Moving day 31Aug11

 

 

I moved the boat to Alameda on the last day of August, with the help of my trusty crew, Amy and Tony. We saw this ginormous boat near the Spinnaker Restaurant in Sausalito. At first I thought it was the Maltese Falcon, but now I’m not so sure as I think it only has 2 masts, not 3.
Anyway, we successfully defeated it in combat then sailed away to the south,

with Amy at the helm.
We saw lots of gorgeous dolphins along the way, and finally arrived safely at my new dock.

Tony and Amy bound gratefully ashore

Wiring Frightens Me

Yes, it’s true.  Electrical wiring is one of my two main fears.  (Llamas is the other one, but they don’t appear near boats.)

Today’s cliche is “One thing leads to another.” OK, so in a previous entry, I went through the whole Drunk boater damaged the Indian Summer, I fixed the window and hole in the side quickly, the damaged wood panelling slowly, and the lifelines even more slowly. Now, I’m reworking cabin wiring in preparation for repapering (vinyl – it looks better than it sounds).
Here’s the thing – electrical wiring scares the crap out of me. I know why, it’s no mystery. I remember sticking my finger in an outlet as a toddler and getting a really painful shock. (My parents were proponents of the theory that “she’ll only do it once.”)  And as a teenager, lightning hit a pole, travelled down the wire to hit the house, right where I was sitting, and knocked me out.  Ever since, if I get too close to an outlet or a wire, a charge jumps out and zaps me.  Oh yeah, and my parents’ house burned down due to faulty wiring.  It all adds up to me being frightened of electrical wiring.

However, when you have a boat of a certain age, the electrical wiring can be … not factory standard.  All along, I’ve been ignoring the odd wires in random places.  However, now that the cabin lights no longer work, and this is my chance to fix them, it can’t be put off any longer.  I spent this weekend trying to figure out which wires were useful, which ones didn’t attach to anything, and make a diagram.  This also required long phone calls to my dad and brother to ask how to splice wires.  See how a boat brings the family together.

First, I tracked the port cabin light wire back and replaced with a new wire.  To do that, I had to remove some panelling, and found that one of the wood blocks the panelling attached to had come loose.  So before I continue with wiring, I had to reattach with fiberglass.  OK, since I’m fiberglassing, I should touch up the engine well where it’s gotten beaten up.  Plus, some of the wood attachment blocks have holes that have enlarged over the years.  Pull out the wood putty, fix them, and they’re right next to the remaining damaged wood, so work on that too.  Oh yeah, and the quarter berth lazarette cover is damaged, so try to repair with the wood putty as well.

Hours later, I get back to my plan for the weekend – diagramming the wiring.  In figuring that out, I found wires running from the battery back to the engine well where they end in … nothing.  Similarly, wires were running along the cabin, then down through a hole in a lazarette, to attach to nothing.    Wires to the port side for no reason, extra to around the radio,  and a few pieces along the cabin not attached at either end.  I removed them all, first detaching the battery so I wouldn’t inadvertently electrocute myself.  Next week, I can get started on what I had planned for this week - diagramming and replacing the useful wiring for replacement.