[ILikeRust]

My answer to your question yesterday was not mean to be snarky; merely factual.

My boat was built in 1968 and I bought it just last August. So I have owned it less than a year. I believe I am at least the third, if not fourth (maybe even fifth) owner. It seems that each owner before me did various things to the boat.

In the 1970s, it had a Loran - I know this because the PO gave me a big stack of paperwork and documentation that came with the boat, and the Loran documentation is in there. The Loran itself is long gone. But evidently some of the wiring remains.

At some point, maybe in 1970s or early 1980s, it had a refrigerator installed, supposedly. The paperwork is in the big pile of paper the PO gave me. I have yet to find the location of the compressor and stuff - I haven't gone digging very hard yet, but to be honest, I don't know if the machinery is still on the boat or not. There is a switch marked "refrigerator", but when you flip it, nothing happens.

The engine was replaced in 1983. I have discovered, since pulling the engine out of the boat in February, and spending lots of time at this forum getting an education, that the exhaust was all wrong. So I will be re-doing that.

The engine and battery wiring was pretty sketchy. I know the PO did all of that, because he told me he did. None of the battery terminals were covered.

Last year, when I had a problem with the engine not shutting off, despite the switch being off, I found and pulled out two abandoned circuits that were not connected to anything. They *were* connected to power, mind you - but they went off into various places in the boat and just ended - just wires lying there, ready to conduct current. I'm betting I still have a couple more of those.

I have found what appears to be an antenna wire, like a coax cable, that is not connected to anything. I'm guessing it's either an old CB radio or marine radio or maybe for the old Loran. I dunno. There are lots of wires running hither and yon along the deck/hull seam, and it seems to me to be far too many wires, considering how little the boat has in the way of electronics or anything. It's on my list to investigate all of these and remove any that are abandoned.

There are various switches and devices installed in the rear cabin bulkhead above the engine. Two very different ones for two different bilge pumps, each of which was installed at very different times. None of them are installed in boxes. If you stick your head behind the bulkhead, you can see the backs of every switch and meter, with all the spaghetti connections back there.

I am glad, however, that nobody ever simply twisted wires together with wire nuts - oh, except to hook up the VHF radio. That, in fact, is connected to power with two wire nuts. But those are the only wire nuts I have found on the boat.

I know my cockpit drains do not meet the ABYC standard, because the surveyor did the math and told me they needed to be bigger to drain faster. He told me it wasn't as much of an issue if I just kept my sailing to the Bay, but if I went out into open water, where there was more of a possibility of shipping water, I should upgrade them. I might do that anyhow, but it's not high on the priority list.

...and so on.

In the meantime, I have a perfectly sailable boat that I can take out and enjoy. She's got a sound hull and sails well, and I have no concern that she might sink or blow up on me or my family, so I will use her as-is, while I also work towards rectifying a lot of the things that I know are not right. Like all of that exposed wiring behind the bulkhead.

But I'm just one guy, and I can't do it all at once by myself.

As far as compliance with the ABYC standards, well first of all, I don't know what those standards require. So I will have to obtain a copy of them and educate myself. I believe, however, that you have to purchase them, yes? I spent a few minutes digging around the ABYC site and found it not very user-friendly, with an emphasis on being a dues-paying member.

I would wager that the vast majority of small pleasure craft do not come anywhere close to meeting the ABYC standards. If you're a modern boat manufacturer, sure, you're going to comply with the standards, as industry standards against which a tort lawyer would hold you accountable. But as "Joe Boatowner" buying a 40 year-old, used boat, or even a 15 year-old, used boat, being that the ABYC standards are purely voluntary and not government mandated (at least not in the U.S.), I'm sure you'll find compliance is quite low.