Triton-Marine LED Lights

We had a problem. Our Sadler 32 has two batteries. One was reserved for the engine, the other a 110 amp deep cycle battery has its limits.

As most boats these days, we have a lot of electrical equipment. Radar, GPS, VHF radio, Navtex, CD player, Fridge, Cabin Lights, Navigation Lights, Phone Chargers, an inverter, a TV and of course an anchor light. Almost like being at home!

To be honest I had used a paraffin lamp till now , hoisting it up the forestay or baby stay. These cheap lamps only lasted a season, and maybe not that. Fuelling it up is messy, and its another bottle to keep topped up.

My wife bought me a re-chargeable lantern. Alas it only lasted 4 hours, it was heavy, and of course needed recharging every day.

My thoughts turned to LED's when a close friend of mine started his own electronics company in Wurtzburg, Germany. At the beginning of the 2005 sailing season, a month before we were to go on our three week cruise, I emailed Jo asking him to send me 8 powerful LED's. Jo Neuberg suggested fitting them to an octagon of wood. The wooden block was cut, the LED's attached and wired up. This block was inserted into a 1/2 litre pop bottle, and sealed with duck tape!

In the Scillies I hoisted the bottle instead of the usual paraffin lamp. I connected to the cigar lighter electrical socket. Our friends commented on how bright it was. It lit up the foredeck, thus also replacing the deck light. We used it at anchor and mooring buoys in Salcombe, and later in the year at Tenby and Saundersfoot.

I sent Jo pictures of the bottle and tales of its performance. Jo quickly made up a prototype, and sent it to me for testing.  The prototype had nine LED's, which were encased in black plastic. We tested its range on the Welsh mountains in deep winter, rain and all. With a hand help GPS, we were able to determine that the LED light was visible at 2.3 miles, far enough to be an anchor light. The LED's have a 40 degree arc of light which would allow for some swell at anchor. A central hole would allow it to be threaded onto a 6mm rope for hoisting. The light could also be fixed into a smaller boat with a bolt.

Packaging was sorted by Jo, which consists of a clam type plastic carton. This is intended for storage of the LED light during the day. A plastic cable tie is included in the carton.

Jo Neuberg of Flextek also manufactures red LED's lamps which are used at the navigation table at night, thus preserving night vision. Warm white cabin light LED's  are also available. The lights are rated at 5 watts.