1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 refit

[jim rosenthal]

There was a thread on it, on this very forum, a few years ago. Search and you'll find it.

[q240z]

I haven't installed the mast yet, but you can see a few pix of it from the 'refit begins' post. This is maybe the best one.

[q240z]

It just occurred to me, though, that this boat isn't wired for an OA light. I used the OEM wiring for the mast, and it's all very beautifully hidden behind the salon headliner now. It would be...challenging, to say the least...to wire the Owner/Away/Meal light now that the headliner is in.

I appreciate the thought, though. (it's not like you haven't had ten years to mention this, Jim...LOL )

Cheers,
Q

[jim rosenthal]

I just assumed, as the compleat yachtsman, that you'd have thought of the wiring and roughed it in. Are you certain it can't be added? These are low wattage lights, esp c modern LED bulbs available for just about anything.

[Fanfare]

Just attach it to the stbd. spreader and don't bother wiring it at all. In the old days of professional crew it was important to let fellow owners know when you were away from your boat or dining. Nowadays because we have no crew I don't want anyone to know if I am away and my boat is unoccupied.

My anchor light and owner absent/meal lights have quick disconnect connectors to permit lowering the mast for bridges. These either get kicked apart or corroded so don't work. I finally realized I was wasting a lot of time fixing these when I only used the anchor light.

While your average boat thief is probably not fully up to date on yachting etiquette it may be that just the sight of my crew light fixture will be a deterrent!

[jim rosenthal]

Good advice, and a goo d excuse for me to give him the fixture.

[q240z]

Jim, I was staring at the mast wiring sticking out of the salon top, trying to figure out how I could hook this light up. Turns out there's a switched wire that used to drive the horns that attached to the mast base. I don't have those horns, so I could use the wire to power the lights instead.

But I'm still unclear what the purpose of the light is. LOL

[q240z]

I had some trouble when I went to install the searchlight, which was original to the boat. The mahogany mounting blocks were also original. But somehow, the blocks ended up being ~1/2" too thick. I had to use a router upside-down to remove the excess mahogany from the underside of the mounting blocks. It was an ugly job, but I think it'll work fine. Once the headliner is installed, nobody will ever see it.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: One-Mile Ray Searchlight Install II

Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

Turns out the existing wiring won't support an OA light. There's only one hot. And the OEM mast yardarms are only 3/4" diameter chromed bronze. Those lights appear to be made for a much wider base. I suspect it'd look a bit goofy.

That said, I finally got around to varnishing and installing that mahogany veneer on the helm station bulkhead. It sure does look purdy compared to what we started with.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Helm Station Mahogany III

Cheers,
Q

As-found


Cleaned up and ready to get purdy


Finally! Purdy! (though it'll look better once the clamps come off)

[jim rosenthal]

Looks beautiful. I've the light here. At some point I'll run down there and you can look at it. If we can figure out a place to mount it, you should have it.

I'm STILL trying to figure out how to get one onto my boat. No mast. I've got some ideas, though.