Milt Baker, Bermuda bound

Ben Ellison

Ben Ellison

Panbo editor, publisher & chief bottlewasher from 4/2005 until 8/2018, and now pleased to have Ben Stein as a very able publisher, webmaster, and editing colleague. Please don't regard him as an "expert"; he's getting quite old and thinks that "fadiddling fumble-putz" is a more accurate description.

4 Responses

  1. Jeffrey Siegel says:

    Marker Mate – just a guess but it doesn’t look electronic to me. It looks like you manually spin it around to quickly reinforce which side the red/green markers are currently on.

  2. Ben Ellison Ben Ellison says:

    Well, you may be right, Jeff, but maybe it’s internally lit. Jim, a friend of Milt’s, wrote in:
    You are absolutely correct in your thought. As I recall from a discussion with Milt of that very device, a friend of his made these a number of years ago in an effort to get a business off the ground. The device is beautifully made. The friend was unable to make a go of it and these devices have not been made or marketed in some time. The device is electrically powered but I forget whether it is hardwired or has a battery. At any rate, depending on how you set it, the correct buoy pattern is shown in the lighted display which changes based on the setting. I would love to have one of these and my thought is that in today’s day and age, especially with LED devices, there might be an opportunity for someone (perhaps the same guy) to make another attempt at marketing this device. There are so many places where it would be helpful to have the device. Now that I am thinking about this device again, perhaps one could make a simplified version with 4 LED lights and a 3 way switch. Throw the switch one way and the red (port) and green LEDs light. Center the switch and they are all off. Throw the switch the other way and the green (port) and red LED would light.

  3. Slugo says:

    New website is great. I love the look and the various topic categorization.
    Thanks.
    Slugo

  4. Ben Ellison Ben Ellison says:

    Milt reports in:
    “Greetings from Bermuda, which is every bit as great a stop as the first time I pulled in here in 1962 on a Navy destroyer. Our Med Bound crew members are living it up at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and relishing the true hospitality this island nation extends to all as if it comes from a special Bermuda gene.
    Marker Mate is something I absolutely love. How many times have you been following a lengthy channel (or the ICW), paying less attention than you should, then suddenly come upon an aid to navigation and wondered, “Ohmigod, what side do I leave it on?” Marker Mate was created to help skippers through such moments. Running in a channel or the south down the ICW, set Marker Mate with the red on the right and you always have a quick and ready reference. Likewise, running out a channel or north along the ICW, set your Marker Mate with the green on the right and you’re good to go. I love it and it’s saved my bacon more than once!
    When its inventor brought one to me at Bluewater Books & Charts perhaps a dozen years ago, I said “This is a product which will sell really well.” I was flat wrong. I still consider Marker Mate a most useful product. However, Marker Mate had to be explained to people to be sold–the packaging didn’t do it, a must in today’s rush-rush world. The name was wrong, the packaging non-existent, and, sadly, Marker Mate never made it to first base. I still love mine, but they are no longer available.
    A low-tech version can be easily home made with some wood tools and red and green paint. Anyone who wants to create and market a similar product should pay at least as much attention to GREAT packaging that sells the product as to the product itself.”

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