250V/50A shorepower

This 42' Commander came with only one 30a shore power service, which is pathetically small by today's standards. I upgraded to 125/250 50amp service, swapped out the original 8 awg wire for 6 awg to handle the higher capacity and replaced the power panel and breakers. The new panel is a Factorymation unit that includes the main breaker and mini breakers for all branch circuits, replacing three different Square D breaker boxes in the original configuration. Factorymation panels and breakers are widely used in Europe, though you don't see them very often in the US.

Here's what it looked like originally.

And here's the FactoryMation panel that replaces it. I've still got an ammeter to install and a few other switches, after which I'll paint over the primer.

As part of the upgrade to 50a 250v service, I had to swap the ends off of a cord that came with another project boat. While the cord itself is still nice and flexible, and it's the proper 6awg 4-conductor cable, the plug on the ship-side was badly burned. Here's what you get with a Marinco cable end:

The insulation on the black conductor was badly burned for about 18 inches up the cable. I cut it back 2 feet before I was finally into unaffected wire.

The answer to the question "Marinco or Hubbell?" is clearly the latter. Yes, Marinco is cheaper and yes, many people use Marinco without any trouble at all. But the local marine mechanics and electricians keep a wall of shame for these sorts of things and there's not a single Hubbell failure on the board. And here's why: