New Electronics for Second Wind - Phase 2

Background

My wife Laura and I live on Second Wind - a 43' Endeavour sailboat. We've been cruising for 16 years and the boat was ready for electronic upgrades.

Last fall (2021), I removed all of the electronics and cables on our pedestal (including parts of the pedestal) then installed a new RADAR, Axiom Pro chartplotter, autopilot control and multifunction display at the helm.  

Before all this work, our pedestal instruments looked like this -

After all the tear-down and build back up, the pedestal looked like this - 

If you would like to see how the project started (before this phase 2), you can check out all the details by clicking here.

Why Phase 2?

Phase 1 was usable for cruising but someone had to be sitting at the helm all the time plus anyone else in the cockpit couldn't see what was going on with navigation ("how far until we turn?").  My plan was always to install more navigation displays forward in the cockpit so we could sit anywhere and be able to watch what was happening - even when at sea or in more open areas of the IntraCoastal Waterway (ICW).  On a slow (6 knot) boat, why not sit back and enjoy the ride?

First Step Is to Diagram the new System

From the beginning of this project, I had planned to use the RayMarine i70s multifunction displays.  I purchased and installed one of these at the helm for phase 1 and really liked it.  At the helm I was using the "Wind" screen which graphically showed wind angle and speed for sailing.  However, these displays will show just about any of the data available on the network and have many default screens that are very useful.  My only question was how many to buy and install.  I originally thought I would install (3) but after reviewing all the possible screens to display, I decided on (5) to show more navigation information.   

I had used ProfiCAD software to diagram the work last Fall and it was easy to bring up the old file and add in the new wiring and equipment.  Here's what I eventually came up with -

All the new stuff is mostly at the bottom in green.  In the diagram, I also try to identify / look up all the part numbers so I can use this as a reference when ordering the hardware on-line.  I almost always order from Defender.com but, as you will see below, the current supply-line problems hit this project too. 

 

The display titles at the bottom are what I think will be most important to me.  But these instruments can display anything on the network so this may change in the future.  Time will tell....

Getting Started

There was a great area for new instruments above our companion-way that would be visible from anywhere in the cockpit.  It only had a few instruments and most of them were antiquated or not working at all.  In the center was a huge rudder-angle-indicator that hadn't worked since I installed a new autopilot in 2011.  Here is what the area looked like before I started.  I had removed the rudder-angle-indicator and secondary depth sounder.  They were hanging by the wires because I had already started the project before remembering to take a "before" picture.  But, you get the idea....

My instruments were 99% RayMarine and I planned to extend the existing SeaTalkNG network that I installed last September to include (5) new instruments above the companion-way.   

I ordered all the cables, adapters and instruments from Defender.com.  The next day I received an email that they only had (2) of the displays.  The other (3) were backordered.  Crap.

Then I checked West Marine Pro on-line and they had (3) in a warehouse in CT.  Plus they were only about $20 more than Defender.  I quickly completed the order and received them a few days later.  If anyone is wondering why they can't find any RayMarine i70s displays in the U.S., it's my fault.  Sorry. 

Pulling the Cables

As you can see from the diagram, I needed to run (2) SeaTalkNG network cables from the engine room to the companion-way.  As I was trying to figure out the easiest way to pull the cables, I saw that the old rudder-angle-indicator had two large cables running all the way around the cockpit and down into the engine room.  After tracing the cables and going back as far as I could to the sources, I cut them and used electrical tape to join the new SeaTalkNG cables at the ends.  They were about the same size so I was hopeful there would be no jams while pulling them through.

To get from the engine room to the cockpit, there is a cable raceway in the wall between the galley and shower.  It also has an access panel so I removed the panel to start pulling the wires.  Yes.  It looks like a mess.  We purchased this boat when it was already 25 years old and several owners had a chance to add to the mix.

Laura helped by pulling the cables into the galley while I fed them from the engine room.   Then I went up into the cockpit and pulled them there while she fed from the galley.  It worked as well as I could have expected and a short time later the cables were run all the way to the new instrument spot.

Here are the cables hanging out the access port after I pulled them into the cockpit.

Now I just needed to run them the final 10 feet to above the companion-way.  Once again Laura helped by pushing while I was pulling near where the new instruments would go.

After pulling the cables, I hooked up all the connectors and adapters.  Then I connected one of the new instruments to see if my network design would work.  Success!

Mark and drill for New Instruments

You can see the big hole in the picture above that was used for the rudder-angle-indicator.  I planned on putting the middle instrument (out of the 5) over that hole.  Oh oh.  First roadblock.  The new i70s won't cover the entire hole.  We had to make that hold smaller.

After thinking about it for a while, we decided to try the most simple solution first.  We used masking tape behind the hole for a little something to use as a mold for thickened epoxy.  Then we mixed a little West System epoxy and added micro-filler to get it around "peanut butter" consistency.  I used this to fill in the edges that would be showing around the new instruments.  It seemed to work OK but didn't look great - that could be fixed later with sander and paint brush.

The next day, I sanded off the excess epoxy and it looked pretty good.  I used the existing hole as a guide for where to put the other (4) displays. 

This picture I enhanced a little so you could see the light pencil lines.  Notice I used a ruler below to line-up the boxes where the new instruments will go.  Don't forget, nothing on a boat is straight.  Both the combing (above) and companion-way (below) are curved.  I thought the instruments would look better straight so lined up everything to the ruler.  The new displays came with templates so I used these on top of the ruler to draw the boxes and circles.

I purchased a 3 5/8" hole-saw (on Amazon) which was recommended by the RayMarine installation instructions.  I then found the center of each circle (using a right angle from my drafting days) and drilled the holes.  No going back now!

Thankfully, the 3 5/8" holes were a slightly bigger than the instruments needed so there was a little wiggle-room when drilling the mounting holes.  I used clamps to hold up the ruler then sat the new displays on the ruler.  Then I used a measuring tape to fine-tune to distance between the displays while drilling the mounting holes.  It worked pretty good!

I drilled all the mounting holes and put in all the screws.  The dry-fit came out nice with less than 1/16" between the sides of the displays and less than 1/16" difference at the bottoms.  Here are all the displays screwed in for the dry-fit.

I then removed all the displays and sanded down the entire panel taking care to smooth down where we had filled the center hole with epoxy.  Next was to clean everything up with vacuum, damp rag then acetone. That took a while.  I had made quite a mess! 

Laura dug out some white Rustoleum topside paint, thinned it out a bit then used a foam brush to recover the whole panel.  It came out pretty good!

This was the end of day 2.

Final Wiring

You can see from the picture above that there are two main network cables plus (2) 5-way connectors hanging above the new work.  These needed to be mounted inside behind the instruments.  Problem is there is no bottom in that area to mount stuff - just the hatch that slides back and forth.  

I had been thinking about this for a while and decided to try double-sided tape to mount the 5-way connectors inside - above the new instruments.  I first cleaned the area with acetone to remove dust from all the work I had done.  I had some heavy-duty double-sided tape that worked well for projects like this in the past.

I connected the display cables to the 5-way connectors (these are called "Spur Cables" by RayMarine), pushed everything back into the hole and stuck them to the wall above the display holes.  Then I pulled the excess backbone cable back through to the side of the cockpit to make everything behind the new displays look nice and assure nothing will catch on the sliding hatch.

To see if everything looked OK, I stuck my arm through one of the holes and took a picture with my iPhone.  This is from the back side of the holes I had drilled for the new instruments.  It didn't look too bad.

The white and black cables hanging down will each be connected to one of the new displays.

Mount the Instruments

Next Laura installed the included foam gasket on each of the new displays while I got the cables ready for final hookup.  I connected the cables and turned everything on.  This was the first test of the new displays.  They worked!

Now I mounted and screwed in the (5) displays then clipped in the keyboards and bezels.  The keyboards and bezels snap off easily to get access to the mounting screws.

Wow.  It looked pretty nice and I was pleased with the work.  Here is the final picture showing all of the displays programmed for the screens I selected.  The second from the left is showing speed-over-ground.  It's reading "- - -" because we're not moving at the dock.

Turn everything off, install covers and sticky-tape the tilt-a-wheel gauge back onto the panel.  As you can see from the picture below, it was a great rainy-weather project that I was happy to complete in 3 days (not counting several days for design then finding and receiving all the parts).  Can't wait to get out and use it all.  Soon.....

Next project will be to install a wireless remote for my autopilot so I can sit anywhere and run the boat.  That should be easy, right?

Costs

Total cost for the project was just over $2,500.  The (5) i70s displays were the big hit at about $430 each.  I did have a few parts left over from last Fall's project that saved me maybe $150. 

Epilog

If you are interested, I've created 4 eBooks on Amazon from our cruising blog covering 10 years from buying the boat, cruising though the Caribbean and Pacific, starting / running a sailing charter business, then several boat upgrades and more cruising.  They are all under $5.  You can check them out on Amazon here.

Hope you enjoyed the blog.  Laura and I wish you safe travels wherever life leads.