Having the GPS mounted on the pedestal is convenient, especially if you have a 12V outlet to power it so you can keep the light on at night. There is not an outlet provided, so I added one. Using a Marinco 12VRC outlet with a rubber cover and a good seal, I placed it on the lower port quadrant on the side of the engine instrument pod, where it would be angled downward to prevent water running down into the barrel of the outlet or around the edge, should the seal fail. Be sure to check for interference with instruments inside the pod before drilling. Inside the pod is a connector block, and I was able to add the wires to appropriate slots on the block without crowding. Caution: the wiring is not heavy enough to support using the outlet for
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I finally got my problem solved. When we ordered our new C380, we ordered it with a Garmin 215 GPS with Differential built in. Well, the GPS worked fine but no differential. The dealer and the West Marine rep tried everything but still no workie. (I forgot to tell you I also had a inverter installed as well) By luck the rigger who was working on my boat turned off the inverter and lo and behold the differential started to work. So, after rewiring, trying a new GPS and new antennas, it was just interference from the inverter. So, I do not use the inverter when under way.
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A swing-down white plastic tray/drawer that mounts easily under the medicine cabinet to hold small items such as milady’s makeup, wallet and change, car keys and whatever. It has positive detents in the up and down position. It is available from ABC, Inc, 1-800-877-4797
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Head Lid and Seat Support
Dave Peffer 10/1/1998
Hull #: 20
The earlier hull numbers were designed without support for the lid and seat in the raised position, which means the hinges break. I made a “T” support of teak, which is screwed into the bulkhead behind the head. Since the bulkhead does not line up with the hinge axis, the “T” is angled 8 degrees to provide a direct 90-degree support for the lid. A rubber tip protects the lid. Looks OK, works fine.
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Who wants to climb down into the lazarette to fetch stored items? Why not hang them up in easy reach? We were going to install athwartships stringers under the seat hatch hinges to install hooks but found stainless line hangers at West Marine (model # 243834). These install on the bolts holding the helmsman’s seat supports without any modification, at all, and the hooks are full half-circles. Nothing can fall off even in a full spinnaker broach. We have the emergency tiller and access-plate wrench, a boat hook, spare lines and fenders, a loud-hailer, the windshield and a bag for the dinghy oars on these. A boarding ladder and bucket are fitted with light retrieving lines, which are also hung on these hooks for easy retrieval. The PFD bags sold by marine stores fit snugly through the lazarette hatches, and we keep
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We all have automatic bilge pumps, but how many times have we actually operated our manual pumps? The location of the pump handle is critical, especially if the crew must pump for extended periods. This operation should have a minimal impact on the helm. And the pump itself was quite an obstacle to entrance into the port lazarette. The solution was to relocate the pump to an area immediately aft of the port propane locker. It is a squeeze, but it fits in an area not otherwise useable. One of the existing hoses had to be replaced. The old pump opening in the cockpit was filled with the piece removed from the new position, glassed in and properly finished by a glass expert. One could never see the original installation! The result is much easier lazarette access, and the operating position
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Mast and Shroud Grounding
Jim Jaeschke 9/1/1998
Hull #: 73
For those of you who did not order the bonding package, here is one idea as to a way to ground the base of the mast and the shroud wires to the keel. There is of course no method in which protection from lightning can be guaranteed. Indeed, there is much debate as to the way that will provide the most protection.
On Electra, we decided to ground (connect) as much of the metal in the boat as possible to the keel. On the lower part of the keel, I have mounted, drilled and tapped, four small Dyna-Plates to make as good an electrical connection to the water as possible. In fresh water, this connection to the water is the weakest link in the protection system. Spread the Dyna-Plates out on the keel on both sides so that the electricity
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I found out the hard way that middle stern section cockpit seat latches do not latch the seat securely on Electra. I stepped on the back of the seat and managed to launch it out into the lake while I fell onto the swim platform. I am correcting this design with one that will securely lock the seat in place and also make it very visible that it is locked. This is accomplished by making aluminum J hooks that are attached to the inside of the seat such that they will hook under the front of the bar that the seat rests on. Another section of bar was added at the back of the seat to reduce the potential for pivoting. I was lucky that this occurred in the slip and not out in the lake.
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Gotta have them. Even the red light over the galley hurts night vision from the cockpit. We added two night lights: one in the head next to and six inches above the seat of the commode below the sink, and one on the curve at the aft end of the starboard settee just above the cabin sole and just inboard of the navigator’s chair hinge support. When installing the latter be sure to remove the settee cushion base (only six or eight screws hold it down) to find the right spot for the light and to avoid drilling a hole in the holding tank, which fits snugly into this corner! You will find a simple electrician’s snake invaluable in such electrical installations. For some reason these lights are hard to find, but I got some from M&E Marine. You may have
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Spare Propane Locker Becomes Cockpit Cooler
Dave Peffer
11/1/1998
Hull #: 20
We rarely need two propane bottles aboard, and we don’t want to open our refrigerator more often than absolutely necessary. My solution was to line the outside of the spare (starboard) propane locker with insulation, working from below in the lazarette. I used three wraps of roll insulation (from a home store) which sandwiches bubble-wrap between layers of foil, lightly gluing it and wrapping it in place with nylon strapping. The bottom was covered with expanded foam insulation board, and the joints sealed withlatex expanding foam insulation (Find this stuff! It cleans up with water!).
The locker cover was lined with the same rigid board insulation. Here I cut one piece to fit inside the water-exclusion fiddle, another to extend down just into the round part of the locker, using contact cement to hold them in place on
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