PMY’s Patrick Sciacca had quite a time testing this 3,600 hp Hatteras 60GT, at one point doing 48 mph in a serious seaway. He was also impressed with the 15” touch screen Northstar 8000i on center in the helm’s pop-up electronics console. I got quite excited about the 8000i when it was previewed to me back in late 2005, but then it didn’t actually get to market for some time, and now things are a bit up-in-the-air as Navico absorbs Northstar.
Darn, I was hoping to get a shot of Bruce Kessler in his wheelhouse departing the Camden Public Landing this morning, but got distracted by a contest idea (that you’ll find here this weekend). When I looked up, he and his all-ladies-of-a-certain-age crew were headed out into the haze. You may still be able to catch Spirit of Zopilote at Shine Micro’s Live AIS, which, as shown below, can now overlay on Google Earth (and shows Penobscot Bay thanks to the Penobscot Pilots). I really enjoyed meeting Bruce last summer, but my admiration is up a few notches further after a couple of coffee-sipping hours with him this morning.
Despite indications that I only think about AIS, I do have some other subjects! A big one recently has been Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding. This morning I just finished up a PMY Sept. feature about the company’s woodworking department—now 50 crafts-people strong, and doing phenomenal work—and I’m researching an eventual electronics column about Electra, which began with an early June trail run. What a boat! You can actually feel her lightness (carbon laminates, cored panels, etc.) as she gets up and cruises in the mid 20 knot range with a relatively minor wake. And what a helm! It’s unfinished and undressed in this shot, bigger here, but you can sense the excellent sight lines, both outside and to the various screens.
6/28 I’m now ashore and able to upload this shot of Malcom Willard showing off a three-meal dolphin on a lake-like Atlantic ocean. It was taken on Tuesday, a few hundred miles south of the Gulf Stream. I didn’t manage to get the text below online until Wed. afternoon. Note that no electronics played a part in the fish’s demise:
Note to self: If I ever get to try this again---posting a Panbo entry from offshore with a sat phone---
That’s Skip Strong making his way down Nor’easter’s twisty pilot ladder, as seen from the bow of the Penobscot Pilot. Man, that move must get the adrenaline pumping, say, on a dark night with a big sea running. (Capt. Ryan told me that they can manage a ladder like this in up to about eight footers, sometimes getting the ship to turn toward the ladder and using the flatter turbulence created inside the turn). At any rate, Strong, who is a bit of a geek (and I mean that in a good way) has quite the electronics in that bag he’s toting.
I’m way behind on work, not to mention the gizmo preparation, that needs doing before Bermuda (wow, Bill and Gram were fifth over the line and third in class corrected), so I’m turning it over to Milt Baker. These snippets are from today’s noon report, filed from almost the midpoint of the Med Bound 2007 Bermuda-Azores leg:
Ships are few and far between out here. We nearly always pick them up on AIS before seeing them on radar. Moana Kuewa (which has the same Furuno FA-150 AIS unit we have) clearly has the best installation {not trivial} and picks up the ships first every time, sometimes as much as 20-30 minutes before they show up on the AIS units aboard Salty Dawg and Bluewater.
Not only did I get up on Mt. Battie yesterday and take that new header picture of a more June-like Camden Harbor (remember the old November one?), but I got down the Bay last Friday, catching a ride on the Penobscot Pilot. That’s Captain Jane Ryan and I above, and bigger here , just after she’d smoothly maneuvered alongside Nor’easter to pick up pilot Skip Strong (who snapped the picture). I’m wearing the float coat and harness because I’d been out on the bow shooting Skip’s descent down gangway and ladder, and because Jane runs a very safety conscious operation (with very good reason).
That’s Bill Strassberg and Gram Schweikert on board Visions of Johanna, a gorgeous Chuck-Paine-designed Morris-built custom 62’ fast cruising sloop (check the PDF on this page). The name may ID a seminal Bob Dylan song but the real Johanna in this case is Bill’s wife and Gram’s mom; they are a stepdad-stepson racing team (how sweet is that!). They just began the Marion-Bermuda race this afternoon, and though they appear to be last in Class A as seen right now on iBoatTrack, they are contenders. After all just the two of them did the start and the somewhat complicated first leg out of Buzzard’s Bay while most all their competitors are fully crewed. Besides, the duo placed second in the 2005 race. Bill was deeply involved in VoJ’s design and build, and claims to know every system intimately, and Gram, a naval architect at Pedrick Yacht Design, had much to do with the yacht’s electronics, which include dual computers running The Cap’n and Explorer as well an Furuno NavNet radar and Raymarine instruments. Why am I so interested, besides the fact that these guys are homies? Well, I’ll be on board Visions this time next week, joining Bill and Gram, and Chuck Paine, for the trip back to Maine. And I’ll be dragging a large bag of electronical goodies along. How cool is that!
Spent a long weekend in New York City—big fun—but was feeling old and sorry for myself while driving home from the airport yesterday. Having the second kid (of three) turn 30 and missing some gorgeous Maine boating weather will have that effect! Thankfully, though, my buddy Jack got the week off right, taking me for a spur-of-the-moment sail on his spanky new J/100 this morning. Today was the first time I’ve sailed one—sweeeet!—but I’d already been aboard two of the several that have been commissioned here. I know, for instance, that the first four all got Raymarine autopilots, along with lots of instruments and C120’s mounted on forward cockpit bulkhead. You can see some of that on Smitten, above and bigger here . So Jack’s boat, with only Raymarine autopilot, wind, and depth, plus a Garmin 545 (I think, not installed yet), is relatively “old school.” All pretty amazing for boats that are essentially 32’ day sailers.
My buddy CharterWave Kim took these shots at an Italian charter boat show, and I thank her for passing them to Panbo. Najade’s dishwasher-size radar is an oldish1965 Furuno FR2010, which apparently still works fine…at least after its three minute warm up. Furuno may even still have parts (tubes!?) for it. That’s a Furuno policy that many owners appreciate almost as much as the performance. I mention it because I was bit shocked last week to see a Raymarine customer note stating that they are “sorry to say but we can no longer repair or provide parts for the ST 80 system.” Which seemed pretty harsh, as the customer says he installed his ST 80 instruments new in 2001.
