Engine Control Panel

	Journal - Engine Panel (2009)

	While on the last cruise (Cruise ’97) there was ongoing pain in the butt we couldn’t do a damn thing about at the time. That was… when running the engine we had to leave the comfort of the cabin or out from under the dodger to take engine gauge readings for the log every 6 hours. We would have to almost stand upside-down between the wheel and rear seat to read the gauges on the original engine control panel located at your feet.

	I was not going to have to go through that this time out. I asked around and found almost everyone who was leaving for extended cruises, for good, or had been cruising and going cruising again had come to the same conclusion on any boat! That the engine control panel had to be relocated down below, in Mouse Pad’s case next to the navigation station on the bulkhead wall. (see Before & After's Engine Panel)

	I can now read all the engine gauges without bending over, getting cold or wet or a flashlight at night or even getting up from my seat at the navigation station. What a relief that is!

	I was actually surprised at how easy it was to remove the panel from the rear cockpit seat behind the wheel. It turned out to have the factory wiring harness with a plug connection just a foot or so back from the actual panel. Then pull the harness back from on top of the fuel tank and re-run it into the cabin and up the outer wall to a teak box with a hinged frame I had made for the panel to mount directly in. I thought about making a new panel for all the gauges but it didn’t seem worth it as the old plastic one cleaned up really well. We didn’t have to extend any of the harness to fit perfectly.

	The only extra work was in relocating the two fuel gauges (one for each of the fuel tanks on Mouse Pad, the original 30 gal under cockpit floor and the 25 gal one I had added back in 1996 in the forward end of the starboard lazerette). I had them relocated into the wood panel of the top step of the companion way.

	The panel relocated without any major issues and the fuel gauges were remounted. All could now be easily read from the safety and comfort of the cabin.