Old style hatch hinge Many pre-2003 boats came with weak plastic hinges for the large foredeck and cabin top hatches. Lewmar makes a hinge replacement kit using machined aluminum hinges that are much stronger and safer. The parts can be purchased directly from Lewmar using part number 361244999.
LED low power navigation light bulbs Update: Doctor Led (http://www.doctorled.com/) now carries USCG approved LED replacements bulbs for the AquaSignal Series 41 lights that are standard on our boats. LED lights can be ordered directly from that site.
All boats come with Aquasignal Series 41 navigation lights: Bi-color bow light with 25w bulb, and stern light with 10w bulb. The 2 lights together consume in excess of 5 AMPS (at 12 V DC), enough to consume much of a group 31 battery in one night's use.
The navigation lights take an 1142 model bulb with a BAY15d base. The 1142 has a dual contact bottom (positive and negative) and a case that can be wired to ground or left neutral. The BAY15d base is an indexed-offset base (pins are offset from each other). Note that a typical automotive 1157 bulb will fit into the socket assuming it's a BAY15d base (many automotive bulbs are a BA15d base, which has the pins directly opposite each other and which will not fit in the Aquasignal lights). However, the 1157 has two positive contacts on the bottom (bright and dim) and uses the case for ground. You'll need to build a small wiring harness to hot-wire the connections if you want to use an 1157. Contact Warren if you want to try this.
LED tower bulbs which match the existing bulbs are available from some automotive sources. These lights are not USCG approved, but produce more light than the existing 25w bulb. It's important to use a tower or angle bulb since LED lights are very directional. Using a bulb with all LEDs pointing up will not produce much light. The advantages are large: Each LED bulb consumes on the order of 300 mA, so using one each in the bow and stern lights will result in only around 10 amp-hours of power consumption per night. Also, the bulbs are rated for 50,000 to 100,000 hours life, so they'll basically last forever.
I have converted First Light over to use the 1142/BAY15d, 20 LED tower bulbs from autolumination.com. The stern light is much brighter than the 10w incandescent bulb, and the bow light appears to be as bright as the original 25w bulb. Keep in mind these are not USCG approved, although they appear to be at least as bright. The bulbs are $22.99 each, and can be found at http://autolumination.com/1156_1157.htm. Scroll down to the 1142 20 LED super white bulb. Make sure to order them with the BAY15d base, not the Ba15d base.
One last note: The anchor light is a different light. My boat does not have any documentation on the light, so the next time someone climbs up to change one, please investigate the bulb type and let me know. Installing an LED in that light will, at a minimum, mean never having to change that bulb again. From dockside inspection I believe our anchor lights are a Hella model that uses an 1156 bulb (single contact bayonet), but that is unconfirmed.
