I was all excited to start working on the new windlass install when I heard Olive yell, “Daaaaddyy. Can you please turn on the light. I can’t do it.” Within minutes I was tearing the boat apart looking for the source of the problem. A problem that got worse as I went. Before the end of the following day we had no lights in the aft cabin or galley. What’s worse, most of the cable for those lights were the original 40 year old run, so it was built right into one of the few parts of the boat that I have no access to. My only recourse was to rewire the whole system.
I still had to tear up all of the sole in the aft half of the boat, remove the quarter berth cushions and boards, the aft head door, and the case around the transmission. I still got bloody and fiberglass peppered, I still got to hit my head at least a dozen times, and I still got grumpy. I didn’t have to saw through the pan of the boat (a sub-sole structure used for???) and I didn’t have to do anything jankey. When I got done the solution was almost elegant. All of the old electrical tape splices (three into one, really?) were gone; replaced with a shiny black double bus. Each light now has its 40 year old wire freshly ring terminated, and I know more of my boat than I did yesterday.
While I certainly don’t spend any time hoping for a job like this to come up, it always seems strangely worth it in the end. Tomorrow, I hope to start that windlass install though, that will be truly fun!