Best Of

Ok so final post unless anyone has any questions.  I will tell you that I am definitely happy I tackled this job.  You just don’t realize how bad the carpet is or how much it truly contributes to the overall smell of the cabin till you see it out of the boat.  If you have carpet that is 15 plus years old.  Put this on your to do list.  You will be happy you did.  The primary tools needed were a Phillips head screw driver, floor scraper, hammer, pry bars, drill and staple gun.  On the 342 I had to disassemble the rear berth area and remove all the drawers from everything.  Then I unscrewed the dinette seat and backing, table posts and cabinet under the front berth.  I did not remove the two tall cabinets. I just back cut the carpet enough so that I could slide the new carpet under the edge. 

 Removing the carpet is all by hand.  A sturdy floor scraper and a hammer.  The glue they use could survive a nuclear holocaust.  You want to get it out in large sections so you can use it as a template on your new carpet.  Cant stress that enough.  There just isn’t room in the boat to maneuver a big piece of carpet.  There were several items that I broke getting out and just simply rebuilt.  The step up to the forward berth, carpeted molding along the port side of the boat, etc… this is all easily rebuilt and recommended to redo with fresh wood.  The old wood had absorbed odors and needed to go.  You are going to need a staple gun and SS staples.  Several pieces have to be covered as if they were upholstery. 

 As for carpet and glue.  I did a lot of research and there really isn’t anything special about the carpet that is in the cabin.  Just find a good quality polyester carpet from a local store.  It resists mold and mildew better than nylon.  Don’t go cheap either. In my boat I used a 12x14 foot piece of carpet This isn’t something you want to redo in a few years.  As for glue.  Not all glue is created equal.  I found out that some just doesn’t do well adhering to fiberglass.   I ended up using CMC Marine and outdoor carpet adhesive D113. 2 gallons.  Finally, prepare to go buy a bunch of new screws from WM. I stripped many getting them out and I also replace many with shorter ones.  I don’t know why Rinker loves using 2 ½ screws when ones that are 1” would work just fine.  I mean seriously it is just molding.  All in all the job took me 6 days working alone and under $600.  Any questions on how to disassemble the entire cabin on a 342 and I can probably answer them.

A text to a neighbour:


Hi, Max. This is Richard, next door. I’ve been riddled with guilt for a few months and have been trying to get up the courage to tell you face-to-face. When you’re not around, I’ve been sharing your wife, day and night, probably much more than you. I haven’t been getting it at home recently. I know that’s no excuse. The temptation was just too great. I can’t live with the guilt & hope you’ll accept my sincere apology and forgive me. Please suggest a fee for usage and I’ll pay you. Richard

Max, feeling enraged and betrayed, grabbed his gun, went next door, and shot Richard dead. He returned home, shot his wife, poured himself a stiff drink and sat down on the sofa. Max then looked at his phone and discovered a second text message from Richard.

SECOND TEXT MESSAGE:

Hi, Max. Richard here again. Sorry about the typo on my last text. I assume you figured it out and noticed that the darned Spell-Check had changed “wi-fi” to “wife.” Technology, huh? It’ll be the death of us all.

[EDIT:  The fuse block shown in this picture had to be replaced because it is not ignition-protected.  This photo shows a Blue Sea Systems 5035.  I replaced it with a Blue Sea Systems 5051.]

Progress!  The rewiring project is 90% done.  By the time I finish, every wire and cable in the engine room will have been re-routed, replaced or removed in the name of safety and maintainability.  

Originally, each starter battery had three things hard-wired to the battery: 

• DTS controller at the helm (40 amps)
• Trim pump (20 amps)
• DTS actuator at the engine (5 amps)

ABYC recommends connecting these loads to the battery switch, not the battery, so that's what I'm doing.  When I turn off the battery switches, it'll disconnect everything except the essentials (bilge pumps and Mercathodes).  

I'm rewiring the house battery with a circuit breaker that doubles as a cutoff switch.  All wires to the ground bus have been trimmed to length and terminated with proper heat-shrink ring terminals.  And everything is secured in slotted wire trays.  

I also rerouted the big battery cables to run along the transom instead of laying down in the bilge (another ABYC recommendation).