Replacing the stripes

This weekend we concentrated on just three tasks: Repainting the accent stripes around the flybridge, straightening out the outdated and poorly installed wiring on the bridge and mounting the radar antenna.

Mounting the radar antenna was fairly straightforward, although it took the better part of three hours. We removed the electric horns (which didn't work anyway), put the mount in place and marked the mounting hole locations. We applied masking tape and drilled through the bridge, after which inserted the stainless steel toggle bolts. The radar mount bolted in place fairly easily. Then we put the antenna on the mast and bolted that down. Dragging 30 ft. of antenna cable through the hole in the front of the bridge was time consuming.

Frances arrived and began painting the two accent stripes. That went well, although there are a few spots that need more attention. As we left on Sunday afternoon, it looked pretty good.

The wiring on the bridge took a little more time. In fact, much of Saturday afternoon was spent lying upside down under the upper steering station studying what I would consider sloppy and questionable wiring that had been made over the years. It took a while to figure out just what all those wires and connections were for.

Silverton's original wiring plan was quite simple. Two large multi-conductor cables (one for the port side and one for the starboard side) run up from the lower steering station and the circuit breaker panel. All connections were made at the bridge instruments and the two ignition switches. For instance, the -12 VDC system ground for each side was connected to the brackets that hold the two tachometers in place. Cheap, simple and easy to install. However, over time electrical accessories were added on the flybridge: a VHF-marine radio, a Judson engine synchronizer and a spotlight, among others. Since there is a limit as to just how many extra connections can be added to the terminals on the ignition switches and instruments to get needed DC power for these accessories, the previous owner simply tapped into the existing cables, eventually leaving a rat's nest of mis-matched wires and taped-together splices. For example, when an older depth sounder was replaced with a new fish-finder, new wiring was tapped into the old and the old equipment's wiring simply left dangling.

On Sunday, all of that was removed on the starboard side, yielding about 20 feet of of various size wire and more than 30 splices. New wiring and barrier-type terminal strips were installed to organize and fuse everything properly. That included DC connections for the radar, a new VHF marine radio and the GPS/Chartplotter.