Gizmos that worked
Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 12:31 pm
I am a firm beleiver in the kiss principle, however several electronic devices performed yeoman service for me during my trans Atlantic. First was the Spot messenger which kept the family and friends informed of my progress. Soon 68 folks were following Deep Blue. Second is the NASA instuments AIS receiver (Si-Tex in USA) that set off an alarm whenever a ship came within 16 miles of my position. I rested much better after installing this device. The Garmin GPS 72 was flawless. My Lowrance I finder H2O has more features, but lacks adequate track smoothing. The Raymarine ST40 Speed/ Depth instrument still works like new. LED navigation lights functioned reliably and allowed Deep Blue to maintain her batteries with only 64 watts of solar panels. The Uni-solar flex panels (2x32 watts) delivered about 40 to 50 % of full potential sunrise to sunset. A Force 10 sea swing stove cooked all my food, and a simple adaptor (Harbor Freight Tools) allowed the Coleman fuel bottles to be filled from a 20# propane tank. The bottles, however, require constant attention to prevent rust and had brass caps installed to prevent leakage. The bottles were stored in 4 inch pvc pipes attached to the stern pulpit to maximise safety. The Coleman style bottles are not available in Europe, and must be treated with care. Phil