard days, riding off a lower shroud about 6-8 feet above the deck as here. Off a forestay is even better, as Tom does, and in fact that is the correct position for an anchor light, not at the masthead. Tom's lamp is a beaut, with its lens. I quickly switched to the oil lamp after running my house battery low with an inefficient masthead light.

[@MonkPetite]

Nice boat you have ... thanks for sharing and Compliment to the camera work ... ;-)

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Thanks Victor. I've passed your compliments on to Lady C who is very pleased to know she is appreciated.

[@briandbird6339]

Great stuff. I may be sloppy with my ensign but I always hoist a light. I have used an Eccles miner's lamp for many years, a heavy thing made of brass and copper with a round wick and 1/4in pyrex glass; it would not blow out on judgement day. As you say, it is a bond with all those who have gone before.

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

A good option, if you can't find a maritime anchor light.

[@Goldfinger140]

I have one of these paraffin lamps. An original paraffin anchor lamp. You can be sure it be blown out in anything higher than force 3 to 4.

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

How strange. I haven't had that problem with mine. It has to be blowing really hard to put it out. I've used them for 40 years. My previous one would stay alight in 40knots. This one has been known to blow out on a very windy night. If it blew out in F4, I'd either bin it or return it to the manufacturer with a stiff letter. I wonder if yours has all the right components? Tom

[@313barrygmail]

Thank you for adding to my vocabulary.. the term (swing the lamp) chat engage.Now (hang the lamp). Hence Good night !!

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

It's amazing how many sea terms are in use in our language. Cheers Tom

[@offplanetevent]

Excellent

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Many thanks.

[@stevedunlop1934]

Nice. We call the "glass" on the inside a chimney. The fastening point on the top is properly called the "bail."

[@karhukivi]

Couldn't help remembering the part in the "Riddle of the Sands" (Night in the islands) where Carruthers forgets to check the riding light while Davies is ashore and it goes out (or was it extinguished by the intruder?). Later, Carruthers has to lie flat on the sand to look for the silhouette of the Dulcibella against the starry sky - magic!

[@beelwillis4025]

I must procure myself a Lamp such as this example!

[@griffedbat]

Looks very similar to Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada.

[@frankcromer4865]

Do the same thing myself. Trouble is this, now I live this far north (62') in Norway, it doesn't get very dark in the cruising season

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Same problem here mate. I shall cross 60 tomorrow and will be up around your level by midsummer.

[@jeffreysearle2996]

Classic.

[@superformOG]

Tom you have the wrong burner for that fount, someone has replaced the original circular wick burner with that straight wick, the circular wicks use your style of glass, where the burner you have uses a different glass. The thing is the straight wick will work with that glass, but the circular wick burner will not work with the straight glass (which usually has a big bulge in it). It needs to create a strong flue to drive air through the centre of the wick which is why its narrow. The circular wick is about 65mm circumference so light is about 2-4 times stronger!

[@davidrhodes4659]

❤️

[@garyknight6766]

Hello Tom: I own Dream Catcher a Mason 43 Hull #11. Got so excited about using a traditional anchor lamp on my Mason but have one question. Where do you store the lamp on your Mason 44 when not in use and are you concerned with the fuel leaking out?

[@marccan1190]

You are completely right, in the dark night nobody is looking for anchorage lights in the sky...Where can I found the same oil lamp?

[@superformOG]

Tom, since you have taught me so much I would love be the guy who taught you that the 'dioptic' lens is actually a fresnel lens!

[@ashleyhoward8926]

It isn't. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresnel_lens

[@superformOG]

@@ashleyhoward8926 thank you for proving it for me and showing a link to the lens he has!

[@pentachronic]

Reminds me of when my Mum use to light the paraffin stove at home back in the day. Little did I know the fumes were toxic as a kid and caused/contributed to my asthma !! :-]

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Sorry to hear about the asthma. One thing I did notice when we had the old pilot cutter, built 1911. She was lit entirely by oil lamps down below and in the evening everyone used to doze off when the lamps were burning.

[@pentachronic]

They're lovely to watch and have soft lighting by. I'm guessing my Mum's old heater wasn't maintained properly.

[@gregfawcett5152]

A bit leary of open flame and oil on deck while I sleep...my experience is ...if anything can go wrong it will...all kinds of ways this could fail and cause a fire...sure looks romantic...Ahh...the good old days...

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Hi Greg. Just for the record I've been using a lamp like this for fifty years of extended cruising and haven'out, but All the best, Tom

[@glypnir]

So did you hoist it in the Danish harbor when you were expecting 40 knot winds with 50 knot gusts?

[@perlindros9784]

I carry flag swaying on anchor at night but not in the harbour afyer sunset or 9. The old fishermen told me that at anchor you are technically on the way but with crew and should fly the colors.

[@leepotter7422]

walking on deck with bare feet ..living

[@tonycoutts-smith2663]

Tom i am intrigued by your hatches. They don't look like a standard production hatches. Can you talk about them ?

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

No time to expand but they are teak dovetailed coamings with lexcan lids, Perfect combo for a good-looking yacht that keeps the water out.

[@contessa3292]

Lovely yarn, excellent, many thanks. You can't beat a hurricane lamp (not much light from these!), or nice anchor light hoisted like your one - and, err... they work well in lieu of an anchor ball in daytime...!

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Hi William. You won't believe it, but I never thought of blowing the lamp out, then re-hoisting it instead of bumbling around with an anchor ball! Thanks for the tip. Cheers Tom

[@contessa3292]

No Tom, in jest I'm sure - good banter and all, the twinkle of the eye and all that! I'm sure an inexperienced bottle-washer like me can't teach an old seadog new tricks! Oh, by the way, happy sailing through the Aland archipelago toward Finland, err, perhaps... All lovely up there. Cheers William.

[@Burvedys]

Following _the_ tradition, you should polish that brass, shouldn't you? :)

[@colsmith7257]

My thoughts also, unpolished brass is like an unironed shirt.

[@normanboyes4983]

Cracking presentation Tom - good to keep up traditions👍😀 However I figure you have not kept a morning watch or just gave polishing the brightwork a wide berth!😉😂

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

You're right pal. Colours go up at eight bells in the morning watch. They are flying by the time the forenoon guys have turned out from breakfast. Strange nobody got round to polishing the lamp - I'll stop their rum in your name.

[@johnperry7534]

Hi matey does it ever get hot enough to melt the halyard?

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

No so far mate! I'll keep an eye out.

[@awuma]

Oil lamps put out very little heat, and an anchor light does not have to be big to be effective.

[@robertfindlay2325]

As always; low-tech practicality based on "tradition" (i.e. long experience). In this modern world kerosine / paraffin can be hard to find in our more sophisticated cities so if stuck, burn diesel or mineral turpentine. You'll need to clean the glass in the morning! Hoist the lamp up higher off the backstay and it makes an all-round white light should you need to motor.

[@amilton2128]

I’m a bit of an expert on historical lighting. Although turpentine was used extensively as a lighting fuel, it is extremely flammable and should be avoided. Especially on a boat.

[@higfny]

Wondeful Tom, as always. And you are right, norwegians are determined that the colours should be down at dusk/9 pm. But can anyone clear up something? Arent you supposed to keep your colours flying, preferably with a light on it, when you are in a foregin port?

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Always a controversial question this. Ever since I served aboard Cotton Blossom, a proper professional yacht, in the US back in the early 1980s, I've taken mine in. The skipper there would rather have been found dead in a ditch than leave his colours up a minute after sunset in home port or foreign. Dear Richard has slipped his cable now, as has his excellent mate Robert. I take my colours in out of respect for them. So that's my answer. I don't know what the official position for yachts may be. I suspect there isn't one. Anybody?

[@Scramasax]

You take the flag down at sunset or at 9 pm local what ever comes sooner. You hoist the flag at 8 am local. Unless you have it illuminated and you keep it hoisted 24/7. Maybe you want to illuminate your flag when abroad... Best regards: Master mariner.

[@jeansebastienberard]

@@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns A controversial question... What is the reason behind the Royal Cruising Club insisting on you doing it?

[@DrCrabfingers]

@@jeansebastienberard It's an old C18th British Naval custom...originally intended to prolong the life of an expensive flag...I'm guessing the rehoisting at first watch was made into a custom with fanfare. Tom has made a video of the history of bringing in/hoisting the colours..in his case a rather handsome 2 yard ensign....it's the video of him moored in Weymouth I think.

[@karelvandervelden8819]

I've put a led-cluster inside of a smaller Perko lamp. (saves the (expensive) masthead led aswell) Greetings and thanks from a romantic rationalist.

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Great idea!

[@lubberwalker]

The offset companionway is a bit different!

[@mboyer68]

Did you say you've had it for donkeys years? I googled the lifespan of donkeys, 25 to 30 years, not excessive so I'm guessing you didn't say donkeys years. So..what did you say?

[@poche660]

Not sure I want a burning flame with fuel hanging over my boat while I am sleeping.