by talbot » Mon Nov 09, 2015 4:21 am
There is of course a thread on this. Some of us have not only put our batteries IN the cuddy, but UNDER the cuddy. This involves cutting a hole in the cuddy floor between the center board trunk and the mast, installing a battery box that rests on the hull of the boat, and runnng cables up the mast, across the cuddy roof, and aft inside the tanks.
The advantage? The battery is not only forward, but low, providing 50lbs of ballast to the boat. Also, it is out of the way. Besides the motor being plugged in all the time, if you do a lot of night sailing or overnight coastal trips, it's nice to have fixed running lights, a GPS display that can be on much of the time, and the ability to charge VHF and cell phone. If none of those advantages apply to you . . .
The wiring, fuses, breakers, etc. take time and money. A 50lb battery is a pain (literally, as in your lower back) to install and remove from inside the cuddy. You have to install a charging circuit for a solar panel, because you will want to charge the battery in place. So I'm not pushing the fixed-battery approach. But if you are interested, there are lots of discussions about the details: Wire gauges, connectors, where to (and not to) cut, etc.