PROJECT BOAT RESTORATION Time for a rewire
Our marine surveyor Ben Sutcliffe-Davies switched on the instruments of our Maxi 84, Maximus, and I held my breath. Nothing. We hadn’t expected there to be any life in the batteries after two years on the hard-standing, but it was worth a go. Ben tested the batteries with his multimeter.
“Less than two in that one and we’ve got eight in this one,” he said, “which is why we can’t get anything to work…”
When we took on the Maxi 84, donated by PBO reader Daniel Kirtley, I knew we’d have a few jobs to get on with.
Already we’d scraped back the hull to gelcoat, plugged leaks and polished topsides (see PBO January 2021). Now new batteries were at the top of the list. What we hadn’t bargained for (and certainly not budgeted for) was a whole new rewire!
The first challenge was actually finding an electrician. Covid restrictions had just eased, and it meant every boat owner on the South Coast was busy trying to launch. Electricians were in high demand. After a morning on the phone, I got hold of Adam McMenemy of ACM Marine, who was based in nearby Emsworth.
“I can’t start work right away,” he warned me, “but I can spare two hours to come and take a look.”
He promised to bring a battery and see if he could get things running.
Back to Dell Quay
“I’m going to miss Dell Quay,” said
