Category: Cabin & deck gear
Yesterday Garmin big-footed into a new niche with new VIRB action cameras — VIRB as in verb, as in action (I think). It’s not a boat camera per se, but I expect that one will be useful and fun around a boat, and it’s also another indication of the company’s product ‘ecosystem’ stradegy. Garmin was just getting into dedicated marine electronics when I began covering the subject in depth over a decade ago, but nonetheless the major players almost unanimously cited the big Kansas complex full of engineers (with its own factory in Taiwan) as their biggest competitive fear. I suspect it was capablities like this that caused the concern. VIRB is not an assault on any marine companies but CNet’s sharp analysis is aptly titled “Garmin gets up in GoPro’s grill with VIRB HD cameras“…
One of the products above has proven itself a far superior option in keeping my 39-foot sailboat pleasantly dry and odor free, despite an occasional need to close up the boat with wet sails or gear down below.
I’ve been testing three waterproof iPad cases that all have “Life” in their name for some reason (anyone?). Frankly, none got me excited until I recently snapped my iPad mini in the Lifeproof frē case above (running Garmin BlueChart Mobile). The design is stellar, I think. The LifeProof is so light and snug that the mini still feels mini, but it now has has a protective rubbery edge and non-slip back and it survived 30 minutes submerged in my sink though all the buttons plus the charge port still work fine. I suspect I’ll always use this case on the boat, and maybe everywhere. But that’s not to say that I know everything about the ever-changing world of pad cases. Let’s review the testing and discuss…
That screen above makes me so happy! I had been reluctant to give up on Gizmo’s standalone tank monitoring system but circumstances forced a change. Had I realized how easy and relatively inexpensive it...
I believe that this gentleman — Durval Tavares, the founder and president of Aquabotix — earned that grin the hard way. It’s no surprise that getting something as complex as a “remote controlled underwater camera vehicle” with an iPad interface to market would be a challenge, but when I visited the company HQ yesterday I was impressed with just how many details and disciplines are in play behind the scenes. I was also impressed with the cheerful, collaborative work environment Tavares and his team have created and I quite enjoyed taking my first HydroView driving lesson in the factory test pool (video example here)…
While I once again found IBEX rich with interesting people and products, it was a mere light fixture that may have sparked the moment of maximum excitement! Please check out my April entry about perfect LED interior lighting before we take a gander at the new Lumitec Touch Dome seen above, plus a report on the LED’s already in use on Gizmo…
Switching Gizmo’s interior lighting to LEDs seems like a no-brainer, especially given the horridly inefficient incandescent lighting she came with. For instance, I ran that either/or dual dome light comparison at lower left all last season and it was hard to tell the difference between the light outputs of the two bulbs, except that the $30 Imtra “Tower” LED replacement bulb is slightly warmer in color and draws only about 2 Watts (.23 amps at 12.4v) while the freaking filament bulb draws 15! But though there are more and more choices in replacement bulbs and fixtures — with prices down and LED light output up — there are still numerous issues to consider and I don’t think that boats like mine have seen the perfect LED choice yet…
It’s hard not play Panbo hooky during this superfine Spring in Maine, but I have been doing some testing even as I get Gizmo ready for a full season of it. You may recall my September entry about the new underwater cam company AquaBotix; well, above is their AquaLens boat hook cam at work in Camden Harbor. Click on the thumbnail above for a better look at the running gear of the able work and passenger vessel Harvest Moon. With the little LCD screen strapped to my wrist and the cam/LED control box clipped to my belt, I could move around and handle the boat hook fairly easily (as long as I didn’t trip on the cable). And, while the water isn’t always this clear here, I was able to inspect the hull pretty thoroughly, and even found a foot-long section of missing bottom paint, or worse, that Capt. Rob didn’t know about…
EEL purportedly stands for Easily Engaged Locking system but perhaps more to the point are the strong and sleek eel-like jaws of Marinco’s new shorepower connector. It’s designed to work with existing screw-on-ring inlets, except that now you can easily and quickly make the connection with one hand. It even has a built-in LED light for orienting the blades, but just grabbing the jaws tends to orient the plug correctly anyway, so hooking up is just a matter of a little twist and then letting the jaws grab the inlet threads. There’s also a secondary lock though the product manager at Marinco’s Miami press conference suggested that it was more about peace of mind than necessity. Those jaws are apparently moray eel strong, but is the EEL a sufficient response to the Smart Plug challenge?…
This entry is inspired by Edson’s Miami introduction of a Manual Radar Leveling Kit that looks neat to me. I’ve seen pole mounts like this before — either custom fabricated or made by less familiar companies like Garhauer — and they struck me as a simple and economical way to deal with the issue of decreased radar performance due to boat heel. But before discussing the merits of manual (or electric) leveling mechanisms versus the many self-leveling mounts, I probably ought to address the fact that some sailors reject the whole notion of radar leveling as hokum!…
