What is This?

[ILikeRust]

I did find a good deal of wiring that went nowhere. I think previous owners added/removed stuff and simply left whatever was there before in place. I tore it all out. It just seemed so strange to have this very large guage wire laying in the bottom completely unused.

Sounds just like my boat.

I mentioned it to a buddy of mine who has been sailing 20+ years and has bought and sold several old boats over the years. I told him about all the old, abandoned wiring I found, and he just nodded and said, "yup, pretty common on an old boat."

I found a length of about 4-gauge wire (maybe even 2-gauge; I'll have to check - but it's pretty beefy) running all the way from behind the aft cabin bulkhead, through the storage compartments above the dinette, and into the head - not connected to anything on either end. I'm theorizing it probably provided power to either the fresh water pump (which is long gone) or a pump of some sort for the old MSD (also long gone). I pulled it out and found it to be in excellent condition, so I got myself about 14 feet of nice, heavy guage wire.

Which I probably don't need, but hey, it's free.

[Antibes]

There are lots of articles and opposing theories on grounding the mast.

Some previous owner of my boat used heavy gauge wire from the mast to the keel bolts.

Freshwater is less conductive than salt so I think there is supposed to be an exposed plate on the keel that I do not have