Whereas many of us are hunkering down for a monster low that’s bulling its way up the East Coast (gusts to 70 knots predicted here tomorrow!), another PMY navigation/photo contest may be in order. Above is the Raymarine E screen that’s printed on the inside back page of the March issue, and below is the boat’s waypoint, as shown in a photo from Marinas.com. Where is the lighthouse? And, for extra points, what is the boat’s present location. As before, please submit answers by email, not comments. By the way, I think this one is much harder for Google jockies to figure out, but nonetheless the real contest (with real prizes, but now closed) had quite a few correct answers. How’d they do it?
If you read Power & Motoryacht, you may have noticed a contest we’re running on the last inside page. Each month there’s a beautiful full page photo of a distinctive coastal landmark from the vast archives of marinas.com. Inset is a Raymarine E-Series with screen like the above, only smaller. The challenge is to use the data on the screen to figure out where the landmark is. Well, we’re getting more correct answers than expected and I’m especially curious why because I’m making the screens (harder and harder). So help me out; can you figure out where this lovely place is? Did you do it using the screen, or by searching through marinas.com (for a long time), or some other way we never anticipated? Please email me your answers. By the way, the contest has some nice electronics prizes, but, sorry, the entries for this February edition are closed. If you’re good at this, you could always buy the March issue (try a big bookstore, PMY is not into newstand), or a subscription.
Some Panbo readers who like to keep up with this blog via an XML/RSS reader, like Google’s or Bloglines, have noted that the feed is screwed up, and I apologize for that. The fact is that I didn’t even know about the particular feed they were using! The one meant to work is this one, hosted by Feedburner, and it still does. I also just added a way to subscribe to Panbo by email, also hosted by Feedburner. It’s very easy to set up, and the only thing you have to share is an email address, which will not be abused. If you use either service (also available down at the bottom of the right column), you’ll see that you only get a short text excerpt from new Panbo entries. That’s because my sponsors and I want you to come to our sites to read the full entries. Sponsors? Yes, both Power & Motoryacht and Sail are now helping to make Panbo possible. PMY is also streaming the content at its site and Sail has a link and recent excerpt on its home page. Yet another reason I feel gratitude toward these magazines, and partially why I have a paid hand now rebuilding Panbo on a more reliable hosting site. Admittedly I’ve been talking about this for a long time, but the rebuild is truly getting closer and will eventually include a wider format with a little space for companies that want to support Panbo with graphic adverts. In this regard I’ve been investigating the services like BlogAds that could make this easy for all parties; suggestions welcome.
I actually turned down a short trip on Earthrace Tuesday, but it was partially because I knew I’d be spending yesterday on the Stealth 540, an experience I’ve been scheming about for months. What a blast! This boat has interesting electronics and electrical systems (like a 3kw Victron inverter/charger able to make up for a modest generator and shore power setup), but they’re overshadowed by the hull and power train technology. Time and again we passed boats of similar size and luxury appointments but with significantly greater horsepower and diesel thirst. Like the pair below, which we left in the (Q-SPD generated) rooster tail at 45 knots. At about 17 knots the Stealth raises up a foot or two on its foils, leaving minimal wetted surface. The main foil also provides some shock absorption in waves and seems to help the boat carve turns. Truth be told, it drives like a big sports car. The “HYSUCAT” system has been around for many years, but my impression is that Stealth has really put it all together. (Now, back to Maine; bye, bye, Miami.)
PSs 2/23–25: The guy above (who’d really like to rip that wheel out of my hands) is Bob Kyle, owner of Yacht Share, where you’ll find some recent pictures of the 540. I will be writing up the boat test for PMY, by the way. And here’s the home site for Professor Hoppe’s HYSUCAT designs, with a video of the Stealth 540’s first trials in Cape Town at the top of the list. And finally, sail boats can be fast too, as nicely illustrated by this entry over at the nicely reborn blog Navagear. It’s expected that a sailboat will break 50 knots this year, and it will probably be on hydrofoils.
Let’s see, a few highlights from two days of Miami Boat Show: a tour of the Garmin 5000 series from the company’s head marine software engineer; collecting more details on new AIS receivers from Raymarine and Furuno, not to mention three big brand Class B transponders awaiting approvals; hearing how the new Jeppesen Nobeltec C-Map team envision the future of marine charting; and watching the founder of Navionics sing and dance Volare at NavAid2. But my very favorite moment was at Power & Motoryacht’s gala pirate-themed advertiser appreciation party high up in the “starlight room” of our hotel. There I was, trying to get a few photographs of the high-spirited craziness seen above (yes that’s a pirate band playing on an elaborate pirate ship stage), when some glinty-eyed, snaggle-toothed buccaneer/stranger looks up at me from the mosh pit, raises his fist in the air, and shouts out, “Panbo rules!” It’s just mind blowing how many people in the marine electronics industry are reading this blog (and your comments); Panbo’s future is bright. Once I get through the rest of the show, I’ll report on the above and many more interesting developments, but right now I’m feeling quite a bit of appreciation for the two magazines who support me so fabulously in this endeaver. PMY and Sail rule!
It’s amazing how many marine electronics sales and product people can really make music. I learned that during last year’s Miami Show when Navionics hosted a benefit to aid victims of Hurricane Wilma (the one which did so much damage to South Florida just before the 2005 Ft. Lauderdale show). The Navionics “house band” played with many guests “artists” (that’s a Raymarine Product Manager wailing in the photo), and the event raised $7,000. Navaid2 will take place this Thursday evening, starting at 5pm in Room B118 of the Miami Beach Convention Center, and will benefit American Cancer Society and to the Ian McWilliam Saints Fund (McWilliam was “a friend and well-known marine industry colleague, who passed away this past fall after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer”). More info here. Be there, or be square.
Yipe! As many of you noticed, Panbo went off the air—”Forbidden.…You don't have permission to access / on this server.” etc.—last Saturday. I will not bore you with the gruesome details, but it was actually my hosting service that shut Panbo down, without warning or even a “suspend notice” until 24 hours after the fact. It seems that the old spam comment issues were still affecting server CPU usage, though totally without my knowledge. The two+ day getting-it-fixed saga featured horrendously slow support response, misinformation, and hours on hold being serenaded by a looping schlock rock tape. I remained polite, but my inner very angry customer really wants to express himself! However, just to be on the safe side, I will not name the offending host service until Panbo has a new one. This incident really brought home to me how much I value and enjoy this blogging part of my work life, and I’m more fired up than ever to improve the site…stability included! But first I have to catch up on work, and get ready for Miami. Back to business!
I’m feeling so old today. First I saw this Casio Waveceptor watch going for $25 on Woot. Five times a day the thing listens to WWVB, the time signal station in Colorado, and adjusts itself to atomic precision. I remember in the 70’s laboriously tuning into that station and tracking errors in the various expensive chronometers on a whale research vessel where we were using celestial nav to map and stay safe on the big banks off the Dominican Republic. Then I hear that Darrell Lowrance has retired and a fellow young enough to be my kid has taken over as new CEO of Navico (Simrad, Lowrance, etc.). And early this week old time big yacht installer Larry Smith Electronics suddenly shut its doors. I suspect some sort of financial mismanagement was the cause, not lack of business. Meanwhile, this old guy’s phone is busy as companies prepare to strut their stuff in Miami.
I’m feeling oh-so-content as 2006 slips away, partly because Panbo has become such an satisfying and promising part of my life. Thank you all so much for reading this blog, making comments, and patronizing its advertisers. I photographed this bit of Americana, bigger here
, on Main Street in Stonington, Maine on Memorial Day Weekend, and it made a Holiday card that hopefully suggests the good humor pervasive in this household. Hope you’re all feeling ducky too.
There are only two “Best of” or “Most Innovative of” 2006 marine electronics lists I know of—MotorBoating’s and Sail’s—and neither is public yet, but I like browsing through the more general tech lists that are now hitting the Web waves. So far I’ve come across PC World’s 20 Most Innovative Products of 2006 (they’re list crazy and also have the 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time and lots more). Then there’s Weblog Awards Best Technology Blog 2006 list, and Popsci.com’s innovation of the year is a nail! What have you all found out there?
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ntion three big brand Class B transponders awaiting approvals; hearing how the new Jeppesen Nobeltec C-Map team envision the future of marine charting; and watching the founder of Navionics sing and dance Volare at NavAid2. But my very favorite moment was at Power & Motoryacht’s gala pirate-themed advertiser appreciation party high up in the “starlight room” of our hotel. There I was, trying to get a few photographs of the high-spirited craziness seen above (yes that’s a pirate band playing on an elaborate pirate ship stage), when some glinty-eyed, snaggle-toothed buccaneer/stranger looks up at me from the mosh pit, raises his fist in the air, and shouts out, “Panbo rules!” 
I’m feeling so old today. First I saw this Casio Waveceptor watch going for 