There's a catch:

Charlie says, "then the safety ground and the neutral wire are tied
together
when the inverter is producing 120VAC."

This is exactly right, but they must not be tied together when the
boat is plugged into shore power unless the boat has an isolation
transformer. This is a source of confusion and problems on boats of
all sizes.

The rule is that the neutral/safety tie (white to green) in any system
should be at one and only one place. When plugged into shore power,
it's at the service entrance for the marina power. When generating
power on board (genset or inverter), it's on board. This requires
switching, which the better inverters provide automatically, but is
ignored in many installations.

Jim Woodward
www.mvfintry.com

"Charlie J" wrote in message .. .
Curtis: An inveter produces 120VAC hot to common and hot to ground.
Larry: If this is a name brand marine inverter mfgd and installed IAW ABYC
Standards, then the safety ground and the neutral wire are tied together
when the inverter is producing 120VAC. Assuming that Curtis' receptacle is
wired correctly, I suspect that Curtis is right, he plugged into an outlet
on his friend's boat that had reversed polarity.

73-
Charlie