New 26x owner here

[CaptKen]

Just bought a towards the end of last season- took her out a few times and no major problems found. Few questions before I get her in the water this year-

Nav/anchor light- Anchor light did not work at all- wiring was shot; nav lights worked but were extremely weak (assuming corroded/poor wiring as well) also the rear light itself is broken, at this point- I'm looking at replacing all the lights for increased visibility and because I will be rewiring anyways. I am within driving distance of the defender marine outlet/warehouse- any suggestions? I will be rewiring entirely and incorporating (solar, a second battery and new a switch panel/circuit breaker eventually)

Ventilation- Any suggestions on solar fans/vents? There was some water in the "bilge", primarily on the starboard side- will investigating the source once it's above freezing here (CT). Either way, I will need some ventilation due to the humidity out here.

I lost the Pin/hook piece that connects the book to the mast- have an email out to blue water yachts to try to source a replacement. Is there anything else that will work?

Finally- any reliable guidance out there to refinishing/painting the hull? Above the water line is clean, but pretty oxidized. At the waterline, there are a few inches of antifouling paint left but below that it is mostly gone and there are some barnacles/buildup. ( I think the original owner had it in the water for much longer than he should have before pulling it). I understanding I should get it as clean as possible, but I am concerned about taking too much off just to get rid of the buildup. Having trouble posting pics at the moment, but I will when I get a chance.

She will be on a mooring this summer, about a mile or so up river from the ocean, use will be primarily playing around in LI Sound/trips to Block Island (and eventually Martha's Vineyard/Nantucket once I get more comfortable with her).

[Jimmyt]

Just bought a towards the end of last season- took her out a few times and no major problems found. Few questions before I get her in the water this year-

Nav/anchor light- Anchor light did not work at all- wiring was shot; nav lights worked but were extremely weak (assuming corroded/poor wiring as well) also the rear light itself is broken, at this point- I'm looking at replacing all the lights for increased visibility and because I will be rewiring anyways. I am within driving distance of the defender marine outlet/warehouse- any suggestions? I will be rewiring entirely and incorporating (solar, a second battery and new a switch panel/circuit breaker eventually)

Ventilation- Any suggestions on solar fans/vents? There was some water in the "bilge", primarily on the starboard side- will investigating the source once it's above freezing here (CT). Either way, I will need some ventilation due to the humidity out here.

I lost the Pin/hook piece that connects the book to the mast- have an email out to blue water yachts to try to source a replacement. Is there anything else that will work?

Finally- any reliable guidance out there to refinishing/painting the hull? Above the water line is clean, but pretty oxidized. At the waterline, there are a few inches of antifouling paint left but below that it is mostly gone and there are some barnacles/buildup. ( I think the original owner had it in the water for much longer than he should have before pulling it). I understanding I should get it as clean as possible, but I am concerned about taking too much off just to get rid of the buildup. Having trouble posting pics at the moment, but I will when I get a chance.

She will be on a mooring this summer, about a mile or so up river from the ocean, use will be primarily playing around in LI Sound/trips to Block Island (and eventually Martha's Vineyard/Nantucket once I get more comfortable with her).

First, welcome to the forum! Glad to hear you got out last season without major issues.

Boom attachment for quick setup:
http://shop.bwyachts.com/category-s/167.htm

You can use a 1/4" stainless bolt and nyloc nut if you are going to leave it in the water. Pin and ring ding will work too.

Search YouTube for videos on applying anti fouling to boats. It's a bit of a messy job, and you need to wear PPE and keep kids and pets out of the debris/dust. It would be best to use a sander with dust collection through HEPA vac to remove the old bottom paint. Consult with your local marine paint supplier to figure out what the weapon of choice is for the water you intend to leave the boat in. There are different solutions for different levels of salt and fresh, etc.

I'll try to post a link to some painting threads.

Light fixtures can be had from Bwyachts, http://shop.bwyachts.com/category-s/167.htm

Or you could probably take the old ones to defender and match them up. Regardless, you should get LED bulbs for whatever fixtures you choose (my opinion). Current draw is dramatically lower with LED.

[Jimmyt]

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=27960&p=347967&hili ... nt#p345210

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=27626&hilit=Bottom+paint#p341480

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=28023&p=346450&hili ... nt#p346450

[Tomfoolery]

The only company still making a deck mount stern light I believe is Perko. It’s what I used to replace the OEM Aqua-Signal series 20 the boat was built with. Even Aqua-Signal doesn’t make that light any more, though they do still make the series 20 bicolor bow light. All anyone seems to make, except for Perko, are bulkhead mount lights, which I think the boats use. But the has a nice little pad for the stern light, so I made the effort to get another that fit it.

https://www.westmarine.com/buy/perko--d ... cordNum=28

I also used the ‘matching’ Perko bicolor bow light. Both my Aqua-Signal lights were old, tired, and had badly fogged and yellowed lenses.

I’m still using the original masthead (aka ‘steaming’) light, since it was in good shape.

The boat didn’t come with an anchor light, so I added one on top of the mast. I posted a thread about that some time ago.

Make sure you use the correct light type, as the horizontal sectors are different for side lights (bicolor bow light in the case of our little boats), masthead light, and stern light.

[NiceAft]

Welcome to the forum.

If you believe you may become a regular at Defender, you may wish to investigate becoming a member of B.O.A.T.U.S.. I believe that membership comes with a discount from Defender. You can check this to be certain. If so, it will more than pay for membership.

The navigation light 2/3 up the mast is not a legal anchor light. I for one never bothered to instal a 360 degree two mile light visible light in the mast. I simply raise a battery powered lantern; also not legal, but better than the nave light for anchoring. You may also wish to have all of the bulbs onboard be LED. It will preserve your battery/batteries.

[CaptKen]

Thank you all for the replies. Life took me away from the boat and forum for a bit. Defender has a sale starting next week, I have a couple of the LED running lights in my cart and will order then. As for the hull, I'll post some before and after pictures, hopefully it will be worth the effort.

To comply with the whole steaming light/anchor light, would it make sense to switch to a 4 prong outlet to go through the roof of thr cabin and wire both a steaming and anchor light separately? I currently only have the light halfway up the mast and the wiring is shot anyways. I'd like to be able to turn them on separately, but I am not sure if the 4 prong connector would make that possible.

[Tomfoolery]

To comply with the whole steaming light/anchor light, would it make sense to switch to a 4 prong outlet to go through the roof of thr cabin and wire both a steaming and anchor light separately? I currently only have the light halfway up the mast and the wiring is shot anyways. I'd like to be able to turn them on separately, but I am not sure if the 4 prong connector would make that possible.

3- or 4-prong will work. So will a 2-prong if you use diodes at the lights, which is the easiest way since you don't have to change any hardware.

If the two prongs are the same size and the plug isn't polarized (can be plugged in either way), then putting a diode at each light but with opposite polarity allows you to pull the plug from the deck socket at the base of the mast, reverse it, and the 'other' light will light. I did the same thing using a switch at the DC panel; one switch turns the masthead/anchor light power on, and whichever way the toggle switch is positioned determines which light will illuminate.

You may not even need to add diodes, as some LEDs will only light with the required supply polarity. The LED bulb in my anchor light has a tiny rectifier circuit (Wheatstone bridge), so it will light regardless of supply polarity, but an LED is by definition a diode, so simpler units will have a required connection polarity. If replacing both lights, you may not need to do anything other than wire them the opposite of each other, so when you reverse the plug, you change which one lights. Just bench test them to see if they light when polarity is reversed - if not, no additional diodes are needed. If so, well, it's easy to just stick a diode in the line at or inside the light unit. My masthead light is original, so the incandescent needed a diode (see pic). So did the anchor light, which has the rectifier in the 'bulb' itself, which is just a flat card with electronics all over it and a bunch of little rectangular LEDs facing all directions.

3- or 4-wire is also fine. Use one of them as the common or negative, and one each of the others to power one light each. But then you need to switch them separately. Also not a problem if you have the DC panel space and spare switch, or intend to add more. That also requires running new wiring in the cabin roof, and that ain't easy.

Personally, I'd wait until you get the new lights and see what they do with reverse polarity. Then you can decide where to go from there. Many folks here have done the 2-wire with diodes and reversible plug method, I think I saw where someone added a second socket, which would have been wired the reverse of the first, and others have added a DPDT toggle switch to reverse the polarity of the two wires to the deck socket, which is what I did. Many many ways to skin this cat.

I couldn't find the photo of the toggle switch in place in the cabin with the legend (anchor and steaming), but it's on here somewhere and I'll post it if I can find it.

Edit: The top photo shows the anchor light socket and DPDT toggle switch (no off position). The diode is buried in the heat shrink in the upper lead. The DPDT toggle switch is wired with crossing leads to the two ends, with the middle terminals being the common.

The bottom photo is the light socket for the masthead (steaming) light, and you can see the diode at the left (black cylinder). Of course, I used liquid tape to insulate the exposed solder joint before buttoning it all up.

[CaptKen]

Thank you for the detailed reply. In the meantime, while checking out the BWY website I saw that they sell additional two prong plugs. As I currently do not have an all around light at the top of the mast, I have to run wire anyways and will probably just get a second plug. I do like your idea of keeping the existing plug and flipping it to change the light to keep things simple. I am replacing both with LED versions, so it might work without any additional effort. I will keep y'all updated.

[Tomfoolery]

It’s very difficult to get another wire pair to the mast base, though just a single wire would do it as you can share the ground with both lights. But if the OEM lamp cord is good, which mine still is, I would just rewire the mast itself and reverse the plug IF the two prongs are the same size. They might not be, so check yours. If one is larger, then two sockets with one the reverse of the other would work just as well, in concert with a diode at each light (if needed).

Edit: On second reading, I see that you’re talking about two plugs, one socket, which is very easy to do. Maybe the easiest thing to do. Again, check the plug/socket so you get a compatible plug. Maybe even put in the second socket so the plug that’s not being used at the time is weatherproofed. I seem to recall that someone here put a single-pole double-throw switch in the cover in the cabin ceiling at the base of the mast, where the socket wiring is, so they can switch between the two sockets (A-B) but with the original power wires from the panel to the switch.

[CaptKen]

Mast is wired, legal anchor light and new steaming light are installed, as well as bow and stern lights. Theydo not make OEM plugs anymore, so I ordered two new plugs and a new socket from BWY. Also have LED bulbs on the way to replace all the incandescent bulbs on the boat.

I have a radio and a depth sounder mounted by the head (essentially between the head and starboard wall of the cockpit). Is there an easy way to run the wire across above the ballast, but below the interior base of the berth? It seem like there is a solid wall running down the middle under the stern berth. The previous owner just ran the wire exposed and duct taped it.

Side note, picked up a marinco solar vent. Did not realize how huge it was. Any suggestions on locations for mounting? I've read that some mount in the window for the head, and I'm more comfortable putting a 4 inch hole in the window rather than the boat... but will the near vertical position allow water in or reduce the effectiveness of the solar panel?

[Be Free]

I've run small wires between the ballast tank and the liner in the aft berth. They can't be very large and you should be careful of chafing. It would be better to run them to the transom and behind the tank if possible.

[Tomfoolery]

Side note, picked up a marinco solar vent. Did not realize how huge it was. Any suggestions on locations for mounting? I've read that some mount in the window for the head, and I'm more comfortable putting a 4 inch hole in the window rather than the boat... but will the near vertical position allow water in or reduce the effectiveness of the solar panel?

Vertical in a window means it’s not going to get direct sunlight for half the day, at best. I suspect it would let a fair bit of water in while in rough conditions, but I don’t know that.

Mine came with a solar vent in the sliding hatch. It was pretty much shot, so I removed it and put an air scoop in its place (same size hole). No dorade, but it’s under the Bimini. It’s better than nothing, and the hole was already there.

[CaptKen]

That's what I was thinking as well... looks like I'm going to bite the bullet and go through the roof of the head. Scares me, I do get a a bit of water inside occasionally and want to make sure it stays as dry as possible.