Power to the People

Although a fiberglass sailboat can seemingly have a half-life of 50 years or more, its electrical system most certainly does not. Up until the 1990s, few production builders used tinned wiring in their installations, and most owners had fairly basic requirements, allowing boatbuilders to get away with providing rudimentary electrical systems.

Now, the cruising life is more complex, and sailors want more home comforts, which means more electrical gear on board. This in turn demands a greater battery bank capacity and improved charging systems. Heavy-duty items such as inverters can really test a feeble electrical network and often result in arcing connections, blown fuses and even cable meltdown.

As a result, electrical system upgrades are often high on the to-do list for owners of older—and sometimes not so old—cruising boats. It’s far from unusual for 30-plus-year-old boats to be offered for sale with their original systems, so let’s approach this series from the point of view of someone who’s just acquired such a vessel and wants to bring the entire electrical system up to today’s standards. Let’s start with the heart of the electrical system—batteries and how they are managed.

WHERE DO I START?

First, you should carry out an audit of the