Adding a Cranking Battery

The goal is pretty simple:  Have a dedicated cranking battery to ensure I can always start the engine if I leave a light on all night.  I don't plan on using this battery for anything but starting, so I will be going with the cheaper true starting battery.  I can also go with a slightly smaller battery since it doesn't have to be a group 27 or 8d to do its job. Despite having the option of going smaller (a group 24 would have been plenty!) I went with a dual purpose battery from West Marine.  It was on sale, and the price was too good to ignore.  Yes, I know that a dual purpose does neither job well, but I picked one that has way more cranking amps than needed, so it will do that job as well as needed.  It also has a little more reserve than a dedicated cranking battery if I need to combine it to keep a light on or something.  At some point you just need to get things done and not get hung up on the details and selection process.  I can always change it out down the road. I selected the port cockpit locker for this battery because the battery compartment next to the engine is full of my house bank on the starboard side.  By placing the cranking battery on the opposite side I add a little balance to the boat (although not as much as I'd like - the house bank is VERY heavy). There's no access to the back side of this bulkhead since it's the ice box.  So, my only option was to use lag screws.  I put in four of them, and they are pretty solid.  I'm not too worried about it.  This is a pretty ugly piece of wood, but I had it kicking around, and it will never show.  At some point I'll go back and glass it into the bulkhead, but I want to run with it for a while to make sure the placement and configuration of the tray is something I want to be permanent.  Knowing me, there will be future tweaks.  In the mean time I will probably give a few coats of Epoxy this fall or next spring just to keep it waterproof. And here is the tray installed onto its cleat.  There is just enough room on the upper side (picture left) to route the bilge pump hoses out of the engine compartment and through the underside of this battery tray.  That will somewhat secure them before they make the journey upwards to their loops before going aft to the through- hulls. The first design flaw I discovered is that the footman loops should have been level with the bottom of the battery box, and not mounted up on the fiddle.  It turns out that they work OK despite, but at some point I'll cut out that area and get them where they need to be. The second thing I discovered is that the nylon webbing that comes with the West Marine (and probably many others since this box looks like every brand I've seen) is almost impossible to release.  It took me about 5 minutes with a flat blade screwdriver to get the teeth out of the webbing.  I'm hoping I had it mounted wrong, because that was the kind of fun I don't need to repeat.  I'll probably substitute webbing from a hardware store at some point to improve the functionality. The cables rout through a notch in the locker divider a few inches above the tray.  Getting them through was easy, and very close to the rest of the wiring harness, which is good for minimizing wire lengths and gauges.

Instrument Update

My boat came with a depth sounder and a knot log.  I don't really have any problems with the older Standard  Horizon instruments at all, so if the knot log worked, I wouldn't be touching them.  Unfortunately, the speed log is dead.  Call me a stickler, but I really don't like the look of mis-matched instruments, so off I go on another project.

The original transducers are installed with wood fairing blocks that I find to be less than elegant.  The first problem is that the wood blocks weren't very well protected, and are in rough shape.  The second thing I don't like is that there's no reason to have a paddlewheel perpendicular to the waterline.  It can hug the hull just fine, and that eliminates the need for a protrusion from the hull. 

My research has suggested a CS27 "ideal" practice of mounting the knot log paddle wheel under the floor in the V-birth area close to the bulkhead.  The problem with doing so on my boat is that the teak and holley sole is screwed to the floor and the countersunk holes are bunged.  There's no way to get in there for maintenance.  I'm also not sure of the clearance available since the sole under that teak and holly is solid glass.  For now, that location is out.

In the interest of getting the project done, my current preference is to keep the existing through-hull locations.  The depth sounder will get a new fairing block cast in thickened epoxy.  The speed log will simply parallel the hull.  I will install the speed and depth instruments in exactly the same locations they originally occupied.

The choice of devices will be Raymarine ST60+.  They seem to be the best value for the money.  At this point I have removed the old fairing blocks and wiring and obtained the instruments.  I'm waiting for the barrier coat before installing the fairing blocks and through-hulls.

GPS Chart Plotter Update

Update?  Well, sort of.  I have a small and old hand held Magellan GPS which has graced the cockpit seats many times.  Unfortunately, it chews through batteries like mad.  It is also lacking a solid mount, although I suppose I could remedy that problem.  I'd like to have something hard-wired into the boat's electrical system, with a solid mounting on the pedestal to make it convenient for the helmsman.

Although they are very sexy, the new large touch screen units are not what my old boat needs.  They won't fit the pedestal very well.   They are also too high tech.  Yes, I said it.  If I had a more modern boat I'd probably think about one, but it just throws the aesthetics for me.  I'm looking for something small because I don't want it to be a visual anchor.  I'd like it to mount in the ~ 8 inch area between the pedestal support tubes so that it can be viewed just above the binnacle compass.

From a feature perspective I have no worries.  The features I care about have been part of every GPS unit built in the last ten years.  It needs to be able to output NMEA signals so that my VHF's DSC capability is enabled.  I expect to be able to plot a series of waypoints, see my latitude and longitude, and speed over ground.  A nice feature would be the ability to synchronize with a computer, but it's not essential.  My preference is for an internal antenna, but I can work with external if need be.

Considering these requirements it became obvious that I was looking at low-end units, and I immediately found two which stood out:  The $479 Standard Horizon CP180i, and the $449 Garmin GPSMap 431(Pre-loaded with US Inland Lakes - I'm on Lake Ontario).  The next bump up in price brings me to a $699 Garmin 531 which adds screen resolution.  It's hard to justify an extra $100 for screen resolution when my current hand held unit seems to be working fine, but it's worth keeping in the comparison just in case another feature jumps out.

Feature Comparison

	Standard Horizon CP180i	Garmin GPSMap 431	Garmin GPSMap 531	Garmin GPSMap 541
Adv. Price (defender.com)	$479	$449	$599	$699
Dimensions	4.4"H x 7.1"W x 1.7"D	5.0"H x 5.7"W x 2.7"D	5.9"H x 6.4"W x 2.9"D
Antenna	Internal	Internal (ext optional)	Internal (ext optional)	Internal (ext optional)
Screen Resolution	320 x 240	240 x 320	234 x 320
Screen Dimension	5"	4"
Power Consumption	520mA max @ 12v	15W max @ 13.8v	15W max @ 13.8v	15W max @ 13.8v
Waterproof?	???	IPX7	IPX7	IPX7
Cartography	C-MAP by Jeppeson NT+/MAX	Garmin	Garmin	Garmin

Mounting Location

My intent is to mount the GPS on the pedestal immediately behind the binnacle compass.  Since I'm looking down, I anticipate that the compass will not block the screen significantly.  There are a number of options for raising the mount point a bit to mitigate this situation as well.  When reading the installation instructions for each unit I discovered a unique requirement that Garmin lists:  The unit needs to be mounted 20-38" away from a compass (distance depends on the model).

I did some Internet surfing and found that people don't seem to pay much attention to this requirement.  People seem to mount the GPS on their pedestals all the time, and very few report any detectable issues.  However, I wonder how many people have really measured deviation at all compass points?  I tend to think the issue is minimal at best, however, knowing that Garmin says, "don't do it" puts a huge negative mark against the Garmin units.  Based on this, I'm leaning heavily towards the Standard Horizon CP180i.

Bebi Owl Aqua Signal Mounting

New Nav Lights

Introduction

I'm not sure about what is original and what was modified over Ravat's 34 years of life to date, but I am certain that I didn't like it.  The stern 180 degree light was a small incandescent Perko vertical mount unit which is still available through West Marine, although most other stores do not seem to advertise it.  The bow rail has an Aqua Signal Series 40 light mounted to a stainless bracket which was welded in place.  when I connected the wires after launching, neither light worked.

The first decision I had to wrestle with was whether or not to go with LED lighting.  From a pure design perspective, it's not much of a decision.  It's the best option in terms of reliability, long term cost, and energy efficiency.  And yet, I went with incandescent lighting.  I don't do a lot of sailing at night, in fact, I would usually sail until sunset, then get back to port within an hour, and then motor to my slip.  With that in mind, the energy reduction benefit of LEDs was significantly reduced due to my usage.

As this is one of (way, way, way) too many projects in flight right now, the budget could be reduced substantially by selecting a unit that offers a quality housing and a well known upgrade path to LED bulbs.  The Aqua Signal Series 25lights meet those criteria.  They are size-appropriate to my boat, offer mounting options that suit my needs, and are extremely reasonable in price.  Did I mention they are available just about everywhere as well?  Nice.

In my opinion the AS Series 40 is far to large for a pleasing proportion on the CS27's delicate bow.  I liked the slick welded mount, but really never liked the light there.  What really decided the fate of this upgrade was that no matter what I did, I could not get the bulb to stay on any better than intermittently.  That, one might think, could be a problem at night.  While there are many options, I decided to go with the Aqua Signal Series 25 lights because they are very inexpensive, and yet every bit as good quality as the old one that lasted over 30 years.  The smaller size makes a much more pleasing effect on the bow rail.

The Perko stern light seemed a bit too small to me, although that's not really a significant complaint, nor was it the reason I decided to ditch it.  When I opened up the fixture to see if 12V was appearing at the socket, I got a good close look at the lens.  It should be clear, but the center 50% has frosted to white.  This, no doubt, had a negative effect on the light's visibility at night.  On closer inspection, it appears that at some point in time the bulb, or something extremely hot, had melted into the plastic lens.  This doesn't seem like a good situation.  Further, the socket was in pretty bad shape.

Stern Light

The stern light required little more than drilling new holes in the stainless bracket which is welded to the rail.  However, to make the job "right" I needed to go one step farther.  The AS25 light is about an inch wider than the original Perko light.  This extra width protrudes beyond the stainless plate, and would be vulnerable to bumping.  Over time, a crack could develop, or the light could be knocked off.  This seems entirely avoidable to me.

To address this, I created a new bracket out of 1/4" marine lumber (StarBoard).  It could just as easily have been a piece of 1/4" FRP, but I didn't want to have to finish it.  This piece then mounted between the light and the bracket to provide a bit more support in the event of a bump.  The wiring enters through the lower corner screw hole rather than the center because the normal wire path is covered by the stainless bracket.

The installation is strong, and looks good as well.

Bow Light

No matter how I tried, I could not come up with a good way to mount the AS25 light to the AS40 bracket.  I ran through every combination of zip ties, duct tape, epoxy, drilling, and bolts that my imagination could muster.  Not gonna happen.  I'm much happier with the solution I ended up using though.

Aqua Signal makes a rail mount bracket which works wonderfully.  The only problem is that it costs nearly $60 to mount a $25 light.  I wasn't so happy about that, but it was the right thing to do, and by far more elegant than any alternative I could arrive at.  So, I bit the bullet and ordered the bracket.  The bracket was a bit of a puzzle to assemble as it came with no instructions.  I wouldn't quite call it intuitive, by process of elimination and some head scratching came through for me.  The only modification I had to make involved a Dremel tool to help the bracket accept the profile of the curved rail.  Minor grinding was all it needed.

Wiring

The final step was to hook it all back up.  I left the original wiring in place, although I didn't really want to.  It was not good tinned marine wire, but it was already fished through the rails, and I really didn't want to spend the next two days messing with it, or worse yet, remove the rails tat I had bedded only a few months ago.  So, I left a short pigtail inside the hull under each rail, and connected a new 16/2 tinned wire for the run back to the wiring panel.

I have a DC breaker which feeds a Blue Seas Dual-Bus which I use for my Nav Lighting devices.  Not only does it feed the bow and stern light, but it also provides power to back-light my compasses.  All connections were made using tinned heat shrink ring terminals which I obtained through GenuineDealz.com.  

Electronics Projects

This is the fun stuff.  The toys!  Electronics are the electrical components installed throughout the boat for various purposes.  Not to be confused with electrical items, which are the infrastructure of the boats electronics.  Batteries and wires are electrical items, but a stereo is considered electronics. 

Instrument Replacement

The original knot log reads 10 kts standing still, and 10 kts. when I'm at hull speed.  Is that ok?  I wasn't sure either, so I decided it was time to upgrade to a modern instrument system.

VHF Radio + Antenna

The old unit only picks up weather.  No transmit, no receive, no good.  I promised my wife that I was going to responsible when it comes to safety, and with very nice units costing less than $200, there's just no excuse.

GPS Navigation System / Chartplotter

I am currently using a hand-held unit for navigation.  It works just fine, but it slides off the seats and requires frequent battery changes.  It also is a very poor interface for plotting courses and reviewing or managing waypoints.  While not as critical as a VHF radio, I view this as being a pretty important piece of equipment, especially considering that it feeds the ability of a VHF radio to transmit current position to those who would come to aid.

Marine Stereo

In my dream I'm enjoying a little Jimmy Buffet while I gently rock on my anchor rode sipping a glass of wine watching the sunset.  I don't need to shake the keel, but a boat has to have tunes, and mine currently does not.

Bebi Owl Anchor Light Mounting
Purchasing the Bebi Owl was a no-brainer, but mounting it took a little more thought.  In this project I mounted the Owl anchor light inside an Aqua Signal Series 40 housing.

Mast Lighting Update

The mast on Ravat was fit with a combination deck light / steaming light.  Unfortunately, neither of those lights worked.  I also really wanted an anchor light hard wired into the boat, and I wanted it atop the mast.

DIY Custom Nav Pod (Instrument Housing)
A small plastic (OK, fiberglass) box to mount my chart plotter and auto pilot head will run me about $400.  Seriously?  I think I can afford to botch this project up about 20times and still come out ahead.  It's not that hard, but it is time consuming.  This worked out well to fill time gaps while waiting for other orders to come in.

New Running / Navigation Lights
Ravat had a strange mix of Aqua Signal and Perko lights, neither of which pleased me.  The housings were worn out and the fixture assemblies were corroded.  Time for something new.  This project installs Aqua Signal Series 25 lights on the CS27.

Installing a Carbon Monoxide Detector

One of the (long list of) items on my boat's last survey suggested that I should install a Carbon Monoxide detector in the main cabin.  I did some research on this topic, and I can't help but agree that there is some degree of risk, and it seems to be something that strikes in very unexpected situations.

My young son loves to play in the cabin while we're out, and this often includes the 20 minute motor in or out of the main channel which is difficult to sail through due to wind direction and other traffic.  If he were to be affected by CO poisoning I wouldn't even notice from the cockpit.  So yes, I'm in favor of adding a simple measure of safety.

The next step on my journey was to select a model to install.  Many people suggested installing a residential unit.  This has the benefit of opening up to products which are battery powered, and thus won't require running wires and ripping out panels.  On the other hand, these models aren't usually rated for marine duty.  Does that matter?

I think so.  For one thing, most homes don't exist in the constant state of humidity which boats do.  A cheaper unit could have connections which are more susceptible to corrosion.  More significantly though is that a non-marine unit may not be rated for the constant motion and vibration associated with being on water.  Is there a tangible and observed difference in build quality I can point to?  No, not at this time.

I selected the Xintex Fireboy CO Sentinal.  It's marine rated, and one of the smaller units I could find.  My boat is only 27 feet long, so I don't have a vast cavernous interior which has numerous places to put this hunk of plastic.  It's not a very attractive unit, and I really prefer the look of teak and brass to this.  Having said that, I think this is as unobtrusive as it gets, so I'm happy with the decision.

Now that I have a detector, I need to find a location.  And here's where it gets interesting.  The instructions suggest eye level mounting.  Is that eye-level when standing?  Or when seated?  Or when I'm lying on the settee?  After a bit more research it looks like the recommendation is to ensure you can see the little indicator lights, so it's more about visibility than mounting level.  The next suggestion was to avoid proximity to hatches or something like a galley stove.  That makes sense.  But what are other people doing?

I asked my owners association mail list what other people had done, and got back very little that was helpful.  I don't think many people have them installed.  Next I tried consulting the omniscient Google, and again, found almost nothing which described an installation process, location, or photographs of this project.  So I'm left wondering how other people have tackled this job, and why this project has almost no record of others doing it.  You can find a million detailed project descriptions out there for anything... Else...

I'm still debating the location in my own cabin.  I have a few choices, and I'm trying hard to figure out which one will let me see the LEDs, but not draw much attention to the rest of the unit.  I'm beginning to think that like me, most DIY boaters have a CO detector sitting in their lockers waiting for someone else to come up with a great idea to inspire them to complete an installation.  I'll try to come up with something over the next few weeks and post a photo which starts the movement.

Building a Custom NavPod Instrument Housing?

I've been going back and forth in my mind on the decision of how to present my chart plotter and auto pilot control head.  My first strategy was to mount the AP on a NavPod rail mount off the side of my pedestal guard, and then attach the plotter... Somehow...  That plan was trashed when I saw that the NavPod for an ST-60 size instrument was the size of 3 or 4 stacked instruments.  I hate clutter, and I don't want my housings any bigger than absolutely necessary.



The second plan was to use a NavPod to house both the plotter and the AP.  After staring at dimensions for a few hours I came up with one model that sort of had the right height and width, although not as proportional as I'd like.  Unfortunately, these things have way more depth than necessary, and again, would look pretty huge at my boat's helm.  On a big boat none of this matters.  In a tight cockpit, everything matters.

The biggest observation that soured me on the NavPod is the cost.  It's nearly $400 for the plastic box that fits my instruments.  I've laid up quite a bit of fiberglass, and I really have trouble understanding how these devices need to cost $400 with modern assembly techniques.  Yet another example of the Marine tax I suppose.  While I can still make that work into the refit budget, it feels like throwing money away.

My current line of thinking is to put together a custom box built from 1/4" high end plywood.  Pretty much all plywood these days uses waterproof glue, and the high end stuff I have left over from a previous project is very straight.  I'll then put somewhere between 1 and 3 layers of fiberglass cloth over it for strength and weatherproofing.  I believe that just 2 layers of epoxy would do the trick, so I'll probably be closer to 1 layer of cloth.

Rather than using epoxy fillets inside, I will use square strips at either 1/2" or 3/4" depending on what scrap wood I leverage from my pile.  These will be epoxied in place, and then filleted at top and bottom edges.  The purpose of these strips will be to add material to the corners to allow me to use a good round-over bit all the way around the box.  That's important not only for fiberglass layering, but also for safety.  The entire inside will be "painted" with two coats of un-thickened epoxy for water proofing and durability.  I doubt I'll bother with fiberglass on the inside.

The box will attach to the pedestal guard either with U-bolts or #10 screws and acorn nuts.  I haven't decided which way I want to go yet.  The last detail is how I'll allow the box to open and close for wiring access and seasonal removal.  I'm thinking about a access plate in the bottom approximately 4" square.  That should allow access to the internals with minimal impact on the box's overall strength.

I'll fair the outside with Microlight, then either spray it with a nice Krylon white enamel, or use Brightsides rolled and tipped.  Again, not sure which one I'll use yet, but I think either will look great.

What will all this cost?  I already have all the wood I need, so that part is free.  I expect I'll need about $30 in epoxy and another $10 to $20 in cloth.  So, do I choose $400 and a so-so fit with my needs, or do I chooses $50 and a prefect fit?  I think you already know which way I'm leaning.

Chartplotter Selected

West Marine is and Raymarine are running a dual promotion now which results in the Raymarine A70D chart plotter having a $500 rebate, and then West Marine throws in a $200 WM gift card.  That's a pretty hard offer to refuse given how close this leaves the A70 to the A50 I was almost going to buy.  After looking at them in the store I think the A70 is a bit more readable having a slightly larger screen, although same resolution.  I'm not going to need or use the fish finder functionality - couldn't stand the idea of losing a zillionth of a knot in speed, or of my beloved sailing vessel being confused with a fishing boat!  But with this discount it's tough to pass up the offer.

The biggest reason I selected this unit is to keep the instruments consistently speaking SeaTalk.  The plotter will have bidirectional communications with the X-5 SmartPilot computer which should be convenient.  The only thing I appear to be sacrificing is the ability to integrate radar in the future.  I'm not sure I really need radar in my intended use of the boat, so I can't really say that this is going to be a future point of regret.  What I do know is that I picked up a nice plotter for a price I'm happy with.

I also purchased a NavPod angled pedestal guard in 1" tubing to match my current pedestal.  That should make the plotter much more ergonomic in use.  I'm not keen on using a full NavPod enclosure for the plotter though; It's awfully large and painfully expensive.  I may end up going that way, but for now I'm going to see if I can fabricate a worthy bracket for it.

I find it interesting that I can order just about anything from Defender and have it in two days, but almost anything I order from the local West Marine store is a week's wait as they onlyy get orders in once per week.  That's a long wait for an exciting toy!