Originally Posted By: hikermor
According to the USCG, a strobe flashing at 50to70 times per minute is an official distress signal. Beyond all that, I,too, would check out such a phenomenon.


Thanks for that insight.

Of course the flashing strobe would still be good to carry if indeed and emergency occurred. :-)

I have a house on a fairly large lake - large enough to get turned around and a bit lost at night. Have you ever heard of someone putting a special light on the shore as a "home beacon"? The house light(s) are just white bulbs that will turn on/off with/without movement (not fond of lights on all night).

Unfortunately, my lake home is on a smallish (25 acre) lake that is connected to the much bigger lake, so rather than a "home beacon" I think I'd be better off with a GPS that will light up at night. I don't think the neighbors want to install a permanent beacon at the lake-to-lake channel.