Boat DC Wiring Tips

I bought my boat uses and it is a British boat as well and the wiring that was and is in the boat is unique.  8-)   What I figured out was the original British wiring was done with brown and black wires.  What was added after that was done with any color wire the person that put it in had on hand.

What I have done over the last few years is try to color code the wiring to ABYC electrical standard colors.

Green or green with yellow stripes  ....  DC grounding conductors
Black or yellow                                ....  DC negative conductors
Red                                                   ....  DC positive conductors

If I had to replace a wire I use the correct color wire.   If the wire is still good I use fingernail paint to color the end of the wire insulation to the correct color.  I got rid of all wire nut connections and replaced them with crimp connections and used connection strips. (Wire nuts are not allowed on a boat).   The original British wire connectors were still good so I kept those.   They are neat. 8-) The wire ends slide in to a bake-alight housing that clamps together with a screw.  I tinned all the wire ends that went in to these to keep corrosion down.

                                          The British connector is the one on the right.
Finding yellow and green fingernail paint was the hard part.

Hand-Bearing Compass for your smart phone

A hand-bearing compass is a great instrument when you are traveling.  Davis makes a nice one, and it is less than $50.00.

An App that you can get for your smart phone is Spyglass and you can get it at the I-tunes App Store for less than $10.00.  It is a compass, a rangefinder, GPS position and more. IT is neat and cheap. 8-) Check it out at happymagenta.com.

The only downer I have found is in the cell phone brightness in full sunlight, and that is not a problem with the app.

Mending a sail

Repairing a seam on a Dacron sail can be very hard to stitch.  Dacron is both stiff and slippery and a bit hard to stitch.   Double stick tape is the best way to keep the Dacron in place so it can be stitched either by hand or with a machine.   For areas that need to be reinforced you can double stick tape a patch of Dacron to the area then it can be stitched down.  Grommets can easily be put in and if the grommet is going to have a lot of stress on the grommet edges can be stitched to re enforce them.

Doing a small sail fix is not hard. Use a good nylon thread and have a fun. 

Wenches...Service your winches

Wenches need to be serviced to keep them working right.  The manufacture's say they should be serviced one a year but I have found every 2 or 3 years is all that is needed.  Most wenches are very simple inside and not hard to work on.  They come apart easily and are easily cleaned and lubricated.

When you take them apart you need to note which way the ratchet tabs face so you can put them back facing the same way.  The wenches on my little sailboat can be re-assembled so they can be made to ratchet in either direction.

I serviced my wenches and I made one wind one way and the one on the other side of the boat turn the other way.  That way I would always wrap the line around the wench from the water side of the boat.   That was till my wife gave me the what for and made me change one so both were the same.  8-)

Doing a service on your wenches to keep them working is quick and easy.  It is a easy DIY job.

Glass bottom bucket...handy and fun

A glass bottom bucket is a great tool and is both handy and fun.  You can check the bottom before you anchor to see what is under you, see marine life more clearly, see the rope that is around your prop and a lot more.  It is like a dive mask. If you need your glasses to see with it is great. You can see and stay dry.

I made my own from an old bucket I cut the bottom out of.  I left about an inch lip around the bottom and then used marine sealant to glue a piece of clear plastic that was about 1/8 " thick in the bottom on to the lip of the bucket.  It is not to attractive but it works great.  You can buy one already made if you like.

My look bucket can still be used as a real bucket also but the plastic can get scratched.  Mine gets used as both a bucket and a look bucket but it cost me almost nothing to make.

Free Cell Phone app from Boat US

Boat US App version 3.0
View weather and tide tables, locate towboat ports and more.
From App store and Googly Play, or visit www.boatus.com/app

boarding protection for your boat...not a gun

I do not like the idea of having a gun on board my boat but but I do like to have a little protection on board.  Something non lethal, that will discourage an intruder or even the biggest Pirate.  8-)

Pepper spray was my first thought but you have to be close for it to be effective.  Bear Repellent, a product that you can spray at a bear will discourage a bear from attacking.  It is a Mega Pepper spray that shoots a blast a good distance and like a shot gun a wide area.  It will disable a boarder or attacker.

It will work on bears also. 8-)  You can get it at Bass Pro or other sporting goods places that sell camping equipment.  It is sort of a Prepper safety tool.

Gas sprayed out when I pluged fuel line in! 8-(

I bought a new fuel tank for my dingy...the old one was ... well just old and had seen better days.  I got it filled and tank was sitting in the sun while I was getting the boat ready to go.  When I plugged the fuel line in I got spayed with gas. 8-(

That never happened with my old tank.  I did not think much of it till it happened again.  What I found out was that the new tanks all have a EPA required zero-emission vent that will not open till an internal pressure of  5 lbs builds up.  It is suppose to prevent volatile gas fumes from escaping into the air.  Now what happens is when the tank gets an internal pressure built up, it pushes gas out when you try to plug in the gas line.  This happens at either end of the fuel line.

Now it just dumps fuel...when the tank gets hot and pressure builds up. 8-(

What I have to do is open the tank to vent off the fumes before I hook up the fuel lines.  So much for EPA right.   What the fix for this is to install a fuel-demand valve in the fuel line.  You put the new valve in the fuel line between the tank and the primer bulb.  A fix for the EPA fix.   And the parts to fix the problem is ONLY ABOUT $30.00 if you do not have to get a new fuel line also.   Oh Well!  It is only money

AC Voltage on your boat

Having a AC voltage source on your boat is very convenient and also very easy.  It lets you bring AC electronics on to your boat to use and just plug them in just like at home. A power inverter is hooked up to your DC batteries and it out puts AC voltage.  These units come in different out put sizes to match your needs.

There are two types of power inverters.  The less expensive type are the Modified Sine Wave inverters (MSW) and is good to run small motors, lights, fans and such. These can run but should not be used to run hi tech electronics like cell phones, plasma screen TVs, Lap tops. The modifies sine wave output is hard on these.

A True Sine Wave inverter should be use with digital electronics.  They are a little more expensive and they will run everything from power tools and high tech electronics with out damaging them.

An example of these are:
The Pro Mariner True Power 400 W Power supply : A MSW unit:

The Xantrex PROwatt SW600 True Sine Wave Inverter: A True Sine Wave Inverter

Both types come in different watt output sizes. Pick a size that meet your need.
These two are good for most needs on a boat but larger sizes are available.