BRINGING ORDER TO CHAOS - fixing this old sailboat! EP20 Ran-day  

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For the old compass; I'm a high school science teacher working in a lot of the ocean-side suburbs around Sydney. You probably don't want to send it this far, but if you're at a loose end I'd love to show the kids that are boaties, or kids of boaties, how the tech has evolved, advantages or not of digital vs analogue, the mechanic of it (physics teacher), the historical progression, and its part in safety, convenience, necessity (when short-handed). Either way, i'll say that your channel (from a new small boat-owners perspective at least) is fan-bleeding-tastic. Thanks a bunch. Michael

Although i do miss your boat reviews with Captain Q, i have really enjoyed the transition into your current work. Thanks for bringing us along.

We share the same dream of sailing and biking! Because of you and Captain Q I sold my house in the mountains bought a 1995 Morgan 38 and a Sprinter Van and a new bike! I have been living the dream off grid in Alaska, Canada, Northern West Coast and now offshore sailing out of Ventura California to the Channel Islands and cruising the coast north. I bought an amazing high end mountain bike and spend as much time riding in between sailing and off grid camping in my van. There might even be some blue water sailing (with some dintymore stew) in my future! Thanks for all you do your videos are inspiring! By the way I used some editing skills, the one label you found on your wiring said…what ever you do, do not remove!

You are doing a great job RanDay. I hope you accomplish your necessary work so you can get to sailing ASAP. Please say hi to my 2 and 4 legged friend. Thanks. 👍😎🙏🏼✌️

It really doesn't matter what wire is what as long as the wire runs are tidy and secure. Buy a Toner it is used for identifying wires you hook the sender unit on at one of the wires (breaker or equipment end) the wand will sense the tone and sound out on the wire buy just being close to it. Great for figuring out what goes where.

I like! Your music sonds like charlie brown theme music. Good job.

I worked with the chief eng at a TV station (where there are 100's of miles of cables) and watched him disconnect several 100 wires all at once (to swap out an entire switching system). And he had an interesting saying that has always stuck with me in my own, now waning EE career. And that is that "every wire just goes from here to there". The computer industry did something genius in the networking realm. And that is that premade fiberoptic cables all come with a serial number at each termination point. Making tracing and replacing very easy. A good quality wire labeling kit is a great investment.

Great work. When I bought my Allied 36 I started tracing wires. It turned out the entire boat had been rewired at some point, but all the old wires were still there. Since the person who rewired the boat had used automotive wire, I ended up ripping all the wiring out and rewiring the entire boat. It felt great when I finished because I knew what every wire did and where it went. I really like your approach. I too had an ancient autopilot with an electro mechanical heading sensor. It was long dead so I ripped it out. I kept the compass because I thought it was really cool. That felt great.

Hey Ran-day, great work on the engine room and now the wiring. If you plan to sail any distances, it is imperative that you know your boat. Two areas the nerdy and OCD really help is aircraft and marine since your life may be in jeopardy in both if an emergency arises. Your attention to detail is impressive. Love the channel. Your collaboration with Capt Q helped send you on your way. You are doing a great job. Congratulations! Kirby

Your positivity throughout is inspiring 😊 another great episode Randay! 👍👍👏

Glad this channel is getting regular updates again.

“Working on the boat is my happy place” - I can definitely relate! As much as I enjoy sailing, I also enjoy the times I get to spend doing boat projects. I’ve been through the stage that you are at with wiring and I just have so much more confidence in knowing the boat at a much deeper level of detail. Keep up the great work!

Ran-Day, I took the plunge in Dec. 2022 and spent 9 months on my boat on the hard prior to splashing. 2005 Hinckley Sou'wester 42 MkII. Electrical was my first target because I'm into that kind of stuff from my prior life. I did what you did - traced everything. Several HUGE issues due to 3rd party installs from the prior two owners. Once you get that sorted, you'll want to "tune" your DC hull potential in your area of sailing (quantity and composition of "zincs"). AC leakage is a also very big deal as well that typically is cared for with a galvanic isolator. My boat had one, but wired incorrectly and would have electrocuted a nearby swimmer in brackish or fresh water. My AC leakage was 2.33A, now it's zero. ABYC says 30mA or less. I'm in the Chesapeake and would love to meet you up where you are before long. God bless you and your precious family and, of course, Capt'n Q. : ) You are going to end up with one amazing boat. Do not give up!

Great work! The re-usable cable straps are great, but.. I will make one small comment (as I push up my nerd glasses!)… be mindful that any cable running over an area where a ‘falling’ cable could result in a hazardous condition should be supported by metal straps. Plastic doesn’t corrode, but it does get brittle and fail eventually! The pertinent ABYC standard is “11.15.4.1.9 Conductors shall be supported throughout their length or shall be secured at least every 18 in (455 mm) by one of the following methods:11.15.4.1.9.1 by means of nonmetallic clamps sized to hold the conductors firmly in place. Nonmetallic straps or clamps shall not be used over engine(s), moving shafts, other machinery, or passageways, if failure would result in a hazardous condition. The material shall be resistant to oil, gasoline (petrol), and water and shall not break or crack within a temperature range of -40-185°F (-40-85°C); 11.15.4.1.9.2 by means of metal straps or clamps with smooth, rounded edges to hold the conductors firmly in place without damage to the conductors or insulation. That section of the conductor or cable directly under the strap or clamp shall be protected by means of a loom, tape, or another suitable wrapping to prevent injury to the conductor; or 11.15.4.1.9.3 by means of metal clamps lined with an insulating material resistant to the effects of oil, gasoline(petrol), and water.”

Good work! The wide black flat wiring with the window openings is called ladder line. It’s a low-loss cable used to connect a radio to its antenna. It looks like you pulled all of that out, which is appropriate if not using the old system.

Of all of my pet peeves, unlabeled and 'rat's nest' wiring really gets to me. You have done a phenomenal job on cleaning up your wiring Randay. That was a three can Dinty Moore job if there ever was one. Thank you for sharing your experience and best wishes for a great week ahead.

I'd use the compass as a compass, mount above the berth for passages

I'm a retired electrical engineer, sailboat owner (winter livaboard), and purest DIYer. I would respecfully suggest abopting the following process moving forward. Draw a schematic as you discover/install circuits. Label each physical termination point (or in your case, everywhere you see a wire) per your schemtic . Categorize by group: AC, DC power circuits, insruments and controls, DC branch circuits. As you progress with the refit, stick with tried and true solutions which are probably alread on board: AGM batteries, heavy duty alternator with an electronic/adjustable controller (easy to locate, insurable replacements). Develop a house bank bus bar ( both +/- required) with each branch circuit fused at that location. I do not recommend fusing the start battery but recommend a insulate/isolate scheme. An emergency jump circuit from house to engine banks is also recommened. Sure enjoy your channel, good luck with the refit.

I’m doing virtually the same thing on our Hinckley SW50 hull#4 of 26. I’ve removed a ton of crap including a 16,000BTU AC unit that handled just the aft cabin. Amazing how much room we got back. Lots still to do but that’s a old boat.

Great work Randy!! She is coming along nicely keep at it!!

I will never own a sailboat but love watching you guys fix them and sail. I do love long distance bike travel…..

Great vid Randay. Keep doing these and you’ll own the sailboat project market. Newbies like me need more of this.

Great job Randal! Those heaters look awesome.

Archeological dig for sure. I think the ghost of Howard Carter was watching over your shoulder. One thing about quality modern boats is the neat layout and identification of wiring and other systems.

Very wonderful, inspirational, and helpful episode Randay! Thanks as always for sharing!!!

Great vids, you’re doing a great job!!

Excellent job on the labels 👍🏻

Brilllllliant Randay - thanks for sharing ⛵️ 👍 looks like you cleared some room for Dinty and FreiXenet

Looks awesome.

Bravo! I know that took a long time. Thank you for posting.

Great work Randall. Way to learn your boat!

I know there must be a old ship/sailing/maritime museum somewhere within a day's drive of your location. Call them and ask if they are interested in it. Then plan a trip and enjoy your weekend!

Another outstanding episode Randay. Only problem is, every Friday I come down to my 1976 H28 (Kahn Walker) to essentially mirror what you are doing and end up watching your videos and getting little work done. Your happy place stories make own that much happier! PS As a science teacher in Melbourne, I vote for my colleagues idea.

Great clip! Way to dive in and tackle the tough stuff! I see people asking about Q and I have to say I’m totally enjoying the new direction of the channel, it was obvious to me that he was having a tough time keeping up with it all. Super informative and nothing beats leading by doing! Keep sluggin and looking forward to the next project!

Nicely done presentation, I enjoy your positive enthusiasm. Looking forward to your progress.

You certainly have been busy and working hard.. I can see the hard part is working in such a confined areas where you have to be a contortionist.. All the areas that you worked in show a vast Improvement and less cluttered. Much better bright lighting is also a great Improvement which you'll never regret installing. Keep up the great work!

The compass might make a neat feature inside a lamp using LED or tape LED lights. The compass would be re-mounted on wood and have lights illuminating the base and, or the top - think old camp lantern. To turn on the lamp you would have a touch sensing switch and USB charging lights.

Awesome job Randaaay. Looks great.

Agreed, old dead and orphaned wiring is a pet peeve of mine. I am on boat #6 and over the years have removed what seems like miles and miles of dead wiring:( Love your label maker too. Keep up the great work. BTW, I miss Captain Q, hope he is doing well.

Loving this

Order really does help! I have some disorder to unpack in Maine soon!

looking great man! Keep it up.

You’re an interesting guy, which makes all your videos fun and very entertaining to watch:)

Doing great work. Big job but one step at a time will do it. Don’t rush.

Hi Randy, wow taken all the bits and pieces out. What a fantastic job like you said a lot of weight for nothing the new technology today so much better but the old stuff used to work for many years. Anyway keep up the good work. How is Captain Q , Cliff from Australia

I also appreciate the enhancements you’ve made to the engine room lighting 👍🏻👍🏻

Nice work Randay! I absolutely LOVE pulling old kit out of my boat and all the wires that were long since abandoned! So Satisfying! Thanks for the great watch and the tips for dealing with my occasional diarrhea! 🙌

Boat looks awesome! Hope you get the centreboard power sorted out

We had a Wood Freeman AP on a Hinckley 72. It actually worked pretty well. Clunky as all get out but it worked. Now that you have removed it, your going to have to ajust the waterline!

Just started this process on my new to me Sabre 38 and it's intimidating. You handle it like a pro.

Randy great to watch your journey I’m doing same on new to me LH 53 (watched every vid you & Capt did on Ted Hood’s designs numerous times) Like the puzzle analogy Any boat is a never-ending series of problems. We wake up to the list of problems we hadn’t finished yesterday or last week or last month; then there are the problems we don’t even know about yet, but need to find before they find us. I’ve committed to see any ‘problem’ as an ‘opportunity’. Every problem is an opportunity for me to learn a new skill, better way or doing something, learn more about my boat. Keep going, lots of opportunities here ⛵️ Jay s/v Robin Hood Marion

I think one of the best things about taking on a total refit/ partial rebuild derelict wooden boat project is that gutting the cabin largely involves indiscriminately ripping stuff out. So many times I've looked at rats nests of old, unlabeled wiring and thought "Man, Im so glad i dont have to figure this mess out." before ripping it out and throwing it in the trash bag. As for the old autopilot compass, it'd be cool to reuse it as just a compass and make some sort of cockpit mount with a light. I actually really like the idea of a simple electromechanical autopilot that doesn't rely heavily on electronics, but my boat is a traditional wooden double ender with no internal rudder shaft to mount it to.

Ha, I have had 4 sailboats over the years and probably removed half the wires from each one as they were all dead circuits (old boats). Feels great every time.

Well done ... very impressed & inspired ... & just a bit jealous.

Love the label making technique. Try clear heat shrink? Slide it on the wire. Shrink it down over the label and it’s protected. If you can’t slide it over the wire, cut the shrink and supposedly you can superglue it, then shrink it and that should work too. It’s a little tidier.

Wow! That is some ancient kit

I did the same thing to my boat about five years ago. I painted all the bilges and lockers with water-based outdoor paint from home depot and it has been amaizing. Not a flake on it. It bonded really well with the fiberglass. You dont need fancy epoxy paint.

Love your hands Randy

Hey great job buddy!

Randaaaaaay! keeeep on going!

Very nice job Sheldon. Keep up the great work. Let the fans know when your going to sell. You could start a bidding war

Im working on making may galley nice, new formica, sink etc. The sink is over the engine so thats getting cleaned up as well.

I was an auto mechanic for most of my life and now in my later years I repair transit buses. One thing that makes repairs so much easier is that most of the wires on the buses I work on are labeled.

Ran day. You might want to try hitting one of those labels you made with a heat gun and make sure the thermal label doesn’t turn completley black

15:00 proof that attitude is everything. 20:00. Interesting. I have some thermol fax paper that was stored for 20 years... Lol i can not read a thing. I am sure they have solved this issue with your thermo printer. Great video.

Nice job clearing out the chaos😂

Go Ran-day go!

You will be happier down the road ! Great job.

Hi - if you (or anyone else) are still tracing old cables you need to get a Tone Tracer - it will save hours of back and fore - simple to use and not expensive. Buy from RS components. Be careful of cables that are not connected but might have power still on them as they can become Hot.

Great electrical cables clean up.

Amazing progress Randay! I am really curious what your process is in determining what is what?! How on earth did you figure it all out? The part where you yank out old equipment and trace those wires, that I get but where you have ubiquitous wires, what is your process there? You have an electricity/current meter and flip a switch on your instrument panel? Any how love to hear and or see more about your process...if possible. I can imangine it can help quite a few people.

The best way to deal with wiring is either rip all out and rewire or do what you did. Good job randy

Was my first "oh no" when you bought this boat; nice job!

What kind of label maker do you use? Those are pretty slick? Have you tested them with oil and solvents? Do the words disappear? I have always used the cloth 1,2,3 a, b, c labels and just made a chart. That looks so much easier of it holds up.

Ran Day… This episode gives me encouragement to tackle the most Herculean electrical projects on my boat. Thanks for sharing. Nick. T37c S/V Angela Mia Lake Superior.

Hi Ran Day , whoever say's archaeologist's only dig in the dirt has never been i an old boat .Your engine room is looking great now .Great job .and now you can add contortionist to your list of skills.

Interesting lesson in abandoning obsolete systems instead of trying to trace the obsolete wiring for them.

Thanx Ran-day,but I don't need any ballast right now!🤣😆

Beautiful engine room.

STAY AT IT ! YOUR STREAM LINING PROJECT !

Removing old non marine grade wire is highly recommended. I replaced as much as possible on my 1972 c&c. Is the ssb radio marine band or is it ham band?

Loved your label maker joke.

Enjoyed watching I bet that hull is thick you can put the compass in your car if you calibrate it

Noob huh? It’s more like you never forgot what you learned as a noob and have learned from it, and are sharing it😊. Fantastic work making your boat a better place! Fair winds and winding roads.

Brillant. At first thermal printout near heat - not good. Thermal tape to protect it, awesome. I would be curious how well it holds up.

If that 70 lbs drive unit still works, you may be able to connect it to a new Raymarine controller and save yourself the cost of a hydraulic ram. The modern autopilot controllers just need to put 12V on two terminals to move the rudder in one direction, and then -12V on them to move it in the other direction... it doesn't really matter what those 12V wires are connected to.

RanDay! I thought you hung up your Cam Gear along with your Foulies!

Randay, just asking but did you start the motor before you started pulling wires? Did you start it after?

I don't know how expensive it is but Nigel Calder I think that he totally overhauled the electrical system on sailing Atticas's boat. You might check that out a lot of info on the electrical system. Your boats look sort of similar.

This is my absolute nightmare. I know 0 about wiring. I can remove stuff but putting it back together..thats a different story. Keep up the great work!

I also like bicycles and sailboats but wonder how compatible they are. Will a full sized bike fit thru your main hatch or does it require disassembly? How feasible is it to transport a bike on a dinghy? Won't rust quickly become an issue?

Are u putting in any pull strings in so you can pull in new wires?

Great job Randaay. If you're ever in a pinch I'm local my # is public

Way to work Ran-Day, I gotta ask, Captain Q...I hope he's ok

What did you use to label your wires

You keep the compass, I will design whatever it takes to make it dead nuts accurate.

Captain Q got you on a great path, Ran-Day! Keep it up and you'll be on the water soon!

It would be cool to get the autopilot system running and donate it to a museum

The label maker is my friend :)