Re: bilge ventililation
Any other thoughts on my situation?
Yep, plenty!
Side vents need to be facing aft. The very last thing you need is sea water going in there. And if the blower is on, then they will suck air, no question of that.
I also wouldn't run the inlet hoses all the way to the bottom. You want the blower to pick up from the bottom, but you want the 'new' air to arrive well above it, so as the blower sucks, the new air will be drawn down, hopefully passing and taking with it any nasties you want to get rid of.... And when the blower is not on, they'll act as heat extractors.
One more thought you may consider. The first photo in the thread, of the transom. Your stern light. Don't think that one is marine rated... Looks a lot like one I put in. Lasted about a week, then corroded the globe contacts :facepalm:.... Here's the cheap and easy (and VERY permanent) fix. Remove the entire thing from the boat and work on it on a bench. Now gut all the innards out of it and get yourself one of those nice LEDs like the flash in a phone camera. They are called
Cree LEDs. Anyway, get one of those and a 5W resistor for it. (I can't remember the value I used. You have to just play around with different values until you get the current draw to about 750mA). Then wire it all up and set it inside the light holder (resistor and all), at about the same place as the original bulb was, and fill it with a clear epoxy, just up to the level of the LED. Then you have more light with less power drawn, doesn't get hot, and will last FOREVER! Just one thing to be aware of. When you wire it into the boat, it is polarity sensitive.
(I used a polarised connector like
THIS.)
Cheers.....
