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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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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Happy Boating this Memorial Day weekend

We hope you are all having a wonderful time on your boats this long holiday weekend.

Please take a moment to look at that flag we all fly so proudly on our boats and remem­ber that far too many have made the ulti­mate sac­ri­fice to pro­tect that flag, our coun­try, our free­dom, and our way of life.

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Happy and safe boating to all.

Follow Don and Debbie’s adventure to Alaska

Don and Debbie are doing what I can only dream of at this point. They are off to Alaska for the next four months aboard their wonderful Grand Banks 42, Change of Latitude. You can follow their adventure at http://www.sailblogs.com/member/col/ or subscribe to their RSS feed at www.sailblogs.com/member/col/XJ12007_rss.xml.

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