Whatever floats your.... decoy

“Idle hands are the devil’s plaything” – or so goes the old saying. Fact is that (at this time of year in particular) I have a bit of trouble relaxing. I’m not great at doing nothing, so find it relaxing to just do stuff like tie flies, untangle decoy cords, drill holes in boat for latest fitting…. Well, you get the idea.
  

Of late I’ve been thinking of ways to float a spin-wing decoy at sea. “At sea” means in rough weather, when hunting’s at its best out there. There are lots of ideas on the internet. Some involve H shaped bars, where a decoy on each corner supports a central upright upon which the flapper sits. Not ideal for me, I don’t want to be lugging 4 more decoys in the little boat than I have to. Then there are similar arrangements with a + shape, with bits of foam on the arms again holding up a central post upon which electronica is perched. Looks a bit unstable to me.

Finally I tracked down a really good option. The original involved a life preserver, some board, stainless nuts & bolts and fittings. And a can of cement for an anchor.

I decided on a similar approach. First – let me tell you it’s not easy to source a cheap life preserver. (I guess that you can put a price on preserving life after all). Finally I tracked an old one down. As everyone knows, these things come in a range of colours – the range being from vibrant orange to eye-searing orange-vermillion.  I grabbed a spray can of grey primer and went to work. Then a nice piece of treated board was procured, along with stainless nuts and bolts. Unlike the version I’d seen on the ‘net, my life ring has holes that are ideal mounting points so I didn’t have to screw into the body of the ring. Drilled and countersunk (flash huh!) holes for the bolts and got the board mounted.

The old outdoors spray booth.

Sat around for a bit thinking about how to mount the pole then had one of those DOH! moments. I’d just use the Railblaza stuff I had left over.  Too easy.

Simply attach a Starport into which goes a Telepole onto which fits a Swivelport into which the decoy's mounting base is inserted.

With my anchor light attached, you get my drift... decoy goes where light is

Spray it all grey and whammo, there's the base and mount done. Now just a matter of anchoring it. I'll just get one of those little grapnel anchors and use that, I think I have a couple hanging around.

Now, just add decoy...