BoatWired brings ABYC-standard marine electrical work to Chicago boat owners. We're a fully mobile marine electrical company: we come to your slip, mooring, storage yard or trailer, so the boat doesn't have to go anywhere. We handle full rewires, battery and charging systems, shore power, generators, electronics and the troubleshooting in between.
Where we work
We work on boats in Chicago's lakefront harbors, including Montrose, Belmont, Diversey, DuSable, Monroe, Burnham, 31st Street and Jackson Park, and at the private marinas and storage yards around them. We also cover the North Shore, from Evanston and Wilmette up to Waukegan and Winthrop Harbor, and south to the Calumet area and Hammond, Indiana. If your boat is somewhere else in the area, ask us. We're mobile, so we can usually get to it.
Built around the Lake Michigan season
Chicago boating is short and busy. Most boats launch in spring and come out in fall, so electrical work tends to land in a few windows:
- Spring commissioning (April–May): batteries tested and charged, shore power and charging checked, and electronics updated before the boat goes in.
- In season: fast mobile troubleshooting, so one fault doesn't cost you the weekends you have.
- Fall layup and winter: the best time for rewires, lithium conversions, generator installs and new electronics, because the work can be done while the boat sits on the hard instead of during the season.
If you're planning a big project, book it for the off-season. You get more scheduling flexibility, and the boat is ready when the harbors open.
Fresh water changes the details
Lake Michigan is fresh water, and that changes several electrical details compared to salt water:
- Corrosion protection: zinc anodes, standard on salt-water boats, stop protecting in fresh water. Boats on the lake usually need magnesium or aluminum anodes. That matters for the many boats that come to Chicago from the coast or from Florida with their salt-water setup.
- Shock risk around docks: electric current leaking into fresh water is especially dangerous to swimmers. That's why proper grounding, isolation and ground-fault protection on board matter so much here. It's also why a boat with even a small leak to ground can trip a harbor's protected pedestals.
- Cold: months of winter storage below freezing are hard on batteries, connections and chargers. Lithium batteries also need protection against charging below freezing.
What to expect
- Get in touch. Request a quote online and tell us about your boat and where it's kept.
- Talk it through. We go over the problem or project and what you want from the boat.
- Diagnose on site. We bring the tools to find the real cause, not just the symptom.
- Estimate. You get a clear quote before any larger work starts.
- Do the work right. We install and repair to ABYC standards, with labeled, protected and documented circuits, as if it were our own boat.
Service area
Chicago's lakefront harbors, Evanston, Wilmette, Waukegan, Winthrop Harbor, Hammond, IN and surrounding areas.
