Hi! We’re in the process of closing on our first Saber. We know the interior lights need to be upgraded and we’d like LED. Any suggestions for parts or strategies? Also any other first words of wisdom for this boat as we get started? Thanks!
LED light upgrade for 1988 Saber 34mkII
- Thread starter outlaw34
- Start date
Congratulations on your new boat.
www.marinebeam.com will give you lots of information as well as choices. There are many other vendors, but they are among the best for basic info and products.
www.marinebeam.com will give you lots of information as well as choices. There are many other vendors, but they are among the best for basic info and products.
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 24,453
Welcome to the SBO Forum.
Two paths are possible. Simplist is to replace the light fixture with LED fixtures. It is a DIY project. More expensive and likely to change the look of the space, but an easy remove and replace process.
The second is to remove the old bulb, then find an LED replacement and fit the new LED bulb in the fixture. This also feels easy, but there can be hiccups. Some older fixtures can crumble as you try to remove the plastic lenses. There can be problems finding a LED bulb to be an exact match. It can save you money as fixtures are generally way more expensive than bulbs.
If you take pictures of the lights you want to change and post them here, you can get help with the project.
I have used both approaches.
Good luck.
Two paths are possible. Simplist is to replace the light fixture with LED fixtures. It is a DIY project. More expensive and likely to change the look of the space, but an easy remove and replace process.
The second is to remove the old bulb, then find an LED replacement and fit the new LED bulb in the fixture. This also feels easy, but there can be hiccups. Some older fixtures can crumble as you try to remove the plastic lenses. There can be problems finding a LED bulb to be an exact match. It can save you money as fixtures are generally way more expensive than bulbs.
If you take pictures of the lights you want to change and post them here, you can get help with the project.
I have used both approaches.
Good luck.
Thanks! When we get in for the survey next week I’ll take some pictures. And I hadn’t thought of the nav lights. Can you do an LED replacement for those too?
You can. The only tricky thing is that if you just replace the bulbs and not the whole fixtures for nav lights you might change the specs LEDs are smaller point sources of light than filaments, so fixtures that are designed for visibility at certain heel angles might not cast the right light pattern. More details at Coast Guard Nav Light Safety Alert - Practical Sailor
Welcome to SBO.
There is a lot of good information on SBO about boats in general, however, if you want to tap Sabre expertise the place to go is the Sabre Sailboats group on groups.io. SabreSailboat groups.io Group. Over 1100 current and past Sabre owners in the group and decades of archived posts.
To answer your questions.
The easiest way to upgrade your cabin lights is to replace the incandescent bulbs with LEDs, MarineBeam.com is a good source. The other alternative is to replace the whole fixture, Scandvik has a nice LED dome light with 3 lighting levels. The 34 also has wall mounted lamps with standard Edison bases, they are going to be harder to replace with LEDs. Someone on the Sabre group may have a solution.
Sabre 34s and 36s have a known problem with the mast step. Have the surveyor take a good look at. More information about the mast step is available on the Sabre Sailboat group.
Overall, Sabres are great sailing boats that are well built. They are stick built boats, meaning there are no floor pans or fiberglass grids glued to the hull. The 34 has a lot of very devoted followers.
Where on Lake Ontario will you be sailing? We sail out of Little Sodus Bay (aka Fair Haven).
There is a lot of good information on SBO about boats in general, however, if you want to tap Sabre expertise the place to go is the Sabre Sailboats group on groups.io. SabreSailboat groups.io Group. Over 1100 current and past Sabre owners in the group and decades of archived posts.
To answer your questions.
The easiest way to upgrade your cabin lights is to replace the incandescent bulbs with LEDs, MarineBeam.com is a good source. The other alternative is to replace the whole fixture, Scandvik has a nice LED dome light with 3 lighting levels. The 34 also has wall mounted lamps with standard Edison bases, they are going to be harder to replace with LEDs. Someone on the Sabre group may have a solution.
Sabre 34s and 36s have a known problem with the mast step. Have the surveyor take a good look at. More information about the mast step is available on the Sabre Sailboat group.
Overall, Sabres are great sailing boats that are well built. They are stick built boats, meaning there are no floor pans or fiberglass grids glued to the hull. The 34 has a lot of very devoted followers.
Where on Lake Ontario will you be sailing? We sail out of Little Sodus Bay (aka Fair Haven).
Thank you all for the great tips all around! Very much, looking forward to getting our hands on the boat soon and starting to mess around with it.
The boat is in “big“ Sodus Bay. Fair Haven looks like it’s worth a trip. Any tips? We’re still novices in exploring the lake.
The boat is in “big“ Sodus Bay. Fair Haven looks like it’s worth a trip. Any tips? We’re still novices in exploring the lake.
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 24,453
Sure.
Enjoy the adventures.
- Become weather-wise.
- Have a good chart for the adventure you are contemplating.
- Study the route.
- Have optional stops, should the weather change.
- Throw away your schedule. Mother Nature does not care if you feel you need to be somewhere.
- Respect the lake.
- Be the Captain and bring your crew and boat back safely to your port.
Enjoy the adventures.The go to places on the east end of Lake Ontario are the Provincial Parks in the Thousand Islands. Many of the islands have moorings and a few have docks. Waupos Island is a very rural island with a nice protected anchorage where you can often hear the sheep on the island. Be sure to clear customs before going.
On the US side Clayton and Cape Vincent on the St. Lawrence are worth a trip. Cape Vincent is smaller and is enjoying a bit of a rebirth.
Sacketts Harbor has several good restaurants and pubs and a nice park. A pleasant village to stroll through. In nearby Henderson Harbor White Bay offers a good anchorage. There isn't much to the town though.
In the past Oswego was worth a stop. The Yacht Club offered reciprocal docking privileges to members of other Lake Ontario clubs, however, they were forced to move by the City and do not have docks. The City Marina, Wrights Landing is weedy and shallow, not ideal for sailboats. Oswego Marina on the east side has a few transient slips and dock space is available along the wall behind the hotel, but it is not well protected.
Little Sodus Bay is a good spot to escape for a weekend and to get in some practice nights on an anchor. Fair Haven YC offers reciprocal docks, Pleasant Beach Hotel offers a few docks, and you can anchor on the west side near the Winery and dinghy into the winery.
Navigation on the Lake is pretty simple. Once you leave Sodus Bay the nearest navigation buoy is ~20 miles away at Ford Shoals near Oswego. Shortly after leaving the Bay the lake gets deep, real deep, up to 800 feet deep. No issue with running around here. The shipping lanes are on the north side of the lake, so except for in frequent freighters entering the Genesee River in Rochester or the Port in Oswego commercial traffic is nil.
For the short term tablet based navigation is fine. AquaMaps is one of the best apps out there. Modestly priced, full featured, and updated daily.
Enjoy your new to you Sabre. They're great boats.