Beginning of the End

Installed the main electrical panel in the new door/box.  Need to add the 12V plug but did not have the correct size hole saw.  The objective for the weekend was to remove the last of the electrical wiring, document the current battery and switch set up, remove the batteries with associated wiring and begin scrapping lockers.  The wiring came out with only a little fight.  The batteries removed easily enough as did the plastic battery trays.  I will replace with fully enclosed battery boxes.  The trays were mounted on some 2x material that was supposed to be glassed to the hull.

I was able to pull them off with my bare hands.  The wood was dry and beginning to rot but the fiberglass tabbing had completely failed.  Gravity was the only thing holding the batteries and base in place.  My trusty little 1 gal shop vac finally gave up the ghost after a couple of years of dutiful service.  So I was limited on how much old paint I could scrape off before the whole thing was a mess.






I took apart the old Yanmar engine control panel which at purchase time did control the starting and stopping of the engine and gave a pretty reliable RPM reading.  I always thought it was a bit cumbersome to lift up the starboard cockpit locker and reach back underneath to access the starter and controls.  I took some measurements and made a decision to relocate it to the rear of the cock pit well.  The wiring harness would reach and I could recess it into the fiberglass wall of the well or flush mount it and cover with a splash guard.  I will price out both options as now is the time to do this and restore the locker to useful storage.  This locker always had to be left somewhat clear to be able to access the controls.






In poking around in the stern locker to make sure the controls panel would fit I found one more area of rot that had to come out.  It was obvious that any water getting into the stern locker was going to pool at the low point trying to get into the bilge. There was no drain hole so it rotted out the plywood instead.  I will fit and tab in a piece of new marine grade plywood and include a drain hole at the low point.  I also took a look at the rudder post.  This looks like it has been weeping for a while.  I will have to try and get that apart and repack it assuming it is like a stuffing box.  I was thinking of installing an access panel in the cockpit sole to gain access to the prop shaft and stuffing box.  I might want to look at putting in another to gain access to the rudder post as well.