Hiya all
Seeing that the price of a hobie light and flag was over $180, i decided to make one instead. So after seeing a few lights that people have made and seeing a few on youtube i decided to make a night light. I have just made my first night light for early/late sessions on the water. Decided on having a permanent lit tip for my 360 deg light, but also a light on a switch to be able to turn on to flood the area. Anyway, i am proud of how it turned out and included a few pics.

Any thoughts, or feed back for any improvements are welcome.

looks great.

Looks good. You've travelled a well trod path as many of us have built similar light setups. Do a search on here and you should find many similar examples.

The one tip I'd add from many similar light builds is to pay very close attaention to your 12v cable connections and any switches. Salt water corrosion will quickly destroy any connections it can get into, even turning tinned cable black well up its +ve length. What's worked well for me on recent builds is to go with the 12v waterproof switch that FPV sell and also use the same style of waterproof connectors they use on their batteries. This makes for good quality interchangable segments that can be swapped out if corrosion becomes a problem without needing to resolder in good wiring. The only soldered connection I have on the whole setup is the final cable connection the the LED light strip and thatis well covered by liquid electrical tape and further taping.

Thanks for that. I use an IP rated plug and socket for the connection. Once i am setup i rub Vaseline round the connection as a backup (salt water would mess anything up given a chance). When i wash down at home i give the both ends of the connectors a spray of Inox, along with any other electrical connections.

I also wrapped the pole in reflective tape, but thought it would not last long with the salt water, so i covered it all in clear heat shrink to protect it.

One question i do have though is, does the reflective tape stick to a kayak hull and stay on? Thinking of a full length stripe down both sides.

Only been on the kayak 4 times (totally new in the west), had close calls with 2 boats so far zipping past.

Nice Build Sean,

Regarding the reflective tape, yep it should stick fine.
I had luck with mine, as long as it is the good stuff and you stick it to a smooth spot it seems to bond well.
I got mine from Squizzy at Supersigns in Seaford and it is good quality (3M I think) and its still on there even though the Yak is covered in dust and has not seen water for many years now..

Great achievement, congratulations to you.