On Mon, 8 Feb 2010 21:27:35 -0800 (PST), Frogwatch
wrote:

First, I don't even know what a downrigger does in fishing. However,
while looking thru the Waste Marine catalogue for something else, I
saw a Downrigger swivel/slider mount and was struck by how much it
looked like the small camera mounts my engineers are making from G10
and Aluminium on their CNC mill combined with the dovetail G10 mount
they made for the SeaCook stove that was given to me by Cap'n Dan a
couple weeks ago.
So, I looked closer and sure enough, these downrigger mounts are made
of a glass/resin composite. Hmmmm..........my guys could make these
easily.
So, WTF does a downrigger do and why does it need to slide and swivel?
Inspired, I looked through the rest of the catalogue for similar
stuff. Sure enough, in the section on pedestal seats for boats, there
was an expensive CNC machined slide/swivel for a seat. Why on earth
would somebody need such a strong swivel/slide seat? IS there
actually a market for such?
THEN, I started thinking about the crappy plastic VHF antenna swivel I
had that I replaced with a massive Stainless casting from China that
at least works simply because it is made of steel. Dang, they could
make a lightweight version of this from G10. This is one of those
mounts that allows your antenna to be locked in any position (vertical
for use and horizontal for trailering).
Thoughts?

Another thing I thought of was accessories for kayak fishermen who
want to mount stuff on their boats. Screw G10 dovetails to the deck
and then slide in a rod holder, GPS holder, compass, fishfinder, etc
that he could remove before putting it back on his car.

A downrigger is a device hold a heavy weight to which is attached a
fishing line with bait or lure. The weight is lowered to the desired
depth, depending on where the fish are showing up, so the bait/lure
can be trolled at the proper depth. Once a fish strikes, the line is
released from the downrigger and is held by the fishing rod.

Once the fish is landed, the heavy weight is cranked back up, the line
with bait is reattached, and the weight again lowered to the desired
depth. There is a measuring device on the downrigger to measure the
depth of the weight.
--

John H