At the Headwaters

At this point, the main focus is on the electrical work of the boat. Much of the rest of it hinges on this, as we can’t close anything in or put the walls up until the internal wiring is complete. There are a couple problems with this, though; one being that the electrical work is a complete mess, the other being that I really don’t know anything about electricity and, what’s more, my head starts spinning anytime I try to learn about it. We got a good jump on it, though, when my brothers, Jamie and Adam, came down and traced all the wiring, labeled it and drew up the start of a wiring diagram.

I’ve got all the books: Boatowner’s Illustrated Handbook of Wiring, Powerboater’s Guide to Electrical Systems and a great one called the Boatowner’s Mechanical & Electrical Manual by Nigel Calder.  But apparently I have some sort of mental block when trying to understand theory and practice of DC electrical systems. Anyway, after staring at the wiring diagram for the engine and gauges and deciding that it didn’t match at all with what was in the boat, I meticulously replaced it all with new, correctly sized, wiring. 

So I’ve got it pretty much wired up, but there are still quite a few components, such as the ammeter, tachometer and other gauges that don’t have any markings on the terminals, so it is a bit of a toss-up as to how they are connected. 

Dad is quite good with electricity though, so we aren’t completely helpless.  We’ve got it now so the ignition key turns the engine over – progress!

I also spend a good evening writing out a wiring diagram for all the other electrical components, including the bilge pump, lights, blower, radio, horn, ect.  I listed out the amp draw of each as well, so I can match the circuits with the correct fuses.

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I picked up a double-fluted horn and a spotlight from a residential boat yard in Grantsburg, WI, on the way to the family cabin.  The place is acres and acres of old boats, some nice, most in ruin, on this guy’s property:  shells of old boats, outboards and miscellaneous parts surround his mobile home. 

One of the first times we went there, we drove up as the owner was banging away at a frozen cylinder in the driveway.  I walked up and asked him if we could look around to see if there were any parts we could use.  He stared at me for fifteen seconds with a scowl on his face before I repeated my question.  To which he says, “What do you want,” and so I rephrase my question . . . and he proceeds to stare at the ground for a couple moments and then goes back to work hammering.  I look over my shoulder at my dad, and then look back at the guy and tentatively say, “Well . . . ?”   And he responds by mumbling something like “I don’t god damned care.”  Wow.

I stopped by a second time, and told him what I was looking for.  Same sort of exchange:  me asking fairly straight-forward questions and he staring at me like I ran off with his daughter.  The conversation ended by him telling me to stop by in two weeks and he’d have rounded up some parts. 

So I show up two weeks to the day, knock on his door, and he stares at me and asks me who I am and what parts I’m talking about.  After a while I give up and just pretend it was the first time I was there. 

We drove around in his old Ford truck on the back forty looking for cowl vents, a horn and spotlight.  I’d actually previously spotted the light I was after, but he said it was on a “good” boat – I’m pretty sure it had a hole in the hull — and it wasn’t for sale.  We found the other parts, but no other spotlights.  Amazingly, after a few minutes, he warmed up pretty good, and turned out to be able to hold a conversation.  To top it off, by the end, he decided it would be okay for me to have the spotlight I was after.  It took forever to get it off the boat, and for a bit it didn’t look like it was coming.  I wasn’t leaving with out it though, as he named the price of $40 for a stainless steel manually operated spotlight that isn’t made anymore – a good find.