Fall refit plans

Two weeks ago I was out for a sundown cruise with a local judge. I handed him the tiller while I stowed the mooring lines, and we immediately went aground, in the channel, on a little sand bar built up by Hurricane Irene. He was slightly embarrassed, but I was really lucky to have dodged the bullet. After all, it's my home river, and I'm supposed to know it well, but I would have probably gone aground just as he did. We were well aground; it took a tow from an amused but charitably inclined powerboat to pull us off.

This fall I had planned on early haulout, but I shall keep it in for my son to use on Columbus Day. In the off seasons, I plan to:

• Check the keel for damage from the grounding
• Replace the analog instruments: fathometer, knotmeter, and apparent wind gauge.
• Install a remote control whistle
• Strip and repaint the topsides

The instruments are in sad shape. The depth sounder display is crooked in its case and can't be adjusted; the depth sounder measurement is completely unreliable and chaotic; the wind direction is in error and can't be re-calibrated; the knot meter paddle wheel sensor seems to be jammed. Last night the radar display went completely nuts; its screen was covered by vertical and horizontal stripes.

First the radar/chartplotter: Raymarine says the problem is probably a loose or corroded internal wire--rap the plotter case sharply to see if it will fix itself for the rest of the season, then send it to the Manchester repair center when I haul the boat.

I spoke to Moor electronics (800-876-4971) who manufacture an old-fashioned set of round instruments. Their acoustic transducer is 200 KHz, and uses an RCA plug for its connection. It may be compatible with the Datamarine fathometer, but it would need checking. Their wind instrument uses only 4 wires vice the 9 wires used by the Datamarine I have now. Their paddle wheel sensor fits into the same size hole, but it's not clear whether I can still use the same through-hull.

The downside to the Moor instruments is that they have no connection to an NMEA bus, so they are completely standalone.

Other options:

Euro Marine Trading
(Newport, RI USA)
NKE "Ultrasonic Speedo", "Topline"
www.euromarinetrading.com

All instruments, even analog, have a similar, square bezel.

Nexus Marine/Ocean Equipment
(Irvine, CA)
"Nexus" digital, analog repeaters
www.oceanequipment.com

All instruments have a similar, square bezel.

Ockam Instruments
(Milford, CT USA)
Digital system modules
www.ockam.com

Square bezel again

Raymarine
(Merrimack, NH USA)
"ST" Series
www.raymarine.com

SignetMarine
(Redondo Beach, CA USA)
"SL11 self-powered analog knotmeter" & "SL" & "SmartPak"
www.signetmarine.com

This one looks like a WINNER! I shall check it out.

Simrad (Navico)
(Tulsa, OK USA)
"IS20" digital
www.simradyachtingusa.com

Square bezel, shallow surface mountable.

Tecnautic (Electronics)
(West Hills, CA USA)
"Log-6" digital with paddlewheel sensors
www.tecnautic.com

Interesting system: hexagonal bezels; single wire interconnect bus; configurable displays.

Velocitek
(Paia, HI)
Portable GPS speed, heading & VMG unit
www.velocitek.com

Wireless display for GPS-based data; not what I need.

This summer, I had a near-collision with an oblivious powerboat in which I found myself needing immediate access to a sound signal. I have found a wireless remote-control relay, the control for which I intend to install into the tiller, to activate the ship's whistle from the steering station. I shall have to check the range of the remote control; the relay may have to be mounted near the cockpit to ensure a reliable connection. I shall install the whistle itself on the ship's bell socket, mounted on the front of the main mast, so it can be easily removed. I shall install a new control wire for the whistle into the mast, coming from below.

For the topsides work, Snediker has asked me to move the boat to Mystic Shipyard, so he can use their climate-controlled shed for the two-part epoxy base coat. We shall see.