SO WHAT DID YOU DO WITH OR ON YOUR C-DORY TODAY??

Sea Wolf":4pw4un8e said:
Roger-

"I discovered that even though the pump is wired to a switch at the helm, it was fused through a fuse in the battery box in the starboard lazarette. Why - I don't know. Had extra fuse space on the panel at the helm "

The bilge pump is usually wired directly to one battery with its own fuse and switch and does not go through the main battery switch or the helm fuse panel so as to allow the pump to be left on when moored without having all the other electrical/electronic circuits activated. This of course, is to allow for rain water or leakage removal without incurring all the hazards of leaving the rest of the circuits activated.

Sounds like you had a great day on the water! Joe.
Click to expand...

I agree with the theory above and that bilge pumps should be wired that way - however, there is a switch at the helm in the std. factory wiring allows one to turn the pump completely off at the helm. Given that the wires were run to the helm and given that most of the other fuses are up there AND are better protected than in the lazarettes, I would think it would have made more sense to either use an open spot on the fuse panel or to put an in-line fuse up there. That's certainly the first location I would (and did) look in for a fuse.

Also, I know this has been touched on a few times before, but the factory wiring job on my boat is a bit of a mess to follow and is not well documented. One of the things I think the factory needs to work on (Jeff are you listening) is to standardize the wiring that can be standardized, and to more clearly document the wiring in both the manual and on the boat. It's very difficult to trace what looks a bit like a rats nest after installation when wiring is not labeled and well documented. Also, I think the process of standarardizing certain layouts would make it easier for the factory to:
1)bring on and train new staff
2) repair and service boats from customers and
3) Communicate with customers

By standardizing, I mean that wiring which is common to most or even many boats should be run the same way and fused off the same panel position on all boats. That is anyone who has the std. single bilge should have a fuse in the same clearly documented location, ditto for the galley and table lights, the wallas, the norcold, the wipers etc. Electronics are a bit more complicated since there is large variation in what is installed but it would be possible to at least locate most electronics in a single portion of the panel and to define a typical order for the fuses in that portion of the panel - E.g. VHF, entertainment sytem, GPS, Radar etc this would not be too complicated to do and would probably require a few days of thoughtful effort on the part of 1-2 people at the factory.

Just my two cents worth..

Roger on the SeaDNA
 
Roger-

Good ideas!

I know they could very easily run that bilge pump through the standard dash panel by wiring its source independently, but they apparently choose not to do so. Maybe they thought it would be easier to trace if it were wired and switched separately since it had a separate source of power.

What you say is all very logical and should be the standard practice and is done in automobiles.

I know it's not a boat, but when I tried the same questions on the manufacturer of my motor home after opening up the entire dash (which looks like a B-52 wiring job done on New Years Eve), I got the following general answers:

1. Models and features change constantly. it's not possible to draw up a standard wiring diagram. None exists.

2. Exactly how a part is wired depends on what components we have available at that time. Our suppliers change constantly and therefore we use different components that must be wired together differently.

3. We constantly get requests for special modifications that make standardization impossible or at least difficult.

4. Government or manufacturers associations regulations sometimes require us to change how we do things.

I wonder, in practice, how many boat manufacturers furnish wiring diagrams to their customers? Does anybody know? I've never seen one!

Still, we have a quality manufacturer for this classic boat, and things don't change radically or quickly in the boats design or features, so maybe they'll heed your call to standardize the wiring and provide a diagram with all the subsequent boats made.

Good Thinking, Roger!!! Joe.
 
Wires that feed 12v+ to anything on a boat have to be fused near the battery. This is to prevent a short (behind the dash say) from heating the wire to glowing red hot and starting a fire.

The 12v+ wire that feeds the dash fuse panel has to have a fuse inline near the battery. If the bilge pump is also fused at the fuse panel at the dash, then there will be two fuses to troubleshoot.

Perhaps a small sticker should be placed near the dash fuse panel to show the location of any fuses that are not in the fuse panel.
 
After working as a mechanic from 1978 to 1990 I can tell you that standardising the wiring and providing a diagram would help everyone involved.

If C-Dory were to create a standard harness for their boats they could be easily made up ahead of time and installed in much less time. It will also cut down on mistakes made by installers as they can be created such that it is obvious for the installer what goes where. Another benefit of having a good harness is that it makes it so the mechanic can get familiar with the wiring and can know precisely where to look for problems.

Having never worked on or owned a C-Dory my comments are merely based on past experience as a mechanic and to some degree the wasted weekend rewiring the back of my truck due to the previous owners installation of the tailer light and camper harness doing a very sloppy job (IE: nothing worked!).
 
Forgot to mention a few things from yesterday's boating;

We saw a fair number of porpoises in Mutiny Bay - all black on the back so I believe these were harbor porpoises. Seemed to be in very small groups (1-3) and apparently were feeding on herring. Lots of sea gulls were gathered around them on the surface trying to get the left overs... Also saw a few between Mutiny Bay and Port Ludlow.

On the way over to Port Ludlow, we had to pause for a minute or so to allow a big black sub to pass in front. It was escorted by large Coast Guard cutters bow and stern and a couple of smaller, high speed inflatables buzzing around it. It was kind of fun to see - and to see the uneducated small boat Memorial day boaters getting educated by the escort vessels about keeping the proper distance from a naval vessel in the post 911 era. My general rule is that anything with torpedos and nuclear power has the right-of-way but it would appear that not all sailboats think this way....
 
I just installed the rudder position sensor for my Raymarine st6001 auto pilot.
I got the C80 system with the 6001 autopilot installed from EQ last August.
Not being close to EQ does have it's drawbacks. The auto pilot has not worked correctly since I got it. It took me awhile realize what was happening, but I have been calling and talking with Raymarine to try to find and fix the problem.
This last time I sent the rudder sensor back to them but they said they did not find a problem with it. They did send me another unit (don't know why but the wires were longer). I plan to get it out this weekend to see if it makes any difference but I would be surprised. I will probably have to keep looking for the problem.
Steve
 
Today we were granted one more day of spot prawn shrimping in area 10 - Elliott Bay only. Took SeaDNA out to Bell Harbor Marina Fri. evening and spent the night there. A bit pricey ($32) but location, location, location.... Got up early and had the first pot dropped near Duwamish head at 7:00AM dropped 3 pots, went back to the first one after 35-40 mins and pulled 40+ shrimp on the first pull. Got a bit cocky and threw back the ones that were less than huge on the assumption that subsequent pulls might be similar. NOT!... Worked the 3 pots until 3PM and wound up with 83 shrimps total.

However, met two other friends on the water (both Bayliner owers, forgive them they don't know any better) - one with a Trophy one with a Cierra. Spent the day alternately rafted, and pulling pots. Lots of good food, drink and sunshine even if the shrimping was not spectactular.

Home by - 5:30 and cleaned up 30 for dinner. Butterflied them and put them under the broiler. Half with olive oil and Broussard's cajun spice, half with garlic power and some basil. The Broussards was stellar, the basil ones were only great. For those who haven't tried Broussards spice mix, pick some up. Great on all white fish, nice on top of chower and excellent on pork too. A little Mori-Tori Pinot blanc to accompany and my night's complete. Another great C-dory day...


Roger on the SeaDNA
 
Well, with the boat in the shop due to continuing problems with the Honda 40 port engine, we stayed home with some friends and BBQ'd some steaks and corn on the cob.
 
:amgry I got an awesomely nasty load of bad gas in my port tank. This weekend was spent siphoning gas (what does one do with filthy gas with water in it?) and installing a Racor 10 micron filter/visual water separator to supplement the external Yamaha/Mercury filter separator.

Bummer.
 
GREAT day trip on Daydream today, beautiful blue skies, fairly calm in the morning. We picked up Patty's Mom in Seattle, launched at Shilshole, across the tip of Bainbridge Island, through Agate Passage and up into Liberty Bay to Poulsbo, where we tied up at the Poulsbo Marina's visitor dock, lots of free space, we were kind of amazed for such a beautiful June day. Patty and I have both lived here 58 years (oops, did I just spill some beans? :lol:), and believe it or not, this was our first trip to Poulsbo. What a great little place, whether you are Norwegian or not! Lunch at a terrific little Italian restaurant, and a bit of shopping, I picked up a CD of salty songs, will share them at Blakely, I know you can all hardly wait! Trip back was, ahem, a bit rough, 2 - 3 foot seas, and had to dodge the cruise ship Norwegian Star (what IS it with this Norwegian stuff, anyway?). All in all, a MEMORABLE day cruise. We just might want to think about Poulsbo as a CBGT destination some time, too...We decided we'll be going back there for sure!
 
Seabran/SeaSpray/Steve: I have just re-installed my rudder control sensor for the remote to the Raymarine auto pilot. PM me what it is or is not doing...might be able to help....but please do not ask for help running the wires all the way up the starboard side of a TomCat.... had to clean out all my cabinets, to include some of the cabinets...to get the wires for a transducer ran. Muskrat ate the transducer wires and rubber scupper covers... Going to introduce him to Mr. Mausburge is I see him.

Spent this last few days installing a window AC unit on FreeByrd. Got her ruffed in and she works great!!....but, going to have to shift her to the port window as to allow me to see both aft corners of the vessel when backing down on something...or...into the slip... Imagine my surprise on that first turn around....opps... only one corner visible.. hang that head out the window fast...and hope the wind does not catch ya.

Also installed the custom rails on the dive platform. Got a lot done of late. Posted some pictures in FreeByrd album, page 2, and on about page 8 of Owners Albumn Pages.
 
Made a trip up to the factory this morning. to pick up a few needed parts and some much needed information. All those new 22s and 25s along with that fresh fiberglass "new boat smell" kinda does something to a guy! A couple of stops later ( boaters world and west marine) then finally to the decal guy for the new boat name decals. Getting closer to putting the old girl in the water. Hooked up with my welder buddy tonite and he will be coming over monday to lay up the radar arch. CINC House ( commander in chief of the house for those of you without a military background) has decided that she really likes teak. I'm gonna be up to my you know what in cetol for the next millenium. will post pictures of work in progress as soon as I figure out how. Looking forward to getting my old numbers back and being Dive 8 on the course at Seafair this year:mrgreen:
 
Norm,

I would love to see your pictures of the work in progress. Maybe Tyboo can get you set up with an album to post your pics to! Hint Hint :)
 
We installed a piece of aluminum plate 34 in. long X5 in. wide x 1/2 in thick on the inside of the transom where the top motor mounting bolts come thru for a temporary fix ,till the Factory has time this fall to get the transom redone. it really spreads the load out in a wide area. the top motor mount bolts wont pull thru now....lol....
 
Installed a new Axel, brake lines, backing plates, hubs, brakes... the works. New oil bath hubs, beefier axel, hopefully I will not miss another function due to trailer issues. Need to install the new master cylinder and bleed the system after I evict the yellow jackets that have taken residence in the space where the old one used to be.
Backing plates for the out riggers are being fabricated. The fuel flow meter is out of the box and very near to being added. Next I need to procure a kicker bracket so I can install the trim tabs. I refuse to be without my kicker so I am putting the trim tab install on the back burner until I win the lottery.
It sure felt good to take Sea Lion down the road on the new axel today. I like the oil bath hubs already...
 
Ray
I'm glad to hear your trailer is getting whipped into shape. But what we really want to hear is the trip to Alaska :thup How was the fishing, where did you go, etc. etc. etc.
Glad you made it back safely.
 
I need to set aside time to go through the hundreds of photographs, the boat log and my journal to come up with a composite story in pictures. It may be a while but I want to get it all down for future reference and for my friends to enjoy.
Thanks for asking and stay tuned...
Ray
 
What a day we had on the water yesterday!!!!we went shrimping at Iceberg Point on the south end of Lopez Island.
we launched at Utsalady Point on Camano Island around 08:00 and then went out through Deception Pass and out to Iceberg Point. the run took us about 1.5 hrs. the water was nice and smooth, even out in Rosario Strait.
By 11:00 the water started getting rough and by 13:00 it was 5 to 7 ft waves so close together that running in to them was a rollercoaster ride at a little over Idle. we would go up and then come crashing down and the next wave would wash over the bow. It was dificult picking the Bouys .while pullint the pots the waves were over into the motor well and some into the cockpit. our Bilge Pump was working overtime.
The run back home to Utsalady took us about 2.5 hrs. Rosario was pretty nasty and we had following seas all the way to Deception Pass.
All in all, we had a succesful day with 6 shy of two limits of spotted shrimp.
 
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