Marinette Boat Forum

I am kind of the odd ball of the group here (some would say everywhere), being that I have a houseboat. It is still a Marinette though. I purchased it last June after having a survey done on it. Well as my luck goes the surveyor missed a bent prop shaft and a poor electrical installation. I have a blog detailing all my progress that I have updated almost daily. It also includes my earlier Kingscraft project that I had sold to a friend.


www.kingscrafthouseboat.blogspot.com

At the end of last season I hit a sunken log and bent my other prop shaft. I also have a good bit of corrosion on my port strut which leads me to believe my shaft isn't isolated. I decided to tackle the electric work first as I can work inside while the weather improves around me. Originally, the boat had a single roof top AC unit. At some point in its history a 2nd roof top unit was added with 2nd 30 amp shore power hookup to power it. This would have been fine except when installing the 2nd unit they didn't install a new/separate power panel and combined the neutrals in the same box. Having had the survey, I was over confident that my boat didn't have issues. Yes, that was very stupid of me. Next time I buy a boat I am using the survey just as a way to get insurance. The owner of the boat will hate me as I will nit pick it apart. Anyways, I was aware of the strut corrosion and I wanted to check my trim anodes. When I was in the water and touched the trim tab, I started to get an electrical shock. So this sent me down the road to determine just what was causing it. After dealing with electrical issues on the Kingscraft prior, I made the decision that I needed to just start fresh instead of chasing 40 years of poor decisions on wiring the boat. So after looking through some newer boats and how their electrical was properly setup, I purchased a proper main switch, isolation transformers, and two new AC panels.

From this point, the blog will take you to my current state. I hope to have the interior of the boat completed in the next 2 weeks. I will lose almost all next weekend due to work but after that, I am pulling both prop shafts, rudders, and port strut. I will be putting on two drive savers when I go to install everything back on the boat.

I updated the blog with all this past weekends work.


http://kingscrafthouseboat.blogspot.com ... aller.html

I also found a black and white scan of the old brochure for my boat. Here are the pictures.

Here is my latest update.


http://kingscrafthouseboat.blogspot.com ... it-of.html

If I had a hat just now I would take it off to salute you for the crazy hard work you are doing to rehab the boat. Whew, I'm exhausted reading the details. One (very) small hint. Instead of trying to line up each hull number, order a one-piece set of vinyl numbers. It's easy to adjust the decal using some soapy water, the squeeging it out.

Thanks for the tip on the lettering. All I keep saying is that this will be a great and stressful free boating season. My luck an engine will blow up on launch day.

Hi jtalberts,
After owning 3 Marinettes a 37, a 32 and now a 28' express I learned most of them were leaking current through the shafts, the plastic isolators and bolt insulation fail after a time. The solution for me has been to install Drive savers, a bit expensive at about 225.00 per shaft but they also protect the transmission from damage if you hit something with the prop.

Seanik
Jerry in Erie Pa

That is what I will be installing. I am tired of playing a guessing game if it is all good.

Another update:

http://kingscrafthouseboat.blogspot.com ... vated.html

The latest.


http://kingscrafthouseboat.blogspot.com ... udder.html