Messages

Hi - Removed the panel and found that the bolt securing the breaker switch to the ground "bar" was not tight. I tightened it and that seemed to fix the flicker--although it was a little hard to be sure in day time. Will check at night to be sure, but I think I may have gotten it.

How stupid do I feel? Perhaps a pretty easy fix.

Thanks to all for the support. Love the C 34 Association and website.

Thanks for the great suggestions. Will dive in and let you know how I do and what I learn.

I got such great input on my anchor light issue, I thought I would seek guidance on an even thornier electrical issue.  BTW, as Stu always reminds us, I checked the C 34 forum before posting this and found posts regarding anchor light flickering but nothing on  what we encountered last night.

As we were enjoying a good book on anchor last night, we both noticed lights in the cabin flickering. Sometimes it would go away, but most of the time they flickered. At one point, all of the cabin lights went out completely, albeit for just a few seconds. Weird.

I am freaked out thinking that a major rewiring is in my future. We love it here in SW Fl (sailing in December for example) but the salt corrosion is horrible. Our boat is a 1990 C 34 so she has some sea miles on her.

Thoughts appreciated. Thanks, Bill Welsch, "Sophie Rose"

Thanks. Got it figured out and all three lights seem to be working. I suspect the problem is in the ragged performance of the 20+ year old wire. When you peel back the coating on the wire the copper inside is solid black. Not a good sign.

Appreciate the assistance.

Bill Welsch
Punta Gorda, FL

The anchor light on our 1990 C 34 stopped working a few months ago. Before going up the mast to check the bulb I pulled all the wires at the base of the mast above the bilge. I found a large, white cable (VHF presumably), a single black wire of fairly heavy gauge (presumably wind instrument) and two romex cables, one with a white and black, the other with a white, black and red. The blacks are combined together with a black coming from the panel so these are ground. The other wires operate the deck light and steaming light which I confirmed by disconnecting and reconnecting the wires until I figured out which was which.

Look as I may, there is no wire to be found for the anchor light, yet the darn thing was working but a few months ago.

Any thoughts would be most appreciated.

Bill Welsch, Punta Gorda, FL

Thanks, all, for the great input and suggestions.  I suspect the muffler hose is the culprit, will head over to the boat in the next day or so and check it out.  Hey Stu, perhaps your son would love to visit the lovely West Coast of Florida!  (My son who lives near us is 6' 6" so I can't see him climbing in the lazarette as handily as your son did!)  Will keep you all posted.

I know the first rule of the C 34 site is ALWAYS check the Forum before you post a question but I really couldn't find much about oil in the bilge. A few weeks ago I cleaned my bilge to perfection on our 1990 C 34. I noticed the water I removed was oily and nasty but since it had been a while since I performed this unsavory task, I wasn't too worried.  During a recent cruise, we heard the bilge pump clicking on so checked the bilge only to find oily water.  Cleaned it all out once again. Given the engine bilge is separate from the main bilge I have no idea where oil could be coming from.  BTW, the engine oil level is fine and there is little evidence of oil leakage around the dipstick or pan.  Thanks.

Thanks to the great info at the C 34 website we were able to remove the ends of the boom on our 1990 boat and repair the outhaul.  Never would have figured out how to tap off the boom ends with a screwdriver without help from this website.

Since we had the boom in the garage we decided to repaint it since the previous job was bubbling wherever there was a hole in the boom for screws.  It was really ugly.  After lots of sanding and cleaning, we first tried Rust Oleum spray but after several coats it looked uneven, flat in spots, shiny in others.  We then applied Rust Oleum Semi-Gloss with a small foam roller and it looks great!  You can't tell its not been sprayed.  Will advise in a future post if the paint doesn't hold up (since it wasn't, gasp, "marine" paint.)

Bill Welsch, s/v Sophie Rose