Light may help stop breakwall accidents

[GLF]

LUDINGTON - The U.S. Coast Guard has installed a green lens at the Ludington lighthouse to prevent boat collisions with the adjacent breakwall, but the plan is getting mixed reviews from boaters.

Nine boats have hit the harbor's north and south piers since 2004. Some captains say the green light - which was installed this week - will be easier to distinguish from other background lighting near the Lake Michigan waterfront.

"I think it's a good idea," George Freeman, captain of charter boat Free Style, told the Ludington Daily News. "When you approach from the south, the white light has a tendency to blend in with the lights" elsewhere, he said.

Mike Gnatkowski, captain of the Equalizer, agreed the green light was a good idea but said it might confuse some boaters.

Either way, he said, charts make clear that boats entering Ludington harbor should be on a 90-degree course - which wasn't the case for the boats that have struck the breakwall.

Craig Coleman of Captain Chuck's Great Outdoors, a local sporting goods store, said the change probably wouldn't help.

"Green means go - go right to the breakwall," Coleman said. "Right on top of it. I don't like it. It's going to be dimmer. I like the old strobe."

The light was dimmed in recent years when it was switched to solar power. Many boaters have said the change made the light harder to see.

Tom Rau, a retired Coast Guard senior chief, said the biggest culprit in the collisions isn't poor vision, but excessive speed.

"The only thing that will stop those collisions is people bringing back the throttles," Rau said.

[too deep]

I was just there this weekend and you can see that light a lot better than what they had before!

[ratcityhooker]

I fish the Ludington Harbor alot and think one of the biggest mistakes is red rite return. With lights on the channel and the pier heads it makes it easy to return from the wrong angle. If you set a way point in the channel, at the pier heads and one 100 yrds straight out it is hard to go wrong on a straight shot in. Just play connect a dot.

Larry

[GLF]

If you set a way point in the channel, at the pier heads and one 100 yrds straight out it is hard to go wrong on a straight shot it get

This should be done at ANY port you fish!