Stern lights

[JimW]

Anyone using LED stern lights? My boat has the original? horizontal mount stern light on the starboard coaming. This is a pretty good location for visibility, but selection of LED replacements (or replacement bulbs) seems to be limited. Vertical mount LED transom lights seem to be much more commonly available but it seems like visibility would be blocked to some extent by rudder with these.

Low power consumption is important for me since I power everything (LED bow lights, LED cabin lights, depth meter) with a portable "jump" pack for up to a week at a time. My portable battery fits nicely on the floor of the starboard compartment.

[pennwolf]

You could do what i did on my 1976, I removed the old flat mount light and replaced it with a thru deck removable pole light base and I use a 15" pole light that I blacked out the lens according to coast guard specs. Three advantages are it stays out of the way in my aft locker when not in use, it gives much needed rear visibility and lights up the rear cockpit at night, lastly with a little imagination you can use a wide variety of led lights from bulbs to strip lighting wraped around inside the lens.

[kuriti]

i replaced my stock bulb with an automotive LED bulb i got off ebay, for pretty cheap. while bright, i doubt it is visible at 3 miles. However, i don't go out at night much and it would take a lot of effort to prove that should someone want to ticket me.

[JimW]

Thanks for the ideas. I ended up getting a "Perko 0965 Stern Navigation Light", which is almost a duplicate of the original horizontal mount light (different mounting hole configuration, though).
I also got a: "Perko Atwood Hella 31mm Festoon LED Replacement FS-31-04A-CW Beam Angle = Aft-Facing 135 deg. cool white" bulb from marinebeam.com. This bulb is a direct LED drop-in for the incandescent Perko bulb and is very bright. This seems to be a pretty good low-current combination for my boat setup.