Today’s task was to install the new radar mount on the mast.  The old radar location was located on top of a giant pole off the back of the boat. Not only did it take up a ton of room that can now be used as a swim platform, we’re also getting a new arch made on the back to hoist the dinghy out of the water! The pole had to go.. and the radar needed to be moved somewhere else!

We picked a spot, measured multiple times, and then marked the holes for the mounting feet. Jason had to start drilling holes in our perfectly serviceable mast!

Well.. we’ve done it now! 😮 The pads are meant to be riveted to the mast to avoid sharp edges that may chafe the ropes inside.  Unfortunately, the shape of our mast is such that the outermost mounting points don’t lay flush.  We chose to only rivet the inside parts, and later we have to make a wedge to put into the last mounting holes. Inconvenient, but there it is.

I didn’t help Jason with this all morning, I was inside the boat messing around with some more wiring and engine stuff.  The fuel pump priming switch is wired to the interior lighting circuit and since I plan on installing lights in the overhead of my engine compartment, I was going to use this supply for both things.  The switch that was installed was falling apart, so Jason made me a nice little mounting pad for a new switch and I set about re-wiring the fuel pump.

Hopefully tomorrow I can get the fuel pump wiring completed.  I have a pair of 10″ LED lights that I got on amazon that should be more than sufficient (overkill…complete overkill…) for my engine compartment.  I don’t think I can actually install those until I get the engine room insulation finished, so It might be a while until I see them working.

We also ran by Advance Auto on the way to the boat this morning so I could get a longer hose to use for my coolant overflow line.  I can now open the door all the way and have room to spare! I may even end up taking up a bit of the slack later on, but for now It’s finished!