While I’m back on the subject of charts, Curtis Island in particular, I want to correct an error I made last Winter. That’s when I made note of how my borrowed C-Map Max card seemed to have lost track of Camden’s largest aid to navigation, the Curtis I. light. It was confusing, as I noted, but it turns out that I wasn’t completely wrong; the early versions of Max had an overly aggressive decluttering algorythm that could sometimes declutter something as important as that light. However, what I did not understand was that C-Map had discovered and fixed the problem quite rapidly. The reason I didn’t know about the fix was that I had a card that didn’t come through normal channels, plus I didn’t call C-Map to ask. And there, friends, is one weakness of Panbo. I kind of shoot from the hip on this blog. When I write a magazine article I have the time to make calls and check facts, but here I’m hoping that readers will notify me of mistakes and I’ll correct them online. Please feel free to note those mistakes, and hopefully I’ll correct them faster than this one! At any rate, C-Map’s Max card not only shows the Curtis Island Light at every appropriate zoom level, it also has a picture of it.
I first heard about Navionics Silver all-in-one card last October, and the whole Silver/Gold+/Platinum (plus Fish’n’Chip) strategy was revealed in February. You can now buy a Silver card—at $116 (discounted) for coverage of the entire continental U.S. coastline, Great Lakes, and Bahamas—but are the charts as detailed as the ones on the more expensive cards? Above, on top, is what a Platinum or Gold card looks like at 1/2 mile range on a Raymarine E or C-Series plotter. It’s a pretty faithful copy of the 1:20,000 harbor chart of the Camden Rockland area (which, by the way, is not included in the paper ChartKit). Underneath it is a 1/2 mile range using a Silver card; the dots indicate that you’re over-zoomed and, in fact, the spot soundings are based on the 1:40,000 coastal chart of the area, seen below. However, the critical rocks and coastline detail come from the 1:20,000 chart, as you can see off Dillingham Point and the west end of Curtis Island. It also seems that some deep water contours have been removed from Silver and the extra data like marina information is minimal. But, still, Silver is “almost as good as Gold” (as Navionics told me). (The Bahamas are excepted as Silver uses the old, crude HO stuff rather than the private data that Navionics is now using on its better cards.)
What with a holiday trip and the stolen boat drama, Panbo suffered recently. I will definitely get back to business next week, but in the meantime how about a peek at the all-business helm I got to see aboard Spirit of Zopilote last Friday. You really must open the larger shot (link fixed!) to appreciate how well the electronics are laid out—all within reach of the comfy double helm seat—and what good sight lines are retained (here looking out along the west side of Camden’s inner harbor).
SoZ, as it’s sometimes called, is the very first Northern Marine 64’, in fact the first Northern Marine anything, built in 1997. Trust me, she feels at least as hunky as she looks. The helm is in the “best of breed” style popular then, and still popular with many salts like captain Bruce Kessler. Note Furuno CRT fishfinder and radar, Northstar GPS, and PC running Nobeltec Admiral, all separate. Note too the lack of a steering wheel! In fact there is one—down at knee level, for emergencies only—plus the power steering jog stick can run either of the two entirely independent Simrad Robertson autopilots. It feels like everything’s been thoroughly thought through on SoZ, as you will gather in this Trawler World feature on bringing her around from San Diego. I also found this nice speech apparently penned by Georgs Kolesnikovs when Kessler (seen below in SoZ’s very squared away engine room) was awarded Passagemaker of the Year.
I was hiking to Schoodic Head this afternoon when I got a very garbled cell call. Going by the few words I heard (“Mr. Ellison, we’ve…”) and the phone number, I guessed that either Gizmo had been found or my house had burned down. Well—hot diggity dog, and blow me down for being such a pessimist—it turned out to be option one, and sounds like Gizmo is in good shape. More detail tomorrow.
PS, 7/7: Yesterday I found the fellow who recognized Gizmo from the Village Soup article; he doesn't want his name in print, but he's a good guy, and a boat owner, and praise be to him. Thanks also to the Waldoboro officer, who made me feel somewhat less dumb by saying that his boat also sits in his yard completely unlocked, ready to go. Thanks too to my local officer who encouraged Village Soup to publish an article, and of course to Village Soup itself.
As for the thieves, it seems like they weren't too smart. They took the big cooler, the anchor, and docklines but left a tank full of gas and a color fishfinder. They also scraped the name decals off—and some paint, darn it—as if they were going to keep the boat, but then they abandoned it. I suspect they changed their small mind(s) when a friend said, "Hey, I saw that boat on the Internet", or maybe they just couldn't sleep due to the bad vibes sent their way by my friends on the Soup message board and here on Panbo! Thanks to all!
Today’s the 4th of July here in the States, and I’m off to watch lobster boat races and fireworks. Loud and louder! Panbo posting will be very light around this holiday, but it does seem like the right time to honor the guys who build large (+/- five foot) radio control models of WWII naval ships and then stage battles in which they sink each other! Yes, those are CO2 powered “Big Guns” shooting large shot through balsa “plating”. You can imagine that the electonics to control all this (see below) are pretty complex. A good place to explore the technology is in the “Naval War College” section of the The Big Gun Web Portal, but do not miss the photo section of The Australian Battle Group. You may not be surprised to see that this is a nearly 100% male activity. Here’s wishing everyone an explosively happy holiday.
I can hardly believe it. I’ve lived on the same property since 1978, and no one’s stolen even a paper off the front step. Late this afternoon I went up to the area behind my house I like to call my “boat yard”, intending to hook Gizmo onto the new trailer hitch I’d just installed this morning. The plan was an early morning fishing trip (and engine check) on Lake Megunticook tomorrow, and an island exploration near Jonesport on the 4th of July. But Gizmo was gone. Some time in the last few days, some bastard had the brass to haul it away, even though several of my neighbors can see the area fairly well. I’ve talked to the police and prepared a .pdf to send around and post (download here). If you live in New England, please be on the lookout for Gizmo, and wherever you are please think very, very bad thoughts about whoever stole my boat. Thank you.
good sight lines are retained (here looking out along the west side of Camden’s inner harbor). 
