Large deck hole under bow navigation light - options?

[hoosierdoc]

I removed my bow navigation light that was very loose. Turns out it was held in place by sticky tape. Underneath I found PLENTY of clearance for the wiring

This is a tough area to get to I believe. Any idea if I can get to the interior portion through the front cutout access in the bow berth? I'd like to tape it and epoxy the hole and then start over again with a smaller hole.

There's also not much room in front of the chainplate to mount the light. I may need to put a bracket down and mount to that. Is that a thing on these boats?

 

[SG]

Some tongue depressors, wire, and epoxy. You can create platform from the outside. Then you can proceed to fill it with some glass.

 

[hoosierdoc]

ooh, I like it. basically epoxy the wire in and snip it off once set? Like building a frame to hold a drywall repair in from the back? I happen to have thousands of tongue depressors right here at work...

Maybe I'll use an aluminum tube to pull the wires through to protect that conduit also for the electrical? Or maybe I can sneak them through the front screw hole temporarily.

 

[SG]

If you are feeling like being "belt and suspenders, coat the tongue depressors with epoxy so the will not rot. (Though I think that would not make a functional difference in you meeting your needs.).

You could put the strips of tongue depressors behind the hole and use the wire to pull then up against the inside edge of the hull. Then, once you have the hole "covered enough" in the inside edge of the hull, proceed with building up the patch. Don't use metal as the reinforcement. The coefficient of expansion differences with the epoxy/FRP could cause cracking and delamination of the patch.

 

[Meriachee]

The Mac bow light being installed with tape was by design. If you get the loading wrong on the trailer, having the light pushed off by the bow chock is a far better thing than shearing the light off and having to replace it. Not to mention what could happen if you screwed or bolted it on.
There are thousands of these boats like this and that’s the way they were made.

 

[hoosierdoc]

Now that is good information to have. Thanks.

I’ll just fix the hole and use adhesive on the new light on then.

 

[Meriachee]

Ours lasted for 12 odd years before I knocked it off one day. Seeing as how it 'wasn't broke' I upgraded the light to a nice shiny chrome one and taped 'er back on. Why re-create the wheel.

 

[hoosierdoc]

Did you happen to notice a gaping hole under light like I have???

 

[Meriachee]

Yep. That's so the "little people" that Roger employed could save time getting into and out of the boat.

Word to the wise though, Roger, being "cost effective" used 2-18 lamp cord for most of the wiring. The jacket has no purpose other than keeping the wires from touching each other, and provides little to no moisture resistance. If you cut one of them, expect so much corrosion that you will never join them up again. They'll work almost forever until you cut or disconnect them.

 

[williamtl]

Word to the wise though, Roger, being "cost effective" used 2-18 lamp cord for most of the wiring.

What’s ironic is this is one of the things Mac Bashers grab on to, which to me is hilarious. All that 2-18 in my 28 year old boat is working fine. It’s the tinned stuff that people added incorrectly (anyone need some wire nuts?) over the years that I am about to rip out. Very expensive wire added incorrectly lasting less than ten years.

Will likely replace it all when I redo it properly, but it won’t be because of Roger.

 

[Meriachee]

The Mac bashers are no different than anybody bashing anything. If an owner knows why something is the way it is, then said owner will be more likely to approach it in a logical manner. I know when I replaced my bow light, it was good insight as I had to trim the wire way, way back before I found copper suitable to connect to. At the time I wasn't exactly prepared to pull the plate off the forward berth area and pull all the foam chunks out, but that happened before it was done.