MORE IS BETTER

I enjoyed reading Roger Hughes’ comprehensive article “Be Seen in the Dark” (October 2020), regarding relocating and upsizing his navigation lights for better nighttime visibility. However, I would have taken a different approach in choosing replacement navigation light fixtures. Rather than purchasing fixtures designed for incandescent bulbs and replacing the incandescent bulbs with aftermarket LED bulbs—that may or may not be USCG approved—i would have purchased actual Coast Guard-approved LED navigation light fixtures in the first place. Although the rules for a boat Britannia’s size states that the lights should be visible from 2 nautical miles away, I would have upgraded to LED navigation light fixtures designed for 3-nautical-mile visibility, such as the Hella Marine NAVILED Pro navigation lights. This accomplishes three things: You are installing

Uscg-approved navigation lights; the 3-nautical-mile range will ensure that you are more visible from a greater distance; and as the LED navigation lights degrade and dim over time (as all LED lights do), they should still be visible from 2 nautical miles or more for their expected lifetime.

Peter Dyer, Stonington, CT