Speaking of homemade lights,

There was some discussion here last spring about my el cheapo homemade
spreader light. It's a 12 bucks for the pair fog light from VIP
although I had to pay another five bucks to have a hole drilled in the
lens (I learned in the process that I easily could have done it myself
but the drill bit would have cost six bucks). It works great, is
brighter than I need, and smaller and more compact than anything else
I could find.

The discussion was about the fact that it's ground is connected to the
case and thus the mast. I hooked up the old return wire to it so that
the mast and rigging aren't actually carrying any of the light's load,
only any slight differential. For something that is only on
infrequently and briefly, this seems acceptable.

If I was racing or doing a lot of night sailing where the light was
critical and going to be on for long periods, I would have paid for a
marine spreader light but this has worked out very well. It will be
starting to rust by the end of this season but I have the other one
from the pair in the basement.

I paid 40 bucks for a masthead light that isn't nearly as well made or
complex except that the little tube stanchion is stainless.

--

Roger Long