Nice long day

     I spent a nice amount of time out at the boat today.  I took the day off work because I have some vacation I need to burn, so why not?  The first thing I did was hook up the wires coming from the mast light to the small jumper bar mounted inside the boat.  I still need to run wire from here to the panel, but that is going to hold off until I have a little money to spend.

     Next I moved back to the engine box.  I had it roughed in from earlier, but wanted to get it at least closer to the way I envisioned it working.  It took a lot of sanding and trial fits, but I have it close to where I want it.  The top piece was cut in half and a hinge installed.  The back part  was screwed down to the supports, and the front piece just rests in place when down and is supported in place by a little latch I had laying around when it is lifted up.  I need to come up with another latch of some type to hold it in place when it is in the down position.  I added a couple pieces of 1x2s to act as a guide and anchor for the front piece.  Now it will slide up and out of the way when thetop is lifted.  On the left you can see it in the lifted (top) and closed positions.   Somehow the piece making up the top seems to have warped a little bit at the corners.  I'm hoping that I can wet it down and weigh it down to bring it back.  If not I may have to install 2 latches, one on each side, just to hold it in place.  The plan is to have the top covered in some sort of material that will run all the way across the galley area and make the "counter" part of the galley.  Maybe something to step on when entering the cabin too, that way you don't put your nasty shoes on the food preparation area.  The front I hope to cover with some 1/4" hardwood and stain and varnish it up nice and pretty.   





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     I also cut out and installed the piece around the radio. It still needs a couple of ventilation holes, but I haven't decide how to do that yet.  I am going to fill all the lines and screw holes in so that it will be seamless from the panel over.  I am also planning on running a line of caulk on top to fill in that gap and make a nice transition, and it will all be painted the same color.  Some day.

     Now I'm at home getting ready for dinner.  The basil in the garden is starting to go to seed, so that means it is time for some pesto.  If you look close you can also see a bunch of cherry tomatoes and some peppers I am going to roast.  The tub in the background is the sponge for the sourdough that is going to me baked.  I started the little yeasty guys growing about a week ago and am excited to give it a shot.  If you don't hear from me soon it means I did a poor job and my science experiment killed me.  That or I have relatives in town to entertain for a couple of days.

Tunes!

     It isn't much to look at, but I have tunes!  I finished the rough in of the radio box and hooked up the old speaker wires coming from the cockpit.  One of them is either bad or not hooked up anymore because I am only getting sound from one of them.  Still, better than none.

      I also made a cardboard mock up of the piece that will cover the front and line up with the electrical panel.  I didn't get it cut out because I had to go home and study, but at least I made a little bit of progress today.

More wiring

     I started off today by wiring up the radio.  I figured I had worked in silence long enough and it is time for some tunes.  I didn't get the speakers mounted or speaker wire run, but I did get all the connections from the radio to the panel done.  You know the drill, crimped connections, solder, and heat shrink.  Unfortunately, I forgot to check to make sure the radio actually worked before I hooked everything up, and I couldn't get it to turn on.  I didn't have my meter with me to see if it was a power problem, but the marine radio is on the same circuit and it works fine.  Not looking good.  Thankfully I have another radio I pulled out of the wife's car after she met a deer up close and personal.  I will have to splice in a new connector for the speakers or redo them.  Also, I need an antenna.  No tunes yet it seems.

     While I was wiring, I installed a new connector for the wiring running up the mast to the running lights.  There is a 2 conductor with an old connector and a 3 wire coming from the bottom of the mast, so I decided to try the 3.  I bought a water proof, through deck, 4 conductor connection and wired it in.  I installed a small junction bar on the inside were the wires run in but didn't get around to hooking it up.  I still need to buy the wire to run from here back to the panel, so no hurry.  The pictures below show the inside and outside view.

Cutting More Holes!

     I didn't have a whole lot of time yesterday to work on the boat because my brother was coming in to town to visit, but I did stop by for a little bit.

    I added a small junction bar in the electrical panel for the CD player and started wiring it up, but couldn't get too far because I need some more connectors and shrink wrap for the wiring.

     I also cut out a new hole in the galley area and installed a hatch to be able to access the bottom of the sink and the seacock attached to it.  The old one got mostly covered when I redid the engine box and I realized I needed a way to get my hand in there after I re install the sink.