Oceanis 31 wiring channel dilemma

[LRsunnyB]

I am fixing a Scanstrut dual cale seal on the coach roof to pass wiring from a solar panel installed under the boom. I was hoping to pass the cabling into the aft cabin and down the back of the RHS engine compartment to reach the regulator which is next to the engine battery and raw water cock.
This would minimise cable length and hide all cabling and there is clearly a channel there as wiring for the ceiling light goes that same way via a flexible plastic conduit - see photo …

The problem is, whilst I can push up a flexible cable access rod to where the cabling goes in from the ceiling, there is no room to get a purchase on the end of it. It looks like there is space but it is too tight with the flexible conduit.
I need to carefully enlarge the hole to one side or the other but I don’t want to risk making a hole which could cause a leak or some other problem.
There is about a metre of void between the cable entry and where it comes down through the engine compartment, with no way I can see of accessing it - and there not sufficient space in the flexible conduit to borrow that route.
Has anyone tackled this problem successfully - if so advice would be much appreciated?

 

[jssailem]

Perhaps one of those small inspection cameras could help you look inside and show what is happening to stop the wires from going through.
Something like this.

 

[LRsunnyB]

Thanks very much for your reply. Funny thing - I just came to the same conclusion as I have one of these inspection cameras I haven’t used for a long time. I will give it a go - I think it may shed some light on the problem.
Thanks again, Les
Christchurch, Dorset UK

 

[jssailem]

Les, Hope it works.
I knew about Christchurch in New Zealand.
Did not know there was a Christchurch in Dorset. You have some great water to sail. The bays around Bournemouth, the Isle of Wright, the Channel. You get the wiring in and then maybe tell us a bit of stories about your sailing waters.

 

[LRsunnyB]

Les, Hope it works.
I knew about Christchurch in New Zealand.
Did not know there was a Christchurch in Dorset. You have some great water to sail. The bays around Bournemouth, the Isle of Wright, the Channel. You get the wiring in and then maybe tell us a bit of stories about your sailing waters.

After much patience & several attempts, I succeeded: the inspection camera was difficult to direct in the void above the engine and the clarity was not great but it did confirm sufficient gap between the cabin panel and GRP shell. In the end I enlarged the hole in the wood panel next the the ceiling light wiring and fed a loop of seizing wire down through the hole at ceiling level; with the aid of the inspection camera, I luckily managed to hook the wire loop with a hook made from a coat hanger. I was then able to connect the two solar panel wires to the seising wire and cautiously pull them through. I was able to slide over some flexible conduit so that at least the wires passing down the side of the engine compartment are neatly enclosed.

For me, Christchurch in Dorset is an excellent base: a small harbour fed by two rivers, densely populated with moorings but with immense charm. Shallow draught is essential as the harbour channel depth is charted as low as 0.1m LAT in places; most cruising yachts I know typically draw between 0.6 and 1.3m.Christchurch is well-placed for The Solent to the east but also for Poole Harbour to the west. I have just returned from a week’s cruise around the Solent, starting with a late afternoon cruise to a Lymington marina, a short cruise up the west Solent to anchor just inside the Beaulieu River and then sailing onwards to Bembridge on east of the Isle of Wight. A short cruise then NE to anchor just inside Chichester Harbour for a night before motoring up harbour to enter the lock to Birdham Pool marina, a quaint old marina that I believe was one of the first marinas in the country, having been converted from a former tidal mill. The journey home took us from Chichester harbour around Cowes and back down the west Solent to anchor in Newtown Creek, on the west of the Isle of Wight - a beautiful, special nature site managed by the National Trust; here, when the wind drops it is difficult to imagine a more peaceful site on earth (the only disturbance being other boaters and on

occasion the seals!).
A sunset from Chichester Yacht Club lawn, taken last Wednesday….

 

[kappykaplan]

A sunset from Chichester Yacht Club lawn, taken last Wednesday….

Gorgeous photo!

 

[jssailem]

Thank you.
Tracking your route using OpenCPN. Looks like a pleasant way to send time on the water.

Stories of the Solent and it's place in British saiing history have always been facinating.
Jonathan Raban's, Coasting was a fun read for a sailor about the waters of Great Britain.

 

[SycloneDriver]

How about a few pictures of your solar setup. I would love to add solar to my boat but I just don't need it at this time, maybe someday I'll move to open water.