In 1861 the Government of PERU ordered a steam ship of 180 tons displacement from the James Watt Foundry
in Birmingham for use on Lake Titicaca. This lake is the highest navigable lake in the world at 12500 ft
and the ship was intended to offer some protection from Bolivia. The ship was supplied in "flat pack " form
and shipped to Arica in Peru and transported to the lake by mules. In 1977 the ship was taken out of naval
service and lay more of less neglected until 1987 when the YAVARI Charity was established and the ship was
purchased from the Peruvian Navy. Gradually the ship has been restored and is now an important tourist
attraction on the lake. The YAVARI is the oldest single propeller driven ship operating in the world today.
During the period when the ship was laid up all of her treasures were removed to local museums for safekeeping.
Most have been returned except for one of the pair of binnacle lamps. These lamps used a candle to provide a
low level of illumination of the compass during dark hours. Dobbie McInnes of Scotland made the compass and
binnacle.
During a visit early in 2007 a member of the Society volunteered to make a replacement for the missing binnacle
and this has now been accomplished.