Hello,

I have just purchased, from a private seller, an old 55x14 69 Stardust that has been rebuilt. The hull has been replated and painted. I had the marina repair pull it to replace the bellows and the service manager said the hull is great and no need to do anything to the hull except to clean it. The previous owner took the boat completely back to the steel hull and rebuilt the house structure, using all 2 x 6 for studs, double decked the roof, and offset the joints, with marine plywood. He dropped the salon floor to the level of the galley/stateroom, except the helm which has rounded steps leading to my little corner of the boat. The 350 merc I/O engine has 20 hours on it, but the build was a bad one and the engine is siezed ( not a problem as I LOVE to buikld small block chevys ).

NOW to my question....It seems that all the major wiring was done with solid core wire. Do I need to rip all that out? Also, on a boat this age, do I need to hacve all engine and generator stuff marine and not automotive? i.e., starter, altenator, distributor, carb.

I am keeping the boat at a private dock in Lake Lanier, Georgia while I replace the engine and finish the trim work inside the boat, then I plan to move into a marina. My other problem is finding insurance without a survey, which I want to wait to have done after I finish getting her in running order.

Oh yeah, I paid $2500 for this boat, the owner showed me reciepts for about $35, 000 for the work he has done. His wife got tired of looking at the boat at his dock. He was done working on it.

Sorry for the long post, I am a newbie, and very excited, LOL.

1 Anything in the engine compartment needs to be Marine so you don't ignite any vapors and go boom.

2 You will have a hard time getting insurance with a survey, almost impossible without. Your total so far is only $2500. I would get insurance before putting any more money into it in case you come up dry. Try the previous owners carrier.

3 Line up a marina first. Marinas in your area may not allow steel boats.

4 In 1969 solid wire was the norm. You might slip this one past. Maybe maybe not.

Welcome to the board. Like your handle
OLD HOUSEBOATER38933.3703935185

Thanks for the reply OHB. I have Allstate, great rates, till 8-14 ( $20K coverage ). My neighbor is an independant agent, I will try him. It will only be a month or 2 until I have the work completed and the survey done. It is on blocks at the moment getting the bellows replaced. I saw on here that some companies would accept video or pictures as evidence of being structurally sound. Which companies might that be?

On another topic, does anybody have any experience with mounting a Breathing Air Compressor on your deck? I am a diver and having a compressor onboard would be great. I am sure that the Corp would not let me fill tanks for profit though.

Thanks for the welcome. Great board here, lots of good info/opinions.

I had Allstate on my last boat, they treated me right. Never heard of anybody that would take pictures only on an old steel boat. Ask the question in the general discussion thread. It gets a lot more hits. Also the compressor question.

Thanks. I will do that.

Welcome to the board, glad to have another Lake Lanier person here also. When I started looking at vintage boats on Lanier a few yrs ago, I was amazed how much old boat you could get for your money, especially if you went steel. I'm restoring my 34 foot 1972 fiberglass boat outside my shared double slip dock at Lanier Harbor where I have a condo. The condo rules require approval and insurance on boats bigger than 32' so I tried to find a small boat.

Lanier marinas mention that the Corp may soon encourage removal of steel boats and encourage the discontinuation of new leases to steel hulled houseboats but I dont think any have yet. I think there are too many steel houseboats on Lanier for anything to happen soon and if it did you sorta hear that they might just go after the old rust buckets. If you have good paint on your boat, I bet they'd just overlook it and assume it "might" be aluminum..lol.

Most experienced houseboaters told me that the first thing I should have done when I bought my boat was rewire it since you never know what you have until you do. My 110 sytem is solid core wire. So far my existing electrical system seems to work better than anything that I try to install so I'm not planning to try to "improve" it.

If you like engines, I have two little V6's on my boat I'd pay you to have fun with. Mobile marine repair crews dont come cheap. PM me if you want and I'll come up and see what you have or vice versa. Later, Carl.

I worked in the Coast Guard Office of Boating Safety for 25 years. I spent at least five years or more getting the houseboat industry to stop putting solid core wire in houseboats. Houseboats are still boats, and they are subject to all the stress, shock and vibration of boats. The Coast Guard regulation, and industry standard (ABYC) is stranded wire and has been since the 70's. I doubt very much if you had it surveyed today that it would pass the survey with solid core wire.

The issue here is vibration and flexing. Flexing wires eventually break. If you have solid core and it breaks, now you have a safety hazard. If you have stranded it is much more flexible and the chance that it will break is much less.

Although, you do not have to change it, (the law is not retroactive) I would certainly recommend it. If you are going to be updating your electrical then this is the best time to do it any way. I would replace it with UL boat cable. eIke38953.8837962963

This is an interesting discussion for me because I have a 1967 Aqualine with a steel hull. (Why would some marinas not take steel boats??)

The wiring is solid copper Romex type wire as is used in houses. Could Old Bastard or Old Houseboater comment on whether this kind of wiring will pass a survey if it is not in the engine compartment, but in the living area of the boat? I have a survey coming up and sure don't want to have to rewire.

What code (ABYC?) applies to houseboats? Can I question the surveyor if he insists on stranded wiring?s