Digital Switch Panel

The Original Panel

The original Westerly Oceanlord 41 came with a classic factory switch panel: printed labels, push-button breakers, and toggle switches on a black faceplate labelled "OCEANLORD 41". Over 35 years, previous owners had added circuits with handwritten labels and yellow tape - USB, Radar, Cockpit 12V, Fridge - all tagged onto the original layout.

Behind the faceplate, decades of additions had turned the wiring into a proper bird's nest. When we bought Lagertha in 2021, our first project was to make it safe, ripping out corroded chocolate block connectors and adding proper fusing. But that was always a stepping stone - we knew the full solution would come later.

Old Oceanlord 41 switch panel with handwritten labels, push-button breakers, and 35 years of additions

Old nav station with Sony car stereo, ICOM VHF, and tangled wiring behind the panel

Monitoring was basic: a voltmeter, a couple of indicator lights, and analogue gauges for the water tanks. No way to see what any individual circuit was drawing, no alarms, no remote control.

Why Simarine

We chose Simarine's digital switching system - a modern system used in new boats, for example from Hanse. Three things mattered to us:

Manual relay switching - we can still operate every circuit manually at the distribution unit, even if the touchscreen goes dark. This was a hard requirement.
Programmable panel grouping - relays can be grouped to switch together (all cabin lights on one button, all navigation circuits on another), regardless of their physical position on the distribution unit.
Integrated monitoring - the Pico, included with the Nereide panel, shows voltage, current, state of charge, and tank levels in real time, with configurable alarms.

One thing we particularly like: the Nereide panel has real physical buttons with great haptic feedback. They feel like proper push buttons, not a flat glass panel. You get the monitoring and control of a touchscreen but the tactile confidence of real switches - the best of both worlds.

The system also supports NMEA 2000 switching, so circuits can be controlled from any N2K device on the network - MFD, tablet, or remote.

Old panel close-up showing ICOM VHF radio and handwritten call sign labels

Behind the old panel - decades of wiring additions without proper organisation

Work in Progress

The installation went smoothly thanks to our earlier rewire - all the circuits were already traced, labelled, and documented. But the detail work still took time: every wire had to be connected to the right relay, fuses sized correctly, and the Simarine configuration fine-tuned.

There were long sessions at the nav station with a multimeter, tracing circuits and verifying every connection before energising.

Testing circuits with a multimeter during the installation process

Victron equipment going in alongside the Simarine distribution system

The New System

The finished installation includes:

Simarine Nereide 2 - 5" IPS touchscreen for monitoring, plus physical buttons with haptic feedback for switching. NMEA 2000 integrated. Temporary until the Nereide Pro is released, which adds digital button labels and layering
Simarine Pico - 3.5" monitoring display (included with the Nereide panel) showing battery state, tank levels, and current draw at a glance
Simarine SPU-303 - 31-channel DC distribution unit with individual fuses (5A to 20A) and manual override switches for every relay
Simarine SCQ25T - 4-channel digital shunt module measuring current on individual circuits (fridge, internet gear, and two more channels for diesel heater and autopilot)
Simarine SRB530 - remote switch and bilge pump controller, managing forward and aft bilge pumps with automatic float switch inputs

All wiring is now clean, labelled, and properly sized for its circuit. Every wire tag reads clearly: Portable Light, Bilge Pump, Navtex, VHF, Deck Flood Light, Anchor Light, Navigation Lights - no more guessing what a mystery wire does.

Simarine Pico module and fuse/relay board - every circuit fused and labelled

Simarine SRB530 bilge pump controller with WAGO connectors and manual override terminals

What's Next

The Nereide 2 panel is fully functional but temporary - we are waiting for the Simarine Nereide Pro, which will add digital button labels (no more printed labels that fade), layering (group relays to switch together - cabin group, navigation group, and so on, each on one tap), and navigation light monitoring that confirms your nav lights are actually on and drawing current.

All channels are accounted for - the diesel heater and autopilot circuits are already monitored via the SCQ25T shunt module, and the SRB530 handles both bilge pumps with room to spare.