THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, January 19, 1997              TAG: 9701180866
SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C15  EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: - Bob Hutchinson
                                            LENGTH:   32 lines

OUTDOOR TIP

Here's a safety tip for night-fishing along the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. It applies for any after-dark boating. It was passed along by an anonymous reader who merely signed his letter ``6888.''

We'll call him ``Mutt,'' since that's how the numbers correspond with the letters on a telephone keyboard.

Mutt says that no matter how many and what kind of lights you have on your boat, you should have a hand-held spotlight which can easily be hooked up, such as plugging it into a cigarette lighter.

Mutt was almost run down a while back when anchored near the Fourth Island and burning a bright Halogen floodlight.

``I saw him coming and thought for sure he would see my flood light,'' Mutt said. ``Boy, did I wish for a spotlight. He came so close to me that the spray from his wake came into my boat.''

Unfortunately, you see boaters making all sorts of safety mistakes by using the wrong lights along the bridge-tunnel.

You see anchored boats with running lights only, operating boats with anchor lights only and some boats, running and anchored, with no lights.

Remember, these lights are not there to help you see. They're there to help other people see you. And to know in which direction you're headed.

Thanks, Mutt. MEMO: Do you have an outdoor tip worth sharing? Mail it to: Bob

Hutchinson, The Virginian-Pilot, 150 West Brambleton Ave., Norfolk, Va.

23510, or call 446-2342.