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Electric Marine specializes in tough diagnostic problems in marine electrical and electronic systems. We do complex vessel rewiring and equipment upgrades. We also do straightforward jobs for people who just want to know it's done right. Details are important, craftsmanship matters. Here, you get the owner, David Sheriff, not the journeyman. NEW STORIES: My vent fan reborn Capability What I Take to Every Job My Alternator Test Stand Stress corrosion cracked propeller. What makes good cockpit layout? My LinkedIn Page
We can furnish all major brands of marine electronics at very
competitive prices. And install them properly. We do not have a "storefront"
business model, however. Rather than investing in brick and mortar, we work
dockside, at your
vessel from a well-equipped van. We respect your time: we make firm
appointments, confirm them and show up on-time. We operate from San
Pedro through Dana Point in the Los Angeles - Orange County area. The Electric Marine guarantee (short form): If we can't solve your problem, we won't charge you for working on it. Electric Marine
is David Sheriff, a
"retired" electrical
We stay abreast of boating standards as
they evolve and base our work practices on them. ABYC and NMEA
standards are voluntary. To be in compliance with these standards,
boats are only required to meet the rules once: when they were built. When making repairs or modifications, it is
rarely practical or cost effective to comprehensively upgrade old boats to the
most recent edition of the standards. Where USCG or FCC
Boats are not like 2 x 4 studded
buildings. Every boat is different. We will estimate charges,
but boats can be quite surprising when they are opened up. A wire
raceway may be completely full. It may be impossible to get from
here to there without removing an entire wall's paneling. Boats tend
to be designed to be built at minimum cost, not necessarily designed to be
modified easily. Wiring may be installed at the factory before the
boat is completely assembled. Getting to it later can be difficult. I am a boater. I love boats, whether sail or power. (I
must admit to owning a small sailboat.) Being a boater helps me
understand how to install things so they are easily visible and readily
accessible. There are few things worse than having to bend over
sideways at the helm just to tune your VHF to a particular channel, unless
it's having to bend forward over the wheel to change a setting on the
radar or chartplotter (or even to see the screen clearly). I'm big on
labeling things too. Labeling switches, labeling wires, labeling
terminals. Drawings are nice, and we do them sometimes, but
self-documenting systems are better. By just looking at the labels
you can see how the system is operated and even how it's wired. How
many mystery switches are on your boat, switches a previous owner put in
and you have no idea what they were supposed to do? Installing new equipment these days is a matter and of mounting the boxes, connecting the cables and programming equipment options properly. I do it all the time. My craftsmanship is excellent; I have the required tools. What's really fun for me though, is figuring out why systems don't work and fixing them. That's why we deal with marine electrical systems as well as working with sophisticated electronic devices. There are a lot of myths and misunderstandings about batteries, alternators, chargers, inverters, grounding and bonding and the other elements of a vessel's electrical system. The electrical system tends have unique peculiarities on every vessel, much more so than navigation, instruments or communications systems. That not only makes for interesting problems in the electrical systems, but nothing else functions reliably if the electrical systems are not doing their job. I turn 64 this year. I expect to be in this business for the next ten or fifteen years, perhaps training others to work beside me as I go. This field is a perfect match for my experience, interests and abilities. I'm having fun and building a base of enthusiastic customers. Go ahead, call me. Talking about a problem is free. You have nothing to lose but your boat's electrical problems. Rates, Terms and Everything You Could Possibly Want to Know About How We Conduct Business.
Electric Marine has a California Seller's permit. We are licensed to do business in Anaheim and Long Beach because it's necessary in those two locations. We serve virtually all marinas from San Pedro To Dana Point.We are registered wherever that is a marina requirement. We specifically hold identification cards from major marinas in San Pedro, Long Beach, Alamitos Bay,
Newport and Dana Point. David and Julie Sheriff are active members of the Navy Yacht Club - Long Beach.
Rummaging through some old pictures I finally found my original FCC First Class Radiotelephone Operators License from 1968. The old First Class ticket, compared to today's General Radiotelephone Operators License (its nearest technical equivalent), focused more on running broadcast stations than marine telecommunications systems. As I remember, though, the technical part of the exam was actually a little tougher than the GROL. As a Public Service: Tillermaster Manual Website production by: me (hey, I was a sales/marketing suit in another life)
Work up the mast at night? Why not? The sun's not beating you up and there's less wind as well. That bright spot in the middle of my forehead is an LED head light. Since taking the daylight picture at the bottom of the page I have changed my rig a little. I pull my own static climbing line to the masthead with a decent looking halyard. I still use Petzl ascenders to climb but use a Petzl descender to rappel down, which is a WHOLE lot easier than using the ascenders in reverse.
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