www.iFourWinns.com

How many of you all have the docking lights on your FW's?

If you didn't get them, why not?

If you did... why? And - since you have them - do you end up using them?

I know it's a couple hundred dollar option... not that big of a deal - but is it worth it?

Never used mine, but they came standard. Oh wait I have, when you turn them on they light up the storage under the bow seats. I used them to find a girls flip flop once.

Yeah, I have them. I use docking lights for docking my pontoon quite a bit, so figured I'd want them on the 200 as well. Haven't used them as I have yet to do any night cruising with the 200, but expect I will soon enough. I did have to order mine, but the dealer was giving hefty discounts off of retail for any factory options, so I went for it.

When it comes down to it, a handheld 12V portable spotlight would do the same job and more, and cost a lot less.

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2007 Horizon 200
4.3L GXi/ SX 225 HP

I have them and like them. But, they're only good in very dark conditions and only for a short distance. Where we boat, we have such conditions fairly regularly, but many people probably never do.

If you're concerned about lighting up a target at long distances, you definitely want a 12v handheld spotlight, unless of course you have a remotely controlled fixed spotlight.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

They're great when you want to attract bugs!

My Funship didn't have them, I always used a 15,000,000 spotlight.

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SOLD! 2006 30th Anniversary Vista 278
"Conch'd Out!"

http://vista278.com

There has only been one time when I really thought I needed them. If there is no moon out and a little cloud cover it’s really dark on the lake. The rest of the time I have not had any problems. Then again I am always on the same chain of lakes.

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2006 Four Winns horizon 200

+1 to 230Mike. I mostly got them because I liked the way they looked. However, I also intended to use them for docking at night. At my lake, the dock I use is pretty dark and we do a lot of after-dark cruising. So mostly for finding the dock sides (rather than ramming them) and buoys that mark the start of the no wake zone is what I use them for. They are GREAT for this particular use, but not much else. If you are trying to light up markers on land or unlit buoys marking certain zones in the water that you want to avoid, get a spotlight with some serious candlepower.

Jim R- is it legal to cruise at night with the docking lights on? I was always under the impression you were only supposed to have the green, red, and a single white in the back in use when cruising.

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Paul
2007 Four Winns Horizon 220
Mercruiser 350 Mag MPI w/ Bravo III Drive
2004 Ford Explorer Limited (V8-AWD)
Pomme de Terre Lake (Southwest Missouri)

NOPE, it can get you or someone else killed.

That's what I thought-pretty unsafe as it would hide your nav lights pretty easily. Just making sure I wasn't missing out on something.

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Paul
2007 Four Winns Horizon 220
Mercruiser 350 Mag MPI w/ Bravo III Drive
2004 Ford Explorer Limited (V8-AWD)
Pomme de Terre Lake (Southwest Missouri)

Especially on LOTO. They confuse the drunks.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

I just use them when docking, I also carry handheld 12V spotlights for 'spotting', but I do see people cruising along with ocking lights on as if they were 'headlights'. I From my living room I can see those folks all the way across the lake - crazy. Obviously, everyone relies mostly on night vision when boating after dusk, one good blast of docking lights could mess up another boater's night vision for at least a few minutes. Way illegal as mentioned. It's funny, I comment to my admiral so often on this or that violation as we see them occur, that she jokingly calls me a 'junior lake policeman'. These occurances seem so constant, that it makes me think that Boating Safety Courses or certificates should be mandatory in order to purchase, rent, or operate any watercraft. Either that or a brain.

Back on topic, the nice thing about docking lights is that it frees up both hands for steering and throttle when docking at night.

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2007 Horizon 200
4.3L GXi/ SX 225 HP