Operation Stern Light

On Pinnacle II the old stern light was 25 years old and due for replacement. Also it was in the way of the new davits. So...the old stainless mount was carefully ground off of the stern rail and the new light is going to be mounted up higher on the very end of the davits just under the solar panels.
The new light is an an example most boaters will be familiar with...a $25 dollar part from most marine hardware stores. But...a subtle modification was to replace the 10 watt power hungry incandescent bulb with one of my more modern 2 watt festoon leds. The housing takes a cone point bulb but I only had leds with concave ends (dimpled). The solution was to simply solder in the led as it will never need to be replaced. The led operates over a range of voltages (10 to 30 volts DC) and is very bright.
That's why I will mount it on the most rearward part of the boat so that the light does not reflect back on the white dinghy and ruin my night vision. (Or "our" night vision if the Admiral agrees to doing some night sailing) The plate is a piece of 3/16 stainless that was left over from another job.
I will have more pictures next week of the completer install.

Tim