RESTORATION PROGRESS: ELECTRICAL

Browsing through the Cape Dory Message Board , I found a reference to Pacer Marine of Sarasota, Florida. Luckily for me, they have an outlet in Fort Lauderdale, about 15 miles from my home. Their wire prices are about a third of West Marine, with the caveat that some (but not all) of their items are bulk purchase only. For me this worked out well, because I saved a lot of money and also had some materials left in reserve.


The time to run new wiring was after stripping the boat. For the 9 circuits I needed, I ran 7 new circuits, which added 5 circuits and replaced 2 of the 4 old circuits. For this upgrade, I used BC-5WC rated red/yellow duplex cable. Two circuits are 10 AWG, four are 14 AWG, and one is 16 AWG.


Here are photos some of the new wiring I have installed, and some of the original wiring. The first photo shows the electrical box where the panel will be mounted, and the second photo shows the cabin, where wiring is supplied to the mast (center) and the starboard side.


New Panel Wiring New Cabin Wiring

I then began building a Distribution Panel to mount inside the electrical box. This would organize the wiring from the Electrical Panel, the power supply, and the boat's circuits. All wires are catalogued and numbered.


Distribution Panel

All 4 of the original circuits were for lighting, and were molded into the cabin top matrix so they could not be realistically removed or replaced. I replaced those I could, and decided to lighten the electrical load on the remaining 2 original circuits by switching from incandescent to LED lighting.


I built the DC Electrical Control Panel with a total of 10 circuits (one spare), a Voltmeter, and an Ammeter. I hinged the panel to make the wiring more easily accessible.

This photo shows the juxtaposition of the Electrical Panel and the Distribution Panel within the electrical box. Above the Electrical Panel, you see the coaxial cable for the VHF radio. Behind the Electrical Panel is the Navigation Sub-Panel (actually a fuse block) which allows me to fuse up to 6 individual components of the Navigation Circuit, such as VHF, GPS, AutoPilot, Depth Finder, etc.

Electrical Box

This shows the final layout of the Control Panel. To the right is the Bilge Pump circuit, including a cycle counter. The battery selector is below that. Above is the Navigation Sub-Panel and coaxial cable. At the bottom left is a 12v outlet of the Auxiliary circuit. There are 6 of these throughout the boat, which can be used for any plug-in device, such as (e.g.) spotlight, or drill. In this circuit, each component is individually fused in the male plug.
Electrical Panel

Home Page

Bilge Pump Installation Icebox Construction Dinghy Reconstruction Tiller Lamination Sail Loft
Before Restoration The Hull The Deck The Interior Electrical System
During Restoration Hull Restoration Deck Restoration Interior Restoration Electrical Restoration
AFTER RESTORATION THE HULL RESTORED THE DECK RESTORED THE INTERIOR RESTORED ELECTRICAL SYSTEM RESTORED