Lights look identical from a distance — a white point in the dark. The only thing that tells them apart is time. Each one blinks on its own schedule, and that schedule is its name.

The flash is the name

A Fl 5s light flashes once every five seconds. A Fl(3) 15s flashes three times, waits, and repeats. Once you learn to count the gap, the whole coast stops being "a light" and becomes specific places, each with its own heartbeat.

Why it still matters

GPS can fail, drift, or lie. A rhythm can't. Count the flashes and time the gap, and you know exactly which light you're looking at — no satellites, no chart, just a steady count.