Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Waterproof Flashlight

Gee wrote about using a flashlight off the stern to attract fish, including two interesting squid. Last year, I decided that it made sense to have at least one good waterproof flashlight on board. A number of uses have come to my mind:
1. Spotting day marks or checking on the anchor bridle in heavy rain.
2. Checking the anchor set in water where we can see the bottom near or after dusk from the dinghy.
3. Checking the props at night, perhaps due to wrapping a crab pot line around one.
4. Inspecting the rigging at night, perhaps also in heavy rain or spray conditions that would affect a non-waterproof flashlight.
5. Shining into the water off the stern to attract marine life after dark.
I'm sure you can come up with some other uses.
I took a look around and finally found the Stanley Fat Max flashlight. It is an LED flashlight that puts out a powerful, concentrated beam of light. It was mentioned on a number of dive sites, so it is intended for depths beyond just a few feet. It is rechargeable, so you'll need to keep track of the charger and charge it from time to time. The on/off switch is a bit strange, but works reliably. It also features a dimming function in case you don't need the full strength beam. It ran for a couple of hours as our underwater light for attracting the squid.  I bought it from Amazon.
It worked really well as an underwater light off our stern, attracting small, fast-moving sea critters, which in turn attracted minnows, which in turn attracted the squid.

  -Terry

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