Every time we get on the yacht, the lower navigation lights does not work. Upon inspection, they are all fused and so we replace them. The next time we get on the yacht, the same shit. Looks like these incandescent globes are made to last for on one session at a time. I'm tired of finding fused lights at the most inconvenient time, when you are about to depart - then; "Oh fuck! The navigation lights do not work!" I'm equally tired of hearing about corrosion and that lights do fuse. Damn! This is utter bullshit! At least not at the rate the lights fuse on Revelations. The electrician assures me that there is no problem with the power supply and that there are no voltage spikes or fluctuations. Perhaps I need to check this out myself as he messed up on several occasions on other stuff!
Anyway, so I have been checking around for alternative LED navigation lights. There are a number of suppliers supplying products in a variety of quality and prices. Some of the top end companies include Miseagroup and Lopolight and Hellamarine and Yacht-Direct. I quite like the navigation lights from Lopolight but the prices are way to rich for my blood. Our local distributor is selling the goods substantially above the recommended retail prices and this makes it even more out of reach.
The minimum requirement for our boat length is that the navigation lights must be visible from 2 nautical miles away. But thinking about it, a cargo ship will cover 2 nautical miles in no time at all. If the cargo ship travels at 20 knots, it will only take 6 minutes to reach you. This is way to close for comfort and if you are actually seen at 2 nautical miles, it does not leave much room for the cargo ship to do any maneuvering. After carefully looking at all the available lights, we opted for the 3 NM NaviLED PRO Stern Navigation Lamps from Hellamarine. The 3 nautical miles is 50% more distance than the 2 nautical mile lights and this might just result in us not getting run over. Not only that, these lights have a 5 year warranty so hopefully our perpetual days of fused lights are over.