Question about ground wire on 16/1

[waterwks4me]

I'm in the process of rejuvenating my 16 and awhile after I purchased the boat I gutted the spartan interior.   The wiring was corroded pretty bad so I ripped it all out including a run of heavy gauge ground wire that if I remember ran from the forestay chainplate to one of the mid chainplates and continuing I believe to the stern attached to one of the rudder bolts.  I have looked at a lot of interiors to get ideas as to what I want to do to mine and have yet to see a ground wire attached to one of the mid chainplates or any other for that matter.   I am at that point that I will be installing a new 12v system with panel for running lights, cabin lights, 12v outlet, etc. 
Questions:
1. does this sound like it was wired for a lightning ground by a previous owner?
2. Do I need to have a common ground?

[brackish]

I believe what you discovered is some type of convoluted lightning protection system installed by the previous owner, so the answer to number one is yes.  The perpetual debate about the effectiveness of such systems aside, it is not needed for the 12V DC wiring system for your boat.   Certainly you can use a common ground buss for your system with a lead back to the negative battery post.

[skip1930]

I concur a path for lightening to follow to 'ground'. In this case the rudder's blade.
If a CP-16 was struck by lightening of any significant bolt, she'd be toast. And sink.

If your starting over from scratch in the wire department it's very basic.
Go stealth. Try to hide the wiring. Plan it out and draw it out.
For marine use go heavier wire then you believe you need to.
Once all the wiring is run [I like to put the + and - wires into a vise and use a drill motor to mightily twist the two wires together.
This makes for a mighty nice cable that is easy to run or push through voids. Two colors of course.
Assemble wire and ends [connectors] with the thought that a piece of shrink wrap will be slid down and shrunk LATER.
Which means the shrink tube piece goes up stream of the connector for later use.
Once everything works Solder Everything. Slide the shrink tube down and heat.
Once shrunk, tape the connection with a few wraps of PVC quality electric tape. [I like 3-M brand]
I bought two 5 screw and fused terminal blocks and screwed that to the backside of the bulkhead at the end of the quarter birth on my CP-16. Next to the battery.
One wire goes between the wired blocks and the battery terminals. [only the +'s are fused.]
Very clean wiring for all of the added electronic gear. 

skip.

 

[waterwks4me]

Thanks guys for the responses.  Some great ideas to put into practice.

[Bob23]

Waterworks:
   A great book to have is "Sailboat Electrics Simplified" by Don Casey. While some of the material is geared toward bigger boats, there is plenty of stuff for us smaller guys. Well worth the price, it came in handy when I rewired my 1985 CP 23/2. There is a good chapter on lightening protection as well.
Bob23

[wes]

Second the recommendation on Casey's book. It's useful for all size boats since it covers basics like batteries and nav lights in addition to bigger boat stuff like alternators.

Interestingly, the CP 27 has a similar arrangement of green wires interconnecting all the metal parts that penetrate the hull - chain plates, rudder, etc. I noticed it when I began removing interior trim. The owner's manual calls it a bonding system and specifically says it is NOT intended for lightning protection. My 19 has no such system, so I was surprised to hear that Waterwks found it on a 16. A mystery.

Wes

[nies]

I read somewhere that soldering low voltage(12volt) wires was not a good idea due to resistance, twist nuts are quick and easy to change out........have been putting electric gel on wires in nut and seems to have worked well .......nies

[skip1930]

Solder everything was recommended in the book, 'The Nature of Boats'.
I don't know. You decide.

skip.

[Greene]

Second the recommendation on Casey's book. It's useful for all size boats since it covers basics like batteries and nav lights in addition to bigger boat stuff like alternators.

Interestingly, the CP 27 has a similar arrangement of green wires interconnecting all the metal parts that penetrate the hull - chain plates, rudder, etc. I noticed it when I began removing interior trim. The owner's manual calls it a bonding system and specifically says it is NOT intended for lightning protection. My 19 has no such system, so I was surprised to hear that Waterwks found it on a 16. A mystery.

Wes

The bonding system is designed to protect metal components from galvanic corrosion. 
I've read that wire nuts are never to be used in marine applications and that soldering is no longer recommended. 

Mike