The Marine Electronics Hub
For me, the Craftsman tool brand mainly harkens back to my dad’s garage workshop more than half a century ago, so now I’d love to see his reaction to this cordless electric screwdriver that knows what you want it to do. You too may amazed at what can be mass-marketed for $25 these days, and how useful it can be around a boat…
“NO ELECTRONICS” as a product feature? Is that where we’re at as the decades turn? But I also deduced evidence that these new-to-me USS Ultra bilge pump switches actually are ultra reliable. Despite premium pricing, the excellent marine chandlery in Rockland keeps plenty of Ultras in stock, and so they’re probably installed on some of the many nearby commercial vessels. Which especially includes the growing fleet of tough, handsome, and well-equipped offshore lobster boats that I’d like to tell you about…
The goal of the makeover certainly sounded like cruising bliss, but could a 100hp Yanmar diesel really propel a 39-foot trawler while also producing gobs of 12 volt DC to feed both SeaKeeper gyrostabilization and a huge battery bank? I’m pleased to report that the dual MGDC 250 amp alternator setup seen above on the actual trawler Bliss has proven my skepticism unwarranted, and an already beloved cruiser became a “new boat” in the process.
When I bought Have Another Day I really wanted the data from my early electronically controlled diesel engines available on my MFDs. I’ve had access to this data previously and knew the value of the data for fuel management and engine monitoring. My path to getting that data wasn’t easy but I think I helped blaze a trail to easy engine data on your NMEA 2000 network.
Way down the long list of new features that came with April’s LightHouse v3.9. update for Raymarine Axiom MFDs is “Tank naming and Sender Calibration” and it turns out that means NMEA 2000 tank senders made by Oceanic Systems. Which is a semi-big deal because a significant disappointment of N2K is that while many standard data PGNs are truly plug-and-play across brands, sensor calibration is usually not…
A day on the water is better with good tunes, and the rise of streaming has changed how we get music on board a lot. For the last decade, Fusion has lead the way with stereos that use the latest technology to deliver audio on boats. I’ve just finished a complete install of the company’s current gear aboard Have Another Day and as you will read, Fusion continues to leverage the latest tech and deliver great sound.
My family and I have been back living and traveling aboard Have Another Day for about nine months now. Our boat is a huge consumer of bandwidth so I’ve learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t. Here’s an update and some tips on what we’re doing to maintain reliable connectivity.
During an immersive experience at the Miami International Boat Show, Thursday, Feb. 14, Sea Ray unveiled a limited-edition SLX-R package of the brand-new SLX 350 Outboard. The exclusive reveal was presented as part of Sea Ray’s celebration of 60 years of remarkably crafted boats. As a first-of-its-kind model, the SLX-R features elevated design elements combined with high-performance propulsion and innovative technologies to enhance the boating experience…
Cochise is certainly eye-catching, and especially so when you realize that you’re looking at the personal cruising “dream machine” of the relentless innovator Steve Dashew. So even though the navigation setup inside that huge combination flying bridge and pilot house was brand new state-of-the-art in 2016, it’s been so radically modified since then that I burst into uncontrollable giggling on first sight…
I’ve started multi-brand, underway testing with lots more to come in 2019. Have Another Day’s 2018 ended with quite a few installs planned or in progress. I’m pretty excited to see how the various products...
