Work Begins Again

After a successful trip out west (The Eagles are once again Team Racing National Champions), I returned to the boatyard to begin getting the boat ready for the summer. This year, the list of projects doesn't seem nearly as daunting, but there still is a lot that needs to get done. Unfortunately, I haven't been too successful yet at prioritizing the things that must get done before the boat can get launched, but so it goes.

After taking the cover off, I began assessing how everything looked after the winter, and then dove right into working on some projects. One of the biggest tasks this year will be installing a new electrical system, as the one that existed was suspect, to say the least. The system appeared to be a couple of generations of wires cobbled together into a circuit breaker that was stuck to the inside of the cockpit well with some adhesive. Not only was it hard to access, the wires were strewn every which way, with no real color coding (some white, some blue, some yellow, some red, some black, some gray, all randomly connected to each other), no fuses, no battery switch, and then a battery that was just on the cabin sole, with no box. In some places wire had butt connectors, while in other places they had just wrapped the wires in electrical tape, so it was pretty apparent that it all needed to go.

This is what the inside of the DC "panel" looked like once I got it opened.
I spent a fair amount of time considering what I wanted in the new electrical system. I wanted it to be simple, with running lights, mast light, cabin lights, an electric bilge pump, VHF radio, stereo, and a 12V cigarette lighter (I would be useless I my Blackberry died). Just a single battery, and eventually a solar charger, but for now would probably just charge the battery at home and hope it lasted for however long I was on the boat for.

My original idea was to create to panels angled on either side of the companionway, where one would house the DC Panel, the 12V outlet and the bilge pump switch and the other side would have the flush mounted VHF and stereo. This would put them within easy reach of the cockpit, but also accessible when down in the cabin. I fitted some templates to get a sense of how it would look, but ultimately decided that this probably wouldn't be the ideal spot. Not only did I think that they cut off access to the quarter berths, but I also worried about the waterproof-ness of the companionway.

I quickly amended my plan, and decided that the area above the head would do a good job as well, and would also reduce the wiring runs needed for the installation.

The DC panel can go on the left side, the bilge pump switch, outlet and maybe a voltmeter can go in the middle, and then the VHF and stereo can be flush mounted to the right side of the panel. There is also plenty of room in this area for all the wiring to be more or less self contained, and the self above the area will also leave room to mount more electronics down the road.

Instead of the battery just resting on the sole, I have decided to build a new shelf further aft in the boat, under the cockpit sole. This area is out of the way but still accessible, and with the battery here, the wiring can run under the adjacent berth and up to the DC panel, with a battery switch mounted on the face of the berth. I think it will be a pretty slick installation, and it still leaves access into the bilge too.

With that more or less laid out, I turned my attention to a bevy of less important details. Since the forecast for the next 4 days is rain, I didn't anticipate being able to varnish anything on the boat, so I haven't begun sanding the exterior woodwork yet. I did attempt to remove some of it to bring home to work on, and discovered the sealant I used last summer was much more resilient than I anticipated. I only removed the 2 companionway slides, but one of them came off in four pieces. Yikes.

After that fiasco, I turned my attention to some minute work down below, which made me feel a little more successful, even if they are more or less unnoticeable. I prepped the mast step interior pole for fresh paint, stripped the galley and head counter tops, removed some lingering old varnish, and did some general spring cleaning. This didn't bring me any closer to launching, but allowed me to end on a more positive note.

While the boat probably looks worse now without the companionway, I needed to bring the sliders home to fix the brass tracks - the screw holes need to be filled so that the screw heads won't pop out and catch on the hatch all the time. And the underside of the hatches are in need of some serious attention. This should get sorted out in the next couple days while it rains. Hopefully.