• Put an end to wiring woes

• Prevent hypothermia

• Towing rules and considerations

• Get a line on safety

Put an end to wiring woes

By Dave Osmolski

Over the past 12 years, I’ve added quite a few electronics to my boat—usually before leaving on a big trip.

In my zeal to get my new toys up and running, I sometimes sacrifice neatness and safety. I always intend to straighten up the wires when I get home but never get around to it. Eventually, I had so many wires coming from my battery that I couldn’t put the top of the battery box back on!

This year, instead of hiding my boat when it comes time for a vessel safety check, I’ll be ready.

I started with two 10-gang hot-feed terminal blocks. I made a clear Lexan cover for each terminal block and color-coded the blocks, red for positive and black for negative. Next, I determined the wire size to go from the terminal blocks to the battery terminals by calculating the total amps drawn by my electrical add-ons.

I have a VHF radio with a 5-amp fuse, bilge and live well pumps with 2.5-amp fuses each, a GPS with a 2.5-amp fuse, and a DC outlet with a 10-amp fuse. That’s 22.5 amps … sort of.

Fuses provide a means of emergency disconnect and aren’t rated for the nominal operating amperage draw, which is usually about 75 percent of the fuse rating.

Although I probably won’t have everything on at once, it pays to have a connecting wire with enough ampacity, or current-carrying capacity, to deliver the correct voltage and amperage while remaining cool even if I do. The number 10 copper wire I used fits under the battery box lid so much better than the spaghetti I had before!

Although having only two wires running from the battery box to the distribution panel is better, I still needed to run individual wires from each piece of equipment to the distribution panel while keeping everything neat.

On a small skiff like mine, most wires go from the bottom to the top of the console. To avoid having a jumble of wires running from my distribution panel to the top of the console, I used wire-bundling products such as wire ties and plastic spirals that loosely enclose wires to keep them untangled.

I cut any excessively long wires and fit them as neatly as possible. It’s a good idea to color-code your wires: Red is positive (the fuse should always be on the red wire), and black is negative and considered the ground. The American Boat and Yacht Council has a color-coding scheme to help differentiate the positive wire for the radio from the positive wire to the fuel gauge, for example. For those wires you can’t cut, such as transducer and VHF antenna wires (not shorter than 3 feet), coil them neatly and fasten them with wire ties out of the way up inside the console.

Now when I throw my boots into the console opening, I won’t tear out half my wiring, and I’ll be able to put the top back on the battery box and pass that VSC!

D/1st/Lt David H. Osmolski, AP, of Charlotte Power Squadron, has been repairing boats since high school when his first boat, a canvas-covered canoe with cedar ribs, leaked in gallons per minute and required constant repair. Dave’s current boat, a 16-foot Carolina Skiff, gives him plenty of opportunities for repair and upgrades, so look for more of his maintenance articles in upcoming issues.

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Prevent hypothermia

As we enjoy our late-summer boating, it’s important to remember that the water may not be as warm as the temperate weather around us.

Hypothermia, where the body loses heat faster than it can be reproduced, is a year-round risk.

Hypothermia kills by compromising a victim’s ability to swim or stay afloat, and the colder the water, the greater is the likelihood of drowning.

According to the journal Postgraduate Medicine, a 50-year-old has a roughly 50-50 chance of surviving for 50 minutes in 50-degree water. Children and the elderly are most susceptible. Follow this advice from the Naval Safety Center to improve your chances of survival in a cold-water emergency.

Wear a wet suit for water sports when combined air and water temperatures are less than 100 degrees.

If you fall into cold water, leave your clothing on. It traps air bubbles next to the body and helps keep you warm. Climb out of the water as quickly as possible even if only onto an overturned boat or floating debris.

Don’t attempt to swim long distances. Water moving across the body lowers body temperature. Protect the head, armpits and groin, where most body heat is lost. Forty percent of the body’s heat escapes from the head, so it’s important to wear a hat.

Assume the Heat Escape Lessening Position (HELP) with the knees drawn up and ankles and arms crossed. Huddling will also increase your chances of survival.

Check local weather conditions before leaving home and again at the dock. The weather may change dramatically in a short time, so get a weather forecast and listen to local weather reports just before beginning any boating venture.

–Terri Domenick Teodecki

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Towing rules and considerations

Bill Thompson continues his discussion on towing from the Jul/Aug issue.

Before towing a disabled craft, let the skipper know what you’ll be doing and what you expect him to do. If water conditions prevent a close approach, circle the disabled vessel while trailing your line with a float as you would for a water skier. Don’t let the line get near either boat’s stern.

Towing rules

• Everyone on both vessels should wear life jackets.
• Passengers on the towed vessel should remain above deck.
• The skipper of the towed craft should be at the helm with the transmission in neutral, steering to stay directly behind the towing boat and only modifying the course to avoid broaching or burying the bow in a trough.
• Both craft should maintain lookouts abeam and astern.
• Both skippers should agree on a radio channel or basic signals.
• Both skippers should agree on how to terminate the tow at the destination.
• If desired, someone should radio ahead to alert the destination.
  

Considerations for the towing vessel

• With the towline tied astern, your steering ability will be lessened as the stern will be unable to swing out fully.
• Should you slow or stop, it’s your responsibility to prevent the other craft from overtaking you. Decelerate slowly.
• In swells or waves, both boats need to avoid broaching. The towing boat needs to maintain enough momentum to crest and bring the towed boat over its crest. If you’re moving too fast, it’s possible to pull a towed boat right into a wave or swell, as the tight line will not allow the towed boat’s bow to rise.
• When possible, the towline should approximate the intervals between waves.
• Give extra-wide berth to obstructions, buoys, rocks, land and reefs.
• Do not cross shipping lanes without first making a bridge-to-bridge radio call and calling the Coast Guard Vessel Control requesting permission. As usual, cross perpendicular to the lane.
• Should you experience difficulty, do not hesitate to call for additional assistance.
• Shorten the towline at your end as you approach congested waters or prepare to dock.
• The towing boat may put someone on the dock, towline now in hand, or may hand off the towline to someone assisting on the dock.
• Assuming that the disabled craft is not much longer than your boat, you may also elect to assist it by rafting. This procedure is sometimes done when a swim step-mounted dinghy would interfere with the towline. When rafting, you’ll have more control over the other craft, but your boat’s speed and maneuverability will be somewhat diminished. Keep the disabled boat’s stern well ahead of your rudder to maintain steering ability.
• Lastly, after you’ve assisted another boater, be sure to tell them you’re a member of the United States Power Squadrons!
  

–Bill Thompson

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Get a line on safety

Sailors use safety harnesses and tethers to keep from falling overboard, especially at night and in heavy weather. The tether may be attached to a pad eye near a winch, a mast or the helm where a crew member is likely to work for a long time.

However, when a crew member needs to move forward on deck, the tether should be attached to a jack line.

Jack lines should be rigged so that one is stretched tight on each side of the boat from near the bow, inside the shrouds, to about 6 feet (the length of the tether) from the stern.

The ends should be fastened to through-bolted or deck-welded pad eyes or cleats. Usually, the front end is attached with a clip, and the rear end is securely lashed to tighten the jack line.

Some sailors use regular line, but it can roll out from underfoot if stepped on, causing a fall, so flat webbing is better. Offshore racing rules may specify the use of stainless steel wire rope with a minimum breaking strength of 4,500 pounds. However, a minimum breaking strength of 6,000 pounds is better, regardless of the material, because if someone falls, the shock load on the jack line can be very high.

The crew should always use the jack line on the high side of the boat, so if they slip, they will reach the end of the tether before going overboard on the low side. This is the same reason the rear end of the jack line should be attached 6 feet from the stern.

–John Quensen

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