As you can tell from my posts, I'm new at owning a boat and am not
really that handy. So bear with me.
I recently bought a 12ft aluminum Jon Boat. It looks like someone was
trying to turn it into a fishing boat at some point. There are signs of
a fish finder mount on the back.. rod holders.. etc. It also has a nav.
light on the stern (that's the front, right?). The light doesn't work,
but is wired through a pvc pipe that goes to the back of the boat. I
have no idea what the guy was trying to do, but there are a lot of
wires in the pvc pipe and I'm not sure what their intended purpose was.
At some point they come out of the middle of the pvc onto a panel of
some sort, and then some more come out a little farther down. Maybe he
was trying to do a live well or something? Anyway, I want to do away
with all of the unfinished wire work and pvc pipe. But I would like to
keep the light in case I stay out past dusk at some point. What do I
do? Run a couple of wires from the light back to the battery and attach
them to the battery operate? Do I need to protect them from water,
somehow, or is it that simple? I wouldn't mind mounting a switch for
the light to the back of the boat as well. Is it as easy as it seems it
would be? Run a couple of wires back to the switch, and from the switch
to the battery? Anything special I need to be looking for?

wrote in message
oups.com...
As you can tell from my posts, I'm new at owning a boat and am not
really that handy. So bear with me.
I recently bought a 12ft aluminum Jon Boat. It looks like someone was
trying to turn it into a fishing boat at some point. There are signs of
a fish finder mount on the back.. rod holders.. etc. It also has a nav.
light on the stern (that's the front, right?). The light doesn't work,
but is wired through a pvc pipe that goes to the back of the boat. I
have no idea what the guy was trying to do, but there are a lot of
wires in the pvc pipe and I'm not sure what their intended purpose was.
At some point they come out of the middle of the pvc onto a panel of
some sort, and then some more come out a little farther down. Maybe he
was trying to do a live well or something? Anyway, I want to do away
with all of the unfinished wire work and pvc pipe. But I would like to
keep the light in case I stay out past dusk at some point. What do I
do? Run a couple of wires from the light back to the battery and attach
them to the battery operate? Do I need to protect them from water,
somehow, or is it that simple? I wouldn't mind mounting a switch for
the light to the back of the boat as well. Is it as easy as it seems it
would be? Run a couple of wires back to the switch, and from the switch
to the battery? Anything special I need to be looking for?


First of all, the stern is the back and the bow is the front. And, you'd
better get comfortable with idea that by the time you're done pimping out
this boat correctly, it'll be worth more than your house.

The previous owner might've had a bow-mounted trolling motor, or a live
well, as you said. When you're planning the wiring, you need to first think
about battery location, and this doesn't always mean "the most convenient
place". You're gonna have 3 heavy things in the back of the boat: You, the
motor, and the gas tank. If you're the only one in the boat, the bow will
ride high at certain speeds and it may mess up your visibility. The bow can
also catch the wind and make for some interesting experiences that you don't
want to know about. If you think you'll be the only person in the boat
sometimes, try and mount the battery up front. Because the bow bounces more
than the stern, the battery should be protected in a battery box, and bolted
down to something solid if possible.

For navigation lights, you need the red-green fixture up front, and a white
light mounted on a pole in the stern. The taller the pole, the better,
because it'll put the light further above your field of vision and not blind
you so much at night. These poles pop out of sockets so you can stow them
when you're not using them. Even so, they're annoying at night and they
attract bugs, and if you're out fishing in a relatively traffic-free place,
you'll probably want to turn off the stern light and leave the bow light on.
So, you need to install separate switches for the two lights. You'll want
marine switches that can deal with moisture, and they need to be mounted in
a panel like this:
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...roductId=59944

That one's not waterproof, but there are others available, or you can build
something to shelter the panel from rain, spray and beer. Make sure there's
room for enough switches to operate the toys you don't know you want yet,
but will want two days after you install the panel that's too small. Radar,
fish-cam, VHF radio, music radio, live well, depth finder, courtesy lights
so you can see which toe you just stabbed with a fish hook, etc.

The PVC pipe is a good idea, to protect the wires from fish hooks, feet,
fish fins, etc. But, your boat may have hollow molding along the sides, and
you can sometimes snake wires in there. The wires themselves don't need
protection from water, but the connections at the ends definitely do. Any
decent marina will sell an assortment of crimp connectors, which aren't
waterproof, but can easily be cut off and changed over the years as they
corrode. Heat shrink tubing also helps to protect crimped or soldered
connections. Finally, look at the way electrical wires are routed into
houses. They create a drip loop - a loop of wire shaped sort of like a
teardrop, which leads rain down the loop instead of into the pipe. You need
to duplicate this in some places on your boat, but on a smaller scale.

If the existing wire looks ratty, replace all of it. Wire's cheap. Be sure
to install extra wire for the things you don't know you want yet. Some of
the wires should be heavier for the trolling motor. I'm guessing 10 or 12
gauge, but someone else here can correct me if I'm wrong. 14 gauge is fine
for the lightweight stuff like lights, radio, fish finder.

wrote in message
oups.com...
As you can tell from my posts, I'm new at owning a boat and am not
really that handy. So bear with me.
I recently bought a 12ft aluminum Jon Boat. It looks like someone was
trying to turn it into a fishing boat at some point. There are signs of
a fish finder mount on the back.. rod holders.. etc. It also has a nav.
light on the stern (that's the front, right?). The light doesn't work,
but is wired through a pvc pipe that goes to the back of the boat. I
have no idea what the guy was trying to do, but there are a lot of
wires in the pvc pipe and I'm not sure what their intended purpose was.
At some point they come out of the middle of the pvc onto a panel of
some sort, and then some more come out a little farther down. Maybe he
was trying to do a live well or something? Anyway, I want to do away
with all of the unfinished wire work and pvc pipe. But I would like to
keep the light in case I stay out past dusk at some point. What do I
do? Run a couple of wires from the light back to the battery and attach
them to the battery operate? Do I need to protect them from water,
somehow, or is it that simple? I wouldn't mind mounting a switch for
the light to the back of the boat as well. Is it as easy as it seems it
would be? Run a couple of wires back to the switch, and from the switch
to the battery? Anything special I need to be looking for?


Stern is the back end. Bow is the front end. Remove the light and all the
associated wiring. You can get a clamp on bow light, that is like a
flashlight. Maybe $15 tops. My 14' aluminum jon boat had a fish finder and
a transom (stern) mount trolling motor. Both ran off a group 24 deep cycle
12 volt battery. About $50 at Walmart, Costco, chain stores.

"Calif Bill" wrote in message
link.net...

wrote in message
oups.com...
As you can tell from my posts, I'm new at owning a boat and am not
really that handy. So bear with me.
I recently bought a 12ft aluminum Jon Boat. It looks like someone was
trying to turn it into a fishing boat at some point. There are signs of
a fish finder mount on the back.. rod holders.. etc. It also has a nav.
light on the stern (that's the front, right?). The light doesn't work,
but is wired through a pvc pipe that goes to the back of the boat. I
have no idea what the guy was trying to do, but there are a lot of
wires in the pvc pipe and I'm not sure what their intended purpose was.
At some point they come out of the middle of the pvc onto a panel of
some sort, and then some more come out a little farther down. Maybe he
was trying to do a live well or something? Anyway, I want to do away
with all of the unfinished wire work and pvc pipe. But I would like to
keep the light in case I stay out past dusk at some point. What do I
do? Run a couple of wires from the light back to the battery and attach
them to the battery operate? Do I need to protect them from water,
somehow, or is it that simple? I wouldn't mind mounting a switch for
the light to the back of the boat as well. Is it as easy as it seems it
would be? Run a couple of wires back to the switch, and from the switch
to the battery? Anything special I need to be looking for?


Stern is the back end. Bow is the front end. Remove the light and all
the associated wiring. You can get a clamp on bow light, that is like a
flashlight. Maybe $15 tops. My 14' aluminum jon boat had a fish finder
and a transom (stern) mount trolling motor. Both ran off a group 24 deep
cycle 12 volt battery. About $50 at Walmart, Costco, chain stores.


If the clamps on those bow lights aren't strong enough to permanently injure
your finger, they're useless. They'll fall right off, or shift around. And,
they don't provide him with a stern light. There's only one good way to
install navigation lights. My way.

wrote in message
...
On Thu, 02 Feb 2006 21:39:15 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:

There's only one good way to
install navigation lights. My way.

If he is not going to use a trolling motor and the motor is not
electric start, lugging a battery around, just for the light, is
stupid. I have to believe there is an LED solution that will run for
many hours on a small dry cell.

There is, but as previously discussed in this NG, the USCG approved ones are
a bit pricey.

RCE

Excellent responses. Thanks. As far as what motor I'm using, I don't
know yet. I probably won't be using a trolling motor. But I haven't
purchases the gas motor yet. So I don't know if it'll need a battery to
start or not. This boat will be mainly for me and the wife to casually
go up and down some rivers here in FL. And maybe some fishing and or
castnetting out in the bay. Not too far out though, obviously.

Eddie bauer has something he might be able to use. It has a magnetic mount,
suction cup mount and velcro mount. It can shine a white light or red/green.
Red and green show 180 degrees each so he would need to partially block the
beams with tape. This thing runs on 4 AA cells.
Jim
"RCE" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
...
On Thu, 02 Feb 2006 21:39:15 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:

There's only one good way to
install navigation lights. My way.

If he is not going to use a trolling motor and the motor is not
electric start, lugging a battery around, just for the light, is
stupid. I have to believe there is an LED solution that will run for
many hours on a small dry cell.

There is, but as previously discussed in this NG, the USCG approved ones
are a bit pricey.

RCE

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

"Calif Bill" wrote in message
link.net...

wrote in message
oups.com...
As you can tell from my posts, I'm new at owning a boat and am not
really that handy. So bear with me.
I recently bought a 12ft aluminum Jon Boat. It looks like someone was
trying to turn it into a fishing boat at some point. There are signs of
a fish finder mount on the back.. rod holders.. etc. It also has a nav.
light on the stern (that's the front, right?). The light doesn't work,
but is wired through a pvc pipe that goes to the back of the boat. I
have no idea what the guy was trying to do, but there are a lot of
wires in the pvc pipe and I'm not sure what their intended purpose was.
At some point they come out of the middle of the pvc onto a panel of
some sort, and then some more come out a little farther down. Maybe he
was trying to do a live well or something? Anyway, I want to do away
with all of the unfinished wire work and pvc pipe. But I would like to
keep the light in case I stay out past dusk at some point. What do I
do? Run a couple of wires from the light back to the battery and attach
them to the battery operate? Do I need to protect them from water,
somehow, or is it that simple? I wouldn't mind mounting a switch for
the light to the back of the boat as well. Is it as easy as it seems it
would be? Run a couple of wires back to the switch, and from the switch
to the battery? Anything special I need to be looking for?


Stern is the back end. Bow is the front end. Remove the light and all
the associated wiring. You can get a clamp on bow light, that is like a
flashlight. Maybe $15 tops. My 14' aluminum jon boat had a fish finder
and a transom (stern) mount trolling motor. Both ran off a group 24 deep
cycle 12 volt battery. About $50 at Walmart, Costco, chain stores.


If the clamps on those bow lights aren't strong enough to permanently
injure your finger, they're useless. They'll fall right off, or shift
around. And, they don't provide him with a stern light. There's only one
good way to install navigation lights. My way.


It is a 12' Jon boat. The battery and panel will weigh more than he needs
for a light. And most cops would not give him a ticket in a small lake with
just a bow light.

wrote in message
...
On Thu, 02 Feb 2006 21:39:15 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:

There's only one good way to
install navigation lights. My way.

If he is not going to use a trolling motor and the motor is not
electric start, lugging a battery around, just for the light, is
stupid. I have to believe there is an LED solution that will run for
many hours on a small dry cell.

Are there clip-on stern navigation lights with long enough posts to not put
the light in his field of vision? If not, he's gonna need a battery. Even a
small motorcycle battery would do the trick if it's only for lights. But, as
soon as he adds a fish finder, he'll want to go bigger.

"Calif Bill" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

"Calif Bill" wrote in message
link.net...

wrote in message
oups.com...
As you can tell from my posts, I'm new at owning a boat and am not
really that handy. So bear with me.
I recently bought a 12ft aluminum Jon Boat. It looks like someone was
trying to turn it into a fishing boat at some point. There are signs of
a fish finder mount on the back.. rod holders.. etc. It also has a nav.
light on the stern (that's the front, right?). The light doesn't work,
but is wired through a pvc pipe that goes to the back of the boat. I
have no idea what the guy was trying to do, but there are a lot of
wires in the pvc pipe and I'm not sure what their intended purpose was.
At some point they come out of the middle of the pvc onto a panel of
some sort, and then some more come out a little farther down. Maybe he
was trying to do a live well or something? Anyway, I want to do away
with all of the unfinished wire work and pvc pipe. But I would like to
keep the light in case I stay out past dusk at some point. What do I
do? Run a couple of wires from the light back to the battery and attach
them to the battery operate? Do I need to protect them from water,
somehow, or is it that simple? I wouldn't mind mounting a switch for
the light to the back of the boat as well. Is it as easy as it seems it
would be? Run a couple of wires back to the switch, and from the switch
to the battery? Anything special I need to be looking for?


Stern is the back end. Bow is the front end. Remove the light and all
the associated wiring. You can get a clamp on bow light, that is like a
flashlight. Maybe $15 tops. My 14' aluminum jon boat had a fish finder
and a transom (stern) mount trolling motor. Both ran off a group 24
deep cycle 12 volt battery. About $50 at Walmart, Costco, chain stores.


If the clamps on those bow lights aren't strong enough to permanently
injure your finger, they're useless. They'll fall right off, or shift
around. And, they don't provide him with a stern light. There's only one
good way to install navigation lights. My way.


It is a 12' Jon boat. The battery and panel will weigh more than he needs
for a light. And most cops would not give him a ticket in a small lake
with just a bow light.


Maybe. But, I see navigation lights as the first defense against morons and
drunks in other boats. They may still try and drive right through you, but
at least when you shoot them, you can point out to the cops that you had
lights, so you weren't at fault.