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I'm glad you beat your ticket.
Having said that, the best way to approach anything is to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. You never know what surprises boating can throw your way. The best was to ensure you are prepared is to follow the rules, keep your equipment updated and get a free coast guard auxilary inspection each year. I do my inspection and make sure everything is working correctly and then they do their. At the very least they give excellent tips and information and updates to safety regualtion and reminders of existing ones. All these guys are boaters too looking out for the safety of all. On top of that it inly takes about 20 minutes and when you get pulled over usually one glance at that sticker and you get a wave and a "have a nice day".....
You mentioned you are an inland waterway boater....they have a nice safety course geared toward that style of boating as well.
IMO the cop was doing his job and although he may have gotten his point across with a warning, he most assuredly got your attention with the ticket.
Even though your explanation that you don't need your lights during the day is true it won't cover you for the "what if". I have a jack and a spare in my car. I don't have any flat tires. But then if I don't have that equipment "what if"....
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