The first problem was that there was no external speaker. With the engine running (in the cockpit), there was no way to hear the VHF which was inside the cabin. If you turned it up loud enough, it was unintelligible. I plugged in a jack to the back of the VHF and ran the wire down to a switch on the panel. The switch disconnects the speaker so that I can listen to the weather inside without broadcasting it to everyone else at the dock or anchorage.

I ran the wire under the gap in the cockpit sole from inside and then up behind the refrigerator. The "cove" of the refrigerator vent will hopefully protect the speaker a little and extend its normal 2 month life to maybe a year.

The second problem was that the microphone coil would only reach about halfway across to the helm. At a time when you might really need throttle or steering control (frantically talking on the VHF), you had to constantly be poking your head inside to either hear or say something on the radio. After checking the number of wires (3) in the microphone cable (taking it apart). I went to Radio Shack and bought a 20ft stereo headphone extension with 3 wires.

I cut/unsoldered both ends of the microphone wire (one of them went to a 3-pin connector inside the radio), I soldered and "gooped" the new coiled wire in its place. This is MUCH better. Can even sit on the outboard cockpit seat with the microphone! We'll see how long the Radio Shack cable lasts......