Ship to Shore Power

[Maya & Gary]

I just purchased a 1976 27' Catalina. It is currently jimmy rigged for power with extension cords and such. I would like to put ship to shore power in before the Spring, but I don't know what all would be involved. Is it something that my rather handy boyfriend and I could handle, or should I look at having it professionally done?

 

[LaDonna Bubak - Planet Catalina]

Do it yourself!

It's not really that difficult. I would check out Nigel Calder's Electrical Bible for reference but you can do it. You need a shore power outlet, 3 strand boat cable (not romex, the stuff used in houses), a Blue Seas AC circuit breaker panel (it has a couple of outlets, double throw switch & room to grow) or the like. Remember, if you add any other outlets in the boat, the first outlet in every string needs to be Ground Fault Interruptor(GFI). I'd also drill the hole in the side of the house instead of the deck cuz the deck has coring & the house doesn't so there's less chance of delamination.Get a good manual (like Nigel Calder's) - there are tons of 'em out there - and get to work! There's nothing like doing it yourself - such a feeling of accomplishment.LaDonna

 

[Mike]

do it yourself

By all means do it yourself. However when you are finished why not let someone with some electrical experience look it over. It never hurts to have a second set of eyes look at a project for safety.

 

[Mike]

on second thought

After I posted the last time saying by all means do it yourself, I came across a scary statistic. The second highest reason that people lose there boats is due to fires. (running into something is the first) and it's usually electrical in nature. So on second thought why not save some money on some other project. If you do it, make sure to have the work inspected.