Better than a mirror on a stick!

Scope

In a recent post to a forum for Valiant yacht owners, voyager Dick Stevenson, aboard the Valiant 42, Alchemy, discusses the value of an endoscope for looking at the deep recesses of a voyaging boat:

 “A very helpful occasional-use tool that I have been using now for a couple of years is an endoscope: $30+ from Amazon.

“One of these units can be used in conjunction with an app downloadable to an iPad or smartphone. It has excellent definition, its own adjustable brightness light and can see into impossible places to see otherwise. The long ‘cord’ is waterproof so I could inspect zincs when I was in 35° F water without getting wet. It is a once-a-year tool, but earns its keep every use.”

Fellow Valiant forum member Paul Caouette responded to Stevenson’s post: “Wow! The specs [for the Amazon unit referenced above] say the cord has a length of 11 feet. I recall buying one of the first ones 10 years ago. The price was $150 and the cord was only 4 feet. It had a tiny screen with no way to record what you’re seeing. It was still invaluable, though. You could inspect lots of nooks and crannies with it.”

By Ocean Navigator