Practical Boat Owner – September 2019

Then I came across LED

lamps powered by internal

batteries for £4 each at a

petrol station. Maybe not

bright enough, but for £4 I

bought one for fun. As

expected, it wasn’t powerful

enough to really light up the

saloon, but it was a soft, cool

white, and when held close

My existing wall lamps had

wobbly fittings and inefficient

bulbs. I experimented with

replacement LED bulbs but

they were either too bright,

too white or too dim. I found

some very nice single

lamps... at £75 each! And I

have eight wall-lamp

locations on board.

enough it was very useable.

On the back was a hook for

hanging and a magnet for

sticking it on. What a shame

my cherry veneered bulkheads

were not made of steel.

Then... lightbulb moment

(urghh). I glued a galvanised

penny washer to the bulkhead

(remember, stainless steel is

not magnetic), I slapped the

lamp onto the washer, et voila!

One very reasonable lamp unit

that can not only be twisted to

any angle required, but also be

pulled off in a trice and sat on

the table shedding light down

onto the page of a book or an

That lightbulb moment

Trevor Martin gets his magnetic

LEDs to cling to wood!

Perfect plotting

In a mad fit of inspiration, I
decided that after 50 years of
cruising I needed to take my
Yachtmaster offshore exam. So
out came the Portland plotter
in earnest.
In normal circumstances, on
a bouncing boat ‘near enough
is good enough’ but in a

intricate bit of needlework or

soldering. It sticks to my

engine block very nicely to

change my water-pump

impeller without the

shadows from the engine

compartment ceiling lamp or

a torch in my mouth! I have

loads of them now!

I did find that the magnets

fell out within a month, so I

re-glued them to the lamp

with epoxy. I also found out

that in a serious blow and

heeled they will fall off – but

they don’t break, they just

bounce off the floor and can

go back on the washer later!

Sam Longley fixes his Portland plotter

LEFT View from below... RIGHT ... and from above

thing. I started with generous

dose of oil. No good. I then

held the handle part in my

lathe and spun the dial at

1,000rpm for a minute, thinking

I could wear the disc on the

spindle a bit. No use!

Finally, intending to put a

small bolt through, I drilled a

3mm hole from the back right

through the spindle. I inserted

an electrical screwdriver under

the chrome captive cap to

lever it off, but in practice this

was not needed. I just worked

it up slightly all round, gently,

with the tip of the screwdriver.

Success! The levering

reduced the pressure the cap

was putting on the dial and I

can now plot with ease. It did

damage the cap a little but,

hey, it works.

classroom, under the glare of

the instructor, nothing other

than ‘spot on’ will do.

The trouble is that although I

have four Portland plotters they

are all stiff and all want to jump

3° just at that vital moment

when you only want 1°.

So I decided to repair the

The existing wall lamps

with wobbly fittings and

inefficient bulbs. Similar

spec replacements

seemed rather expensive

Magnetic battery-powered

LED light that cost £4 from a

petrol station

I have now fitted numerous

individual lights around

the boat

I glued a galvanised washer to

the bulkhead so the magnetic

base of the light would stick

They’re easy to move where

required to anywhere else

with a metal surface

A hole drilled in

the spindle cap

allowed it to be

levered up just

enough to free

the dial

Chrome cap

Insert

screwdriver here

Pressure point

Dial

Plate

Ho

le