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Thursday

At the fuel tank, I installed a shutoff valve near the pickup for the fuel supply line, then continued the line to the filter and on to the engine’s mechanical fuel pump connection.  I also ran a return line from the engine back to the tank, where I adapted it into the vent line near the tank itself, as there was no return fitting built into the tank.

I cut two lengths of hose to use for the engine raw water system–from the seacock to the filter, and from the filter to the pump connection on the front–but I left these hoses and the filter out of the engine room for now to keep space open for the moment.    Meanwhile, I was awaiting a new engine exhaust fitting to replace the high-rise version that was too tall for the engine room, so I couldn’t continue work on the exhaust system till that arrived.  So with little else to do on the engine at the moment, I found a spot for and installed a coolant recovery tank for the engine, located on the port side aft of the engine.  The hose for the tank was already attached to the overflow on the heat exchanger, but I decided to leave it off the tank till I finished the exhaust and other engine work.

I connected the throttle and engine control cables, which was uneventful.  I found that the transmission gear lever, when pushed down for reverse,  interfered slightly with part of the aft end of the engine foundation (or was it the other way around), so I’d have to make a cut in there to increase the clearance.

To mount and secure the house battery bank in its new box, I first dry-fit one battery and marked its forward end on the platform, then cut a hardwood cleat to screw in place, which would help hold the batteries in place along with a pre-existing cleat on the aft end.  Since the box itself wasn’t necessarily structural in terms of withholding the batteries, I installed a strap over the batteries, and bolted it to the platform beneath.

With the batteries in position, and the back side of the box screwed in place, I led in the cables through a length of flexible conduit for protection.  I’d planned to use terminal-mounted fuses for the overall system protection, but found that the studs were too tall to fit within the box, even if I cut off the excess.  So instead, I installed fuses at the other end of each of the two positive cables, where the fuses would serve the same function, albeit a few feet from the battery.

With all the cables connected to the batteries, and the two 6-volt batteries connected in series to create a 12-volt bank, I secured the top with a corner latch on one side, which was enough to hold it securely along with the cleats on the two opposite edges.

Total time billed on this job today:  5.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:
Dusting of snow overnight, rain showers, 40°.  Forecast for the day:  showers, and then more steady rain in the afternoon, high around 50

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Wednesday

The first order of business was to widen the opening into the engine room, the second time I’d done this, as I was trying to avoid removing any more of the flange than necessary; otherwise I would have made the cut wide the first time around.  After cleaning up the cutting spoils, I pre-installed the after flex mounts on the engine, and prepared to lower it into the engine room.  Even with the extra cutout, it was still a tight fit, and I found I needed to widen it even more right next to the heat exchanger on the port side, which was too close to the cutout when the engine was approaching its final position.

Once I had the engine partially lowered, I paused so I could install the forward mounting flanges and flex mounts from the cabin access.

Now I dropped the engine the rest of the way till it rested on the foundations, and pushed it around a little so I could align the mounting bolt holes and get the bolts started.  At this point, every fastener–the mounting studs and bolts–was loose to allow future movement and alignment, but the engine was basically in its final position.

And sticking up an inch or so above the top of the engine room opening.

This was a vexing–if not altogether unexpected–development.  During my first attempt at engine placement the day before, I’d thought the engine seemed miles above where it needed to end up as I got it close to its final position, but since I never got the engine fully on the beds at that time, I chalked it up to visual misperception and hoped it would turn out OK.  As it turned out, however, my eye was right (as it usually is).

Even worse was the high-rise exhaust elbow, which I’d thought would be a challenge to fit even under better circumstances, and now I knew that no matter what I did from here, there was no way to accommodate the higher elbow.  I’d have to exchange it for the normal elbow.

All throughout the engine process, dating back to some months before when I removed the original engine and made various measurements, I’d known the clearance inside the engine room was a tight fit, but I’d installed the same basic engine in a sistership seven years before (the engine had changed somewhat since then, and the new version was actually shorter and narrower than the one I’d put in before).  It was surprising how different the space apparently was.  That previous installation was also easier to fit through the cockpit opening too, and had required a lot less widening.

The engine was right where it needed to be according to the propeller shaft, however, so there wasn’t any way I could lower it meaningfully with the engine mounts.  The shaft log was where it was, and the engine had to fit it.  And did.

Other than the basic manipulations required for final alignment, the center of the transmission coupling was right in line with the stern tube.  There wasn’t room to move the stern tube even if that had been an approach that made sense, so now I had to put all the questions aside and move forward with a way to cope with the fact that the engine was taller than the space afforded it.

Complicating the issue a bit, the engine hatch–i.e. the cockpit sole–featured a cored center section that protruded down into the opening, so in order to clear that I had to raise the edges even further.  Eventually I determined that I’d need to raise the hatch by 1-1/2″ in order to safely clear the engine.

With some 1-1/2″ blocking on all four sides of the hatch opening, I test-fit the hatch over the top, and checked clearances from beneath.  This just cleared the highest part of the engine.  Fortunately, this would have a minimal practical effect on the hatch or the cockpit, other than creating a small step between the hatch surface and the after part of the cockpit (something that could be conceivably taken care of with a wooden grate over the aft part, if needed down the road).  So, after discussing the issues with the owner, I moved forward with a plan to add a 1-1/2″ fiberglass lip to the underside of the hatch–a fairly straightfoward fix, fortunately.

Next, I wanted to measure for the propeller shaft so I could get that ordered without delay.  Clearance was quite tight in the aperture, and the original shaft had extended to within a relative hair’s breadth from the rudder.  I wanted to allow just a bit more clearance there if I could, which really was the one measurement that would define everything else about the shaft (rather than coming up with an idealized version based on other measurements), so I decided to assemble a false shaft with all the critical pieces in place in order to get the most accurate shaft-only measurement.  From previous jobs, I had a length of 1″ fiberglass tubing on hand just for this purpose, and I fit this into the new coupling at the correct place, making a mark on the aft side for later reference when assembling this in the boat.

With the new Cutless bearing just started in the tube–I didn’t want to fully install it yet–I ran in the fiberglass shaft, and inside the boat I assembled it with the coupling and a sacrificial coupling, dry-fitting it all to the transmission hub as needed.

After ensuring that the shaft extended the right amount into the coupling (based on my mark), I went outside the boat and made various marks to indicate where the rudder hit the shaft, as well as a mark 5″ aft of the stern tube, which was the same amount the original shaft had extended.

After double-checking the whole arrangement 12 or 13 times, I removed the “shaft” and measured the overall length from the coupling end to the final mark I’d made, erring on the short side.  Then I could order the shaft, and I boxed up the coupling to ship off to the machine shop as well so it could be properly fitted to the end of the shaft.  The final measurement was 36-7/8″.

With all that out of the way, I could move forward with the various final connections to the engine.  I reinstalled the fuel filter–permanently, this time–and was preparing to install the rest of the fuel system, but decided instead to finalize the start battery position and therefore the last set of battery cables.

With the actual start battery now on hand, I test-fit it on the platform ahead of the engine, which looked workable, as I’d hoped.  I’d strap it in place and cover the terminals, and that would be that.  So now I could make up the final cable ends, starting with the two cables leading to the engine starter and ground,  and then the three cables to the battery from the switch, ACR, and the required position on the monitor shunt, along with another temperature sensor for the battery monitor.

I couldn’t resist the chance to temporarily connect the battery and, through the “combine” position on the battery switch, energize the ship’s power to check out the operation of what I could–namely all the cabin lights and running lights.  Afterwards, I disconnected and removed the battery for now, and cleaned up from the wiring project since that was essentially done and I needed to get some things off the boat to make way for the remaining work.

Total time billed on this job today:  8 hours

0600 Weather Observation:
20°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  increasing clouds, 35

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Tuesday

The owner requested an electronics mounting base near the companionway, similar (or identical) to an installation I completed on a sistership, and in order to support the base I needed to prepare a wooden mounting base to glue to the bulkhead, since there was no other way to secure the mount without bolting through the cockpit wall.  Using the aluminum base as a guide, I built a simple teak block, and installed flush screws from the back side to create mounting studs for the electronics base.

I planned to epoxy the block–and the studs–to the bulkhead, but since clamping it in place would impede access through the companionway, I set it aside, planning to install it at the end of the day, but as it happened I didn’t get back to it this day.

In the engine room, I installed a plywood panel to close off the bilge access forward of the engine, and hopefully to support the starting battery later.  I’d cut this and painted it earlier.

I mounted the fuel filter on the starboard side of the engine room, as far forward and as low as possible to leave room for access.

On the opposite side, I installed the brackets for the raw water strainer, though I didn’t permanently install the filter at this time to leave more room for engine installation access (since the filter was simple to install once the brackets were in place).

I had to leave the shop for an appointment, but after returning I worked on the engine itself to prepare a few things before installation.  The engine raw water impeller’s cover place came equipped with six small screws to secure it, but I liked to replace these screws with knurled fasteners to make access for inspection and maintenance easier going forward.

The clamps required to support the gear and throttle control cables were fussy enough by design, with two separate pieces and small fasteners, but the slim slotted screws that came with the engine made these just that much more challenging to work with in tight, dark engine rooms, so I replaced these fasteners with socket cap screws to allow a positive engagement with the installation tool.

Knowing full well how difficult access into this engine room  would be once the engine was in place, I pre-installed two lengths of battery cable to the stater solenoid and engine ground bolt.  I cut these generously to length up in the boat first, to determine how long they should be, then made up one end with the required lugs before installing them and tucking the cable length into the engine to keep it out of the way for now.    This would streamline the final connection chores later.

I hoped to make the installation easier by pre-installing the four flex mounts to the engine beds, since access to these bolts was always tough once the engine was in place.  So with the newly-arrived bolts now on hand, I secured the mounts in place in the pre-drilled holes I made earlier.  Then, I rechecked the positioning and alignment with my template and shaft string once more.

By now it was mid-afternoon, but I thought that with a little luck I had time to actually get the engine in the boat, so I went ahead and hooked up the crane and raised the engine into the boat.  Before doing so, I removed the two forward mounting flanges, which I knew would be too wide on their own to fit through the tight engine room opening.  These were secured to the engine block with two bolts each.

In an ideal world, it should have been no problem to lift and place the engine in the engine room in the hour and a half or so remaining in the day, but in my gut I knew it’d not be that easy, and of course it wasn’t.  Despite already widening the engine room opening, it was simply too tight to get the engine in for all practical purposes.  There’s always a fair bit of jockeying for position when inserting an engine into the typically small sailboat engine room, but here, even with that sort of game playing, there really wasn’t enough width as it stood.  I got the engine partway into the opening, and even reinstalled (from inside the cabin) the forward mounting flanges in preparation for dropping onto the mounts, but it soon became clear that I needed to widen the opening further.  It was also clear, from the way the engine fit into the space and what I’d have to do to actually get it onto the foundations, that having the flex mounts pre-installed wasn’t going to work, so I’d have to install them on the flanges first, then bolt them to the engine beds afterwards.  I had to remove a coolant hose from the port side during this initial trial, and even though the coolant reservoir was dry, there was a surprising amount of coolant somewhere in the engine passages that spilled out and required cleanup.

So reluctantly, I lifted the engine back out and rested it (well-padded) in the cockpit for now while I got better prepared for final installation.  I removed the mounts from the engine room, and also removed the fuel filter, not because it was in the way of the engine, but because I’d determined it made access around the side of the engine to the mounts difficult or impossible.  I marked the engine room flange where I’d need to cut it wider(by now it was late, and I didn’t want to do the cut now), and then, finally, I removed a clamp that had held the engine wiring harness plug annoyingly in the way during my test fit, and wasn’t directing the plug the right direction for this installation anyway, so it would have forced a sharp bend in the wires that wouldn’t have done them any good over time.  With the clamp–bolted and well-painted into place–removed, the harness had some freedom of movement, and would be out of the way next time I lowered the engine into place.

Total time billed on this job today:  5.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:
12°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, high 32°

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Monday

With other business away from the shop at the end of last week, I took care of some errands at the same time, and picked up the new batteries for the boat.

During the weekend, I sanded and varnished the tiller, completing the coating for now with the 6th coat.

To finish up the electronics locker, I installed a continuous hinge along the bottom edge, securing it to the existing cabinetry.  For now, I used only a few screws on the bottom leaf of the hinge since I’d need to remove the panel to install some of the electronics.  To secure the panel when in place, I added two screws at the top edge, and also installed a simple handle to allow the panel to be easily swung down or removed as needed.

Meanwhile, I removed the tape and excess sealant from around the mast wiring chase and mast step.

Next up in the electrical system was the battery cables.  Each battery bank would require three cables–two positive wires (leading from the battery switch and ACR) and a negative cable in each case.  With the final start battery position still up in the air pending the engine installation, I started with the cables to the house bank in the port cockpit locker.  Eventually, after consideration of various alternatives, I decided to run these cables out from the battery switch area (port settee) into the engine room, then aft and through a small bulkhead that connected with the locker containing the batteries.  After determining the lengths required, and making up the ends, I led the three cables (plus a small wire for the battery monitor temperature sensor) aft, securing them along the way and running the cables through short conduits where they passed through the bulkheads.  At the battery end, I provided enough slack to allow the cables to run up, over, and through the battery enclosure.

Back in the battery switch area, I made up the other ends of these cables, along with the positive and negative cables running between the distribution busses and the electrical panels on each side.  I’d finish up the st art battery and engine cables soon, once the engine was in place and I could determine the cables’ requirements.

To that end, I next turned to the engine layout so I could pre-adjust the engine mounts and determine their locations in the engine room.  Using existing foundations, I’d long ago determined that the basic layout was adaptable to the replacement engine, but since I didn’t build the foundations specifically for this installation, the final fit and placement wasn’t preordained.

To begin, I set up a layout/centerline string to represent the shaft centerline, leading it through a pair of centering plugs in the stern tube and into the boat, where I adjusted it as needed to center it in the shaft log before securing the string on a temporary cleat.

I placed my engine template over the string, slipping the string into the slots leading to the shaft center holes in the jig, and adjusted the mounts as needed to eventually align the jig properly with the string–and the boat.  The front end needed to be raised a bit, too much to do with just the mounts’ adjustment studs, so I added 1/2″ fiberglass blocks beneath the forward mounts.  At length, I adjusted everything so the engine was centered and level.

I marked the position of the mounting feet–easy at the forward end, but hard to reach at the aft end with the curvature of the hull and overhang of the template–then, with the “engine” removed and the mounts placed back on the rough marks, I pre-drilled pilot holes for the mounting bolts.

There were some additional installations to complete before I actually put the engine in place, and I also wanted to address the engine opening, which still had the old rivets left over from a long-ago removed gasket system (there’d been an ineffective gasket made of flattened foam pipe insulation in place when the boat arrived here).  I drilled out the rivets so I could start fresh with a new gasket, and also opened up the forward end of the opening as much as I could on each side, since the opening was not wide enough for the engine (even with the widening), and I wanted to minimize how much I needed to remove from the engine itself in order to squeeze it through.   I knew I’d have to remove the forward mounting flanges, which stuck out an inch or two beyond the actual engine dimensions, but hoped to avoid removing the alternator or anything else if I could.   These photos show the before and after.

 

Total time billed on this job today:    8 hours

0600 Weather Observation:
12°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  increasing clouds, chance of snow, high around 30°.

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Thursday

I’d forgotten to run a wire pair forward for the owner’s planned and eventual Sat Phone, which would mount in the electronics locker, so to begin, I completed that circuit, adding another terminal block for easy connection and disconnection at will.

During the rest of the morning, I finished up the wiring on the port electrical panel, including the rest of the negative distribution buss and all the positive wires, many of which I attached to a separate terminal block to reduce the number of wires leading to the panel, and to minimize wire numbers on any single terminal stud.  The top half of the terminal block serviced the various electronics, which shared a panel circuit, and the lower half serviced three separate power and charging outlets on the port side.   Then, I connected the circuits to the new panel, completing various panel wiring that was required as well (side-by-side panels don’t come with the two sections jumped together).  Afterwards, I installed the panel in its opening, and added appropriate labels to the six circuits.

I spent the remainder of the day repeating the process on the starboard panel, where I terminated all the wires and finalized the installation there.  To prepare ahead for an eventual stereo speaker installation in the molded panel beneath, I led the wire down through the aft side of the electrical enclosure and into the space beneath, covering it with some split loom as there was no way to interconnect without this short exposed span.

Total time billed  on this job today:  8 hours

0600 Weather Observation:
40°, cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  possible shower, clouds, high around 65

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Wednesday

Moving forward with the battery buss assembly, now that the epoxy-coated platform had cured, I pre-assembled the various components on the board.  Considering how the wires would eventually lead, I decided to turn the ACR around so the wires would come out cleanly on the free side of the platform.  Before final installation, I pre-wired anything I could, including a negative lead between the shunt and negative distribution, and a small fused  ground wire from the ACR  Then, with the hull prepared in the bonding area and a small block hot-glued in to hold the platform against sliding, I epoxied the assembly to the hull and left it to cure.

To wire the stern light, built into the Monitor windvane, I led aft a wire pair along a pre-determined route behind the cockpit coaming, then, next to the support tube base containing the stern light wire, installed a side-entry cable clam to accept the wire.  This section of the deck was non-cored, so I didn’t need to do any special hole preparations.   To allow for possible removal of the windvane, I made up the stern light wiring with removable connectors, leaving enough slack belowdecks to allow the wiring to be disconnected if needed.  Back at the electrical panels, I ran the bitter end of the wire across from port to starboard, so I could join it with the bow light wiring to a common breaker on that side.

Meanwhile, I continued with the final wire runs on the port side, beginning with three circuits up into the new electronics locker, where I installed terminal blocks to allow easy removal of the entire front panel (which would include the various electronics), which the owner had requested.  For now, I tucked in spare speaker and VHF cable wire while awaiting the final connections of those items.

I connected the required five wires to the RTE control box, including a power supply from the panel, then the three wires from the mast wiring.  I led aft the two wires that would supply power to the masthead all-round white light, which would be switched separately.  I wired the RTE box from the bottom, highlighting why I needed the extra space carved out of the back of the panel.  To access the screws that clamped the wires in place, I had to remove the control box from the mounting kit temporarily.  There was a set of back wire terminals a little higher up, but I didn’t have any sort of connectors in my inventory that fit the terminals therein.

Later, I installed a simple pull switch to operate the LED night light in the panel (which would be incorporated into the cabin lights circuit), and secured the various wiring in the new electronics locker.

I thought that was pretty much it for bulk wiring circuits, and now I was ready to move on to the final termination of all the new wires.  To begin, I untaped the glued-on terminal blocks in the two locker areas, and, on the port side, secured up and out of th e way a mass of transducer cable for the knotmeter.

To connect the panels and distribution busses with the battery system, I ran battery cable into each of the two electric locker areas through the hidden wire conduit behind the bulkhead, hopefully the last wires I’d have to lead through.

Then, I made up the ends, connecting the yellow wire to the negative distribution buss on each side, and leaving enough slack in the positive wire to allow for connection to the panel later, and to allow removal of the panels for wiring and servicing.

Finally, I began to make up the negative wire ends, starting on the port side.  I labeled each wire with its circuit number as I went.  I’d continue this process with the remaining wires, and eventually make up the positive ends to the panels and terminal blocks as required.

Total time billed on this job today:  6.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:
25°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 50

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Tuesday

Not wanting to let the varnish work fall too far behind, I sanded and varnished (5) the tiller once again.

I wanted to minimize running wires back and forth across the aft end of the boat, but I couldn’t avoid it entirely.  The red LED light in the electronics locker would best be tied in to the cabin lights circuit, and operated separately on its own switch nearby.  I didn’t have a switch on hand, so I ordered one, and then I pre-wired (to the extent possible, other than connecting to the new switch) the back of the light fixture and, using the messenger lines I’d run in when I removed the old wiring, pulled the wire across through the after wire chases so it could connect with the cabin lights circuit on the starboard panel.   At the same time, I pulled through a length of speaker wire to service the starboard speaker now or in the future, and pulled through a new length of messenger so I could run additional wires as needed.

Mast wiring requirements on this boat included a VHF  antenna cable, as well as three wires for the combination steaming/deck light (two leads plus a negative), and five wires for the masthead unit containing the radar target enhancer and all-round white LED light.  The wires from the mast would need a point of easy connection in order to allow for unstepping the mast.  To keep the wire runs easy and clean, I used multi-conductor cable for each.  I’d had to order a length of 5-conductor cable for the RTE, so I started now with the 3 wire cable for the mast light, leading the wire forward into the hanging locker on the port side, where I installed a terminal block for the wire connection.  I labeled each wire accordingly, and left the panel end to run long for now while it awaited final termination there.

Next, I ran in a length of VHF cable, leaving the after end a bit long and unterminated for now, but because the connector from the mast end would be too large to pass through the smallish opening in the beam to reach the wiring area, I made up the connection end near the new mast wiring deck fitting, where it would be hidden inside the small cover box on the overhead.

Later, with the new 5-conductor cable on hand, I installed a second terminal block for the RTE and anchor light, and made up the five wires there before securing the mast wiring runs along the bulkhead and pulling aft all the excess wire from the various runs, leaving the aft ends unterminated for the moment.   I labeled all the new wires and the terminal block as needed to ensure proper connections when the mast was stepped, now and in the future.

To the two power outlets in the angled panel, I led two short wire pairs, and made up the ends at the outlets’ terminals.  With other wiring going on nearby, it’d be a little bit till I could do the final cleanup and securing of the wiring in this area.

The question of where to install the various components of the battery system–distribution busses, the Automatic Charging Relay (ACR), and the shunt for the battery monitor, had been on my mind for a while.  These connections needed to be readily accessible for installation, but also well-protected and out of sight.    The challenges involved in running in the various lengths of larger battery cable also dictated (or eliminated) various possibilities, particularly with an eye towards minimizing cable runs, and I considered the various possibilities for how to lead the cables to and from the new house battery compartment and wherever the start battery would end up (hopefully the forward end of the engine room), and at this writing there were a few possibilities in play that could work, which was all I really needed to know at the moment.  When the time came soon to  actually run the cables, I’d figure out which option worked the best for me, and for the future.

The engine room didn’t really have the space (not once the engine and its ancillary installations were complete, and in any event wasn’t the best location for most of this anyway.  There wasn’t room in the battery locker itself.  Eventually, I decided to build a small wooden platform–which would be the surface to which I’d actually install the distribution busses and other items–that would fit in the port settee locker against the hull.  This would give the access required for maintenance and installation, and with the components well-covered would protect the wiring within, without impinging too much on available storage space.  This particular locker already contained a bilge pump and related hoses, plus the depthsounder transducer.  As a bonus, it was also convenient to lead in the Ethernet cable for the battery monitor, which was located directly above (well, semi-directly), and since the batteries were also on the port side, wiring would be as efficient as possible.

To this end, I laid out a plywood panel to contain the positive and negative distribution busses, the ACR, and the monitor shunt.  I built plywood “legs” so the platform would only rest on  the hull in specific areas, and, after a test-fit, I epoxy-coated the whole platform in advance, leaving it to cure.  In the locker, I prepared the eventual bonding surface by sanding the factory locker gelcoat where the legs would rest.

It made sense to install the new battery switch on this side as well; the old switch had been to starboard.    I mounted the new switch from the back side of the locker side, beneath the companionway steps.

Now I could run in the Ethernet cable for the battery monitor–the only direct connection between the display and the other wiring.  There was room to run it hidden through the settee bottom and into the locker behind, then up into the new electronics locker above, where I tied up all the excess cable (I decided it was best to have it here) and connected the cable to the monitor.  Inside the locker, I protected the cable with split loom, and secured it out of the way as much as possible.  I also led in, through the same opening from above, a length of speaker wire for the port speaker, which would eventually be installed just aft of the sliding locker doors on each side.

To prepare for the final wire termination in the two electrical panel locations, at the end of the day I used adhesive to install negative distribution busses and terminal blocks on each side, against the hull liner.  I lightly sanded and solvent-washed these areas before securing the components with adhesive and tape to hold them while the adhesive cured.  The terminal blocks would help minimize individual wire leads to the circuit breakers on the panel for some of the circuits containing multiple installations, such as cabin lights, electronics, and power outlets.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:
Showers, 35°.  Forecast for the day:  clouds, showers, and eventual clearing; windy.  HIgh in the 40s

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Monday

To begin, I assembled the various components into the small, angled piece of the electronics locker, and installed the panel semi-permanently with screws.

Forward of the mast step, I drilled a hole through the deck for the mast wiring chase, and installed it and a cover panel (to cosmetically cover the old, patched wiring holes) with plenty of sealant.  The cover plate was secured only with sealant, and of course the through hull itself.

While I was in the area, I also applied new sealant around the dug-out edges of the mast step plate.  I’d leave the tape in place till the sealant cured in this instance.

After loading aboard wire reels, tools, and related needs, I spent the rest of the day on bulk wiring, starting with the wire runs on the starboard side.  Before beginning, I thought about how I wanted to lay out the circuits on the two switch panels, since I wanted to minimize  wire runs from one side of the boat to the other,  There was limited space in the hidden wire channels at the aft end of the cabin, the only way to communicate invisibly from one side of the boat to the other, and keeping this sort of run to a minimum would avoid extra-long wire runs also.

I started with the bicolor light on the pulpit, and ran a new wire forward through existing wire runs to interconnect with a leftover stub of the original wire in the forward cabin.  There was no other wiring to run this far forward, so I could go ahead and secure the new wire in the pre-installed wire tie mounts.  I pulled the slack back towards the starboard panel area, and, leaving plenty of excess wire for final termination later, cut off the wire and began the next run.

Working my way aft, I ran new wires to the forward cabin and head on the starboard side, where I installed new LED lighting fixtures in both locations, as well as another USB charging port in the forward cabin (located so as to be hidden behind a cover panel in the head).  In the head, where the wires had to be exposed, I led the wires through split loom and secured it neatly against the overhead.

With an existing wire chase spanning the passageway in the head, near the mast step, I could run wires across the boat from starboard to port in order to service the lighting fixtures in the port v-berth and port galley, and then to the starboard galley lighting fixture as well.  Where the wires would be open to view, I secured them in more split loom secured with rubber clamps; in the hanging locker, where the wires would be behind a partial bulkhead (currently removed for access), I used glue-on wire mounts for simplicity.  Each fixture had its own wire pair led aft to the panel location.

The galley stove required power for ignition and fan operation, and I led the new wire in from beneath to connect to the stove itself.  The connection point beneath the stove was a simple plug that could be removed easily enough from beneath should the stove require removal someday.  Meanwhile, I reconnected the stove’s fuel supply and exhaust vent.

This completed all the wire runs forward on this side, so I could straighten out and secure the wires along the wire chase at the far edge of the deck liner, leaving the wire ends at the panel location for eventual termination.  I’d continue with the port side wiring next time.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:
Cloudy, 32°.  Forecast for the day:  Rain in the afternoon, high in the 40s.

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Saturday

At my request, the owner provided me with a quick sketch of his proposed layout for items in the new electrical locker, which I used to lay out the actual sizes of the listed equipment on the panel, which I covered with tape for layout purposes.  I tried to leave a full 3″ buffer at the bottom, plus more than an inch at the top, to account for support cleats, hinges, and other obstructions (like the backrest)  Then, I test-fit it in the boat with the backrest in place to see how it worked out in reality.

While it would work with this layout if necessary, the two items at the forward end were pretty scrunched in, and the stereo was lower than ideal, and partially hidden behind the backrest.  I thought it might work better if I moved the small control box at the top (for a masthead unit combining a radar target enhancer (RTE) and an anchor light) to the angled after panel, where it could share space with the battery monitor and other installations, and this would open up the forward end of the large panel for the stereo to move up.  This seemed to work better, and the owner approved the change, though with final decisions still pending on some of the installations and whether or not they would happen nor or in the future, we decided to wait on cutting any of the large panel till later.

Still, I could proceed with the cutout for the RTE in the angled panel.  Using a supplied flush mount kit, I laid out the opening and cut it as needed.  The flush-mount kit and control box itself appeared to have been designed for a thin metal panel, and the way the wiring connections to the control box worked required that I expand the cutout on the bottom edge–basically extend it as far down as I could while still allowing the coverplate to cover the hole–and even use a router with a chamfer bit to pare away material on the back side to allow access to the wiring block on the control.

With the panels complete for now, I lightly sanded as needed, then applied coats of teak oil to match the other woodwork.

The owner re quested a second 12V outlet on the port electrical panel, so I went ahead and prepared the opening for that now.

Later, I installed the new rudder cheeks, now that their varnish work was complete.  I thought I could install the side pieces loosely, then insert the center part at the top, but this didn’t work well at all, so after some frustrating moments I removed the cheeks and pre-assembled the three sections on the bench before installing the whole assembly on the boat.    The whole process was more difficult than I imagined it could be, since, despite having copied the original cheeks exactly–including the bolt holes–I had trouble aligning things, and had to ream out the bolt holes, which had gotten some varnish in and didn’t make it easy to install the threaded rod.

In the event, I got the cheeks installed with new stainless steel threaded rod and acorn nuts on both sides.  What I thought would be a 5-minute job ended up taking over 30 minutes, but why this sort of thing continued to take me by surprise was the only real question.

After the usual light sanding, I applied another coat of varnish to the tiller.

Continuing with various small and loose ends, I cleaned up the excess ( and now-cured) sealant from around the chainplate covers.

Meanwhile, I applied a coat of paint to the battery box pieces.

Total time billed on this job today:  4.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:
30°, cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  Clearing, high in the low 40s