Even more loose ends …

Everywhere I look I find a loose end just lying around. I am trying to sweep them up as quickly as I can. It usually takes three or four tries to complete a project. I attribute this to my general lack of organization.

Truth be told, I get involved in the work and forget to take photos of the important stuff.

I posted recently about our video installation here. At the time, I thought I had taken a few photos that seemed important but could not find. I still can’t find them so I took a few more. I don’t know how interesting they are, but it seems like they should be posted to complete the story.

First, the video amplifiers with all the cabling installed.

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A few more projects done

Just wrapping up some loose ends here …

I posted something recently about the Maretron NMEA 2000 extender gizmo, but didn’t have a photo. Here it is on the right side of the lower helm station. It allows four devices to connect to the NMEA 2000 backbone through one “T” connector. I just noticed what looks like some kind of alarm buzzer in the lower right. I guess I’ll need to figure out what that is for. It’s probably important.

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Keeping an eye on things

Our chartplotters each support two video inputs. I am the kind of guy that thinks if it can, it should. If there are two jacks there, something should be plugged in to them. So I added a camera on the mast, and another in the engine room.

The camera on the mast looks backward at the stern deck and the area around the stern of the boat. We use this camera often. Whenever one of us is outside on the stern deck while we are underway, the other is watching from the helm.

The camera is especially handy when we are maneuvering around marinas and near docks.

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Great iPad apps for boating

The iPad has become a part of everyday life for many. We have found all kinds of uses for ours. From work to reading, to movies, to boating.

On Archimedes we have numerous uses for our iPad. Our iPad has LTE so we can access the Internet wherever there is cell service. We mount it above the chartplotter using a RAM Suction Cup Mount and use it to keep an eye on the weather amongst other things.

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These photographs are fantastic

I am a sailor at heart. I love sailing and sailboats. Photography is one of my (many) hobbies. I am also a sucker for black and white and sepia tones photos. I just think these photographs by Michael Kahn are wonderful.

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Some gain, not all pain

Besides untangling anchor chain last weekend, I was able to get a few additional projects completed … and squeeze in some actual fun as well. The details of these projects are not entirely interesting so I’ll stick to the highlights.

I installed a second chartplotter. A Garmin 7212. With Garmin’s release of the new 8000 series chartplotters, the cost of the 7212 has come way down. Down to the point of affordability … at least for us.

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Untangling anchor chain = fun!

What a way to spend a glorious weekend on the boat. The sun was shining, the weather was warm. Lake Union was full of boats. I was untangling anchor chain in the v-berth.

But, it needed to be done. We were in some big waves a couple of weekends ago. It appears the 300 feet of anchor chain lifted up in the locker, inverted, and fell back to earth tangled. It took me about an hour of fighting to sort it out and find the problem. And a bit longer to resolve it.

The culprit turned out to be the board in the photo below. It is meant as the floor of the chain locker. The weight of the chain seems to have broken the board and the whole mess fell down into the bottom of the locker. The board wedged in there and prevented the chain from moving.

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