Boat & Kayak Projects RSS
Fish-Eye Cockpit Viewing Lens Instalation
My boat came with a housing for a knot-meter installed in the cabin top, but no gadget to fill it. I recently broke the thin glass viewing window with my knee while hoisting. Instead of fixing the hole with fiberglass, resin and a lot of sanding; I have decided to install a Fish-Eye Cockpit Viewing Lens. The lens is something I picked up a long time ago at a thrift/pawn exchange, it is originally from a copy machine. The lens is about 1/2" thick along the edge of solid glass which will give me plenty of strength. . I have decided...
Spreader Lights
Spreader lights are possibly one of the coolest lighting accessories for sail boaters. The mast provides the perfect platform for illumination on deck and it can make sailing at night a much safer and pleasant experience. Ship to Shore offers spreader lights from Rigid Industries, Dr. Led, Lumitech and Sea Dog Line. The lights I chose operate at 18 watts each which equates to 1.5 amps at 12 volts, 18 AWG wire will work for both lights in this application. Parts & Components / Procedure I will be using a low profile Sea Dog Cable Cam for the thru-deck seal and grommets where the wire enters...
Jabsco Manual Toilet: My Installation Experience
The first step in this whole process was to rip out the old head, hoses, and fittings. I "accidentally" forgot to take pictures of the carnage but trust me, it was an OLD Groco head probably from 1969 when S/V Halcyon rolled out of the factory. It was definitely time for an upgrade. Once everything was out (less the old gate valve) it was time for a lot of scraping and sanding to get the old paint off and expose the glass. One good cleaning later with Acetone and tack cloth, the bathroom got a bright and shinny coat of...
New Lights! (Some assembly required)
Some boats can become extremely complicated in meeting their electrical requirements. My 1969 Cal 34 "Halcyon" rolled out of the factory with a basic 12V system; limited to some simple cabin lights, bilge pump and running lights. When it came into my possession, this is what I had to start with. The time has come to add some additional lighting options forward of the main cabin. I fell in love with the customization options of a basic color changing LED strip available on Amazon. Not exactly a purpose built marine grade product, but the last set has held up for two years...
Installing an inverter on the Inner Hull
Concept There are several different basic composite hull structures that boats use. In the fiberglass world, there are double hulls and single hulls. Double hulls form an extra watertight barrier so that even if the outer hull is penetrated, the inner hull will be able to keep the ocean out. Single hull boats only have one layer of hull structure. Because of the different properties of these hull designs, different mounting techniques must be used for various components in the boat. There are numerous ways to mount an inverter to the inside of the hull, for my single hulled Cal 34 I decided...
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