Heading 10 miles out into the open sea in a small boat, in the fog, isn’t something that I would recommend. However, that is exactly what I found myself doing a few weeks ago, much to my own amazement. An area of slack air was hanging around in the Thames estuary, the sea was flat calm and the fishing was good. The only problem was the fog banks that were rolling in, so I weighed up the options and went for it.
A big part of my decision-making came from the fact that my 17ft fishing boat is equipped with all the necessary electronic navigation gadgetry that is required to make such a journey safely. Although I had them backed up with charts and a compass, there is something very reassuring about being able to see exactly where you are on a chart plotter screen, seeing how much water you’ve got under your keel on the fish finder, and being just a call away from the coastguard on the VHF radio. Of course, all this equipment is only as good as the battery that powers it. To stand up to the rigours of small boat fishing, all equipment needs to be simple, robust and hardwearing. My Battery isn’t tucked away in it’s own little cubbyhole, out of harms way and connected to a complicated electrical circuit. It sits on the open deck exposed to all the banging around, salt air and sea spray that goes with small boat angling.
Having seen what can happen to lesser batteries when exposed to this sort of environment, this year I equipped my boat with a NUMAX XV 27MF Marine/Leisure battery. This is a maintenance free, sealed battery with a state of charge indicator located on the top within easy view. When the indicator is green, the battery is fully charged, it’s as simple as that. There are dual terminals fitted which allow you to connect the battery to two different applications, or to swap them over, quickly and easily if required. Just what you need at sea in a small boat when even the simplest task becomes a challenge. Although the battery is sturdy enough to take a pounding, moving it around is made easy with the built in carrying handle. I had intended to see how long the battery would hold a charge when powering my electrics, but after months of use, the state of charge indicator is still showing green!
I’m happy with the NUMAX battery and, more importantly, I’ve got confidence in it. Enough confidence to head 10 miles out into the fog in fact, and that is not something I do lightly!
For more details, visit http://www.manbat.co.uk/.
