Photo courtesy of Weems & Plath
After a full day ashore hiking, exploring, and stopping off at a beach bar, I watch the sunset on the anchorage. I’ve always loved how it looks like a field of stars at night, its own constellations changing as the wind oscillates. Hopping into my dinghy, it’s easy to see that some of these transient stars are glowing more than others. I always head for the brightest one, and right below is Ben-Varrey, welcoming me back home.
The credit goes to Weems and Plath for their line of OGM navigation lights—in particular, the LX TriColor/Anchor LED Nav Light with Photodiode and Strobe, installed two seasons ago. The rugged compact unit, with a full-body heat sink for extended LED life, toggles between a tricolor light and a white anchor light, saving space, weight, and complication aloft. It can also shift to being a strobe in an emergency. The clever design accomplishes this with only three wires (two if you only want the anchor light and tricolor), making installation simple. Since there is a photodiode, the anchor light can always be left on while at anchor, and the all-around white light will automatically turn on at dusk and off at dawn, bettering the already low power draw.
The product line extends well beyond the light that I have on Ben-Varrey, with every light exceeding the USCG requirements and providing constant brightness over its full operating voltage range. Weems-plath.com.
