Carl wrote:
I have just bought a fibreglass sailboat that needs rewiring. Reading
Don Casey's book "Sailboat Electrics Simplified", he states that the
battery MUST be properly grounded to the engine block. That's fine if
the boat has an inboard engine - but does this mean that I have to run
a grounding cable through the boat to the stern and attach it to the
outboard engine? Or is there an alternative "earth" on a fibreglass
boat?


Interesting question, Carl.

I don't have a copy of that book so I'm
not sure what Casey had in mind.
Assuming you will have no battery
connection to the outboard (as in
electric starting, battery charging,
etc.), I can imagine no reason why the
engine must be bonded to the battery.

In fact, I can think of a few reasons
why you would not want to bond it.

Good luck.

Chuck