Beginning around 2006, I completed several electrical system repairs and upgrades. When I bought Red Devil, her electrical system had been patched together for resale, but not necessarily for long term performance. There was a lot of old wiring much of it startingf from nowhere and going nowhere (ends cut off) and much of it without proper marine quality connections. On the DC side, there are now new batteries (two AGM 8D house batteries, one AGM starting battery), two-bank battery switch (with cross-connect ability), new voltage regulator, new Balmar 110 amp alternator, new Charles 40 amp smart charger, and a Link 10 battery monitor (for the house batteries only). I also added a propane system and double solenoid switches (redundancy!). Also new is the Lewmar H3 windlass, powered by the house batteries with 1/0 cable running to the windlass. On the AC side, a Xantrex ProSine 1000 true sine wave inverter. All of this was to prepare us for medium-long term cruising. We are still working toward that goal. I will go into more detail on some of these upgrades in future posts.

During the 2010 haul-out, I added a galvanic isolator (purchased from Yandina, Ltd., $100). The galvanic isolator is meant to block stray current, the kind creating electrolysis, from entering the boat through the AC wiring system. It uses a couple of diodes wired in parallel to block voltages less than 0.6 V. It is installed on the shore side of the inverter, very close to the shore power receptacle.

Prior to this addition, I was replacing shaft zincs every 4 months or so. Since adding the GI, I am going on two years on the same zinc! It actually worries me some because it seems almost too good to be true. I will be diving on the boat in the next few weeks to clean and check the bottom. I will check the zinc and maybe just replace it for good measure. I'd like to get a closer look at it, out of the water, anyway. The photo is courtesy of Yandina, Ltd. www.yandina.com.

Here we are re-stepping the mast in July 2010. This was a milestone, signifying (nearly) the end of a lengthy and expensive process of repairs and upgrades. I was not planning to re-do the whole mast, but it needed desperately to be done. It turned out beautifully. Would I do it all over again? Maybe not, I do not know. I can confidently say I am pretty well "upside down" in the boat. am much more invested in her now than I will ever realize in resale value (should I ever choose to sell). I believe that is not uncommon for boats, especially old ones like the Red Devil. Guess I'm in it for the long haul, now...for the good of it...for the love of it...time to start thinking about the next project. Probably a hatch cover repair.