This is turning in to a little bit of a rebuilt/refit log. Might as well write it all down somewhere.
First order of business after getting the wiring to a point I can live with it is to fix the bilge pump situation.
Problem number one is this little box in the aft bilge. If you have one of these I strongly suggest you get rid of it, they're junk.
Wouldn't you know it, the port thru-hull fell apart while I was taking the hose off. Not the end of the world since that tiny thing needed to go anyway. All of the thru-hulls above the water are plastic, and they all need to be replaced. I didn't really apply much force to this one for it to break.
Had to expand the opening for the port thru-hull to 1 1/8" and drill one on the starboard side of the transom. Probably not best practice to do this while she's in the water but my options were limited. Liberal application of epoxy to seal everything up and some mariners miracle glue aka 5200 took care of everything.
Previously the Rule 800 was the only functioning pump. The 1500 pump forward was wired but didn't have any voltage - a problem which has been fixed. I installed a Rule 1500 and 2000 GPH pump aft, each on their own float switch. The 2000 has its float switch up a little higher on that platform since we don't want it running all the time unless we NEED it to.
The port cockpit drain hose was completely shot. Since I was down there anyway it was time to replace it. I'm about three feet too tall to be spending any amount of time hunched over to get to this stuff.
My faithful helper hard at ... work. There are no ducks to retrieve so she's not interested unless there's chance of food or belly rubs.
We're certainly not retaining the classic look of the lower helm but these switches make me a lot more comfortable. I'm going to reach out to someone I know to see if he can laser engrave some plates for me to replace the printed labels.
I did some other small stuff while I was there. As I said to someone else fixing a boat up is a continual reminder to be humble - as soon as you get one problem figured out she throws you a curve ball. Fixing that wiring short had me feeling good so the next morning there were lots of pesky issues to chase besides the big stuff like the bilge pumps.
Has anyone ever installed a fiberglass hard-top to replace their bimini? I keep thinking about the horrible location for the masthead light and how I would really, really like to get that thing out of line of sight. Also it would be nice to be able to mount antennas and a radome up there.
I ordered a refurbished Simrad NSS7 Evo2 today, so that plus the fixed mount VHF upgrade will probably be the next orders of business. Time for DSC and true digital channel selection, not to mention the correct spacing.