"Capt. JG" wrote in message
...

There are all interesting suggestions. I agree that complexity shouldn't
be the goal, and I want something that is not much less bullet proof than
what I currently have.

I very much agree that one must confirm that on-ness or off-ness of the
lights no matter the setup. My intention was, is, will always be, to do
that confirmation at the fixture, but my goal here is to find something
that can be used relatively faster than having to go below or ask someone
else to go below, perhaps someone who is less familiar with the panel.

I teach and do charters on my boat, so I don't like to rely on a
student/customer to do something that I can't immediately confirm.

All things being equal, I'd like to be able to flip the switch on my own,
then, when the opportunity presents itself, confirm things are working.

Another thing to keep in mind is that while I always confirm my bow lights
work before I leave the dock, there's no easy and sometimes no safe way to
confirm they're on underway. I cannot imagine leaving the helm to go all
the way forward in less than ideal conditions or asking a less experienced
person to do so to confirm the bow lights are on. The masthead is easy to
confirm of course, as is the stern light.

My instrument panel has an ammeter which tells me the total current being
drawn from the house battery by all the auxiliaries on the panel.
When you switch anything on, even a single mast light, you can see the
needle give a little kick which confirms that it is indeed working.
And yes, I know that a short circuit on the wiring would also give a kick,
probably much greater, but IMO you can ignore this possibility if you
manually check the operation of the lights occasionally.