For this project, I worked as a marine electrician on a beautiful 39-foot McBryde “Fifty-Fifty” ketch built in 1934. The owner wanted a comprehensive upgrade to the vessel’s marine electrics, bringing modern onboard power and navigation capabilities to this classic wooden sailing yacht.

The completed project brought together lithium battery technology, shore power and upgraded navigation electronics through an overhaul of the vessel’s electrical systems.

The project involved redesigning the electrical system from the battery bank through to the existing DC switch panel. I installed 400Ah of Renogy Core Mini lithium batteries to power the domestic electrical systems.

A new shore power installation was also completed, with 240V AC sockets and a dedicated mains charger for each battery bank, allowing charging profiles to match each battery bank type.

The navigation electronics were upgraded with a new NMEA 2000 network, incorporating a McMurdo M15S AIS receiver and an Actisense WGX-1 gateway. This allowed navigation data from the network to be transmitted over Wi-Fi, enabling the owner to connect an iPad and access the vessel’s navigation data wirelessly.

The result was more capable and reliable electrics, designed to the needs of this classic yacht and its owner.