Marine Electrical Engineering 101

We said goodbye to Walt today.  We got a TON done over the past ten days and this wave of forward momentum we're riding has us in great spirits.   It's hard to believe that this is refit number two with him.  We've come a long way... heck, we're practically family now.

Here's what was accomplished:

• Mounted the new instrument pole
• Got AIS up and running
• Wired the new ICOM 802 SSB, up and running
• Relocated chartplotter and autopilot
• Aft deck flood light up and running
• Installed new VHF
• New Fusion stereo up and running
• New Victron battery monitor up and running
• Began installation of our Cruise RO Watermaker
• Ran spare VHF antenna to the pole
• General clean up of existing wiring (labeling, zip-tying, removing dead wire..etc)
• Made new nav station panels and mounted all gear on it (more on this later!)
• Ran a crap ton of wires to make it all work

The best part of all this?  Scott now knows the boat like the back of his hand and he has become incredibly proficient with boat electronics.  He's learned the proper technique for soldering, labeling, splicing and running electrical wire (fyi, wire nuts have no place on a boat!) and has become so competent that Walt is seriously considering bringing him along on jobs!  Tip: If you want to cruise indefinitely, gain skills in any boat related field.  It will help you tremendously.

We've come across few professionals who are as meticulous as Walt, and we've benefitted tremendously from him setting the bar high for us.  Last night during dinner Walt said, "You know what I love most about working with you guys?" he paused with a smile as he tousled his mop of thick, grey hair, "We're a great team."  And we are.  Unlike most of the jobs that Walt goes on, we work side by side with him and it's a win/win for all of us:  we learn from his genius, and he gets more accomplished by delegating.  We also tend to have a lot of fun in between.  Thank you Walt for your expertise, friendship and total dedication to our dreams!

In other news:  today we had a rigger come look at our rig.  We're going be adding a permanent inner stay in the next couple weeks so that we can have a stays'l on deck at all times.  While there are plusses and minuses to everything; having a "cutter" rig has been at the top of our list of "wants" since we began cruising.  We'll tell you more about it when we get there...for now, we're going to relax poolside!