That's Craig Owings and he's justifiably proud of what may be the world's first trailerable cruising RHIB. But if you check out builder Rosborough Boats, you'll see that it is not actually a custom boat, but rather a clever combination of its production 25' sedan cruiser and the 29-foot deep vee inflatable it builds for marine professionals. I got a tantalizing glimpse of Conepatus early last week as it zipped around Mt. Desert island and was pleased to find her being used as the Rosborough exhibit at the Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors Show this weekend...
Now that there's evidence that there really will be a summer in Maine -- it went into the 70's and beyond all last week, with hardly any fog -- I want to deliver a rousing endorsement for a new boating event that might fit on your cruising schedule this August or next. It's called the Penobscot Bay Rendezvous and one thing I particularly like is that both power and sailboats are welcome. The differences between "stink potters" and "blow boaters" are vastly exaggerated, I think, and I claim some expertise as I've been both. Of course this also makes sense because at heart the Rendezvous is a public relations event for two premier boatyards that serve all kinds, though I think it will be PR is nicest sense of the term...
Last week in San Francisco, Russell Coutts probably did the America's Cup racing program a great service when he not only capsized an AC 45, but personally took a dramatic header right through its wing sail, all before a fleet of press boats! You want to see the video. Heck, Charlie Doane admits to watching the crash "about fifty times" and looking forward to more. I like a shot of NASCAR in my sailboat racing, too, but I'll bet that an equally important element in making this sport more popular will be the broadcast TV wizardry being spearheaded by the remarkable Stan Honey...
Admittedly, that vessel immediately makes me think of Reese Witherspoon's moderately immortal line in the moderately famous 1996 black comedy Freeway: "Holy sh*t! Look who got beat with the ugly stick." (Clip here, but do treat yourself to the whole warped take off on Little Red Riding Hood.) However, this entry is actually about the unquestionably immortal blog aptly titled The Marine Installer's Rant. Which is where I learned about Seafair and her special duties as megayacht art gallery. Bill Bishop not only documents the travails of an installer, right down to the bloody wounds, but he notes and photographs perks like getting to see the weird boats that show up in his Sarasota, FL, home waters...
The PopGuard MFD from ShenShau electronics -- a Panbo exclusive, and not yet online -- may be just the thing for those who desire an Ethernet
centric MFD, a seriously open architecture, and/or the ability to run
applications of your choice from any one of five different operating
systems including Android and iOS. It may also be just what your
looking for to extend your favorite iPhone or iPad application to a
sunlight viewable display, manage streaming audio to your cockpit
speakers, or play movies cached into 60GB of high speed solid
state storage...
Yes, I did try to put some "heart" into this photograph of the Phonak Audéo SMART IX hearing aids I've been using since early November (often along with that optional Bluetooth accessory). My only significant symptom was difficulty understanding conversation in noisy places, but when tested it turned out that much of my high frequency hearing was gone. I don't know what caused the damage -- that crazy Led Zeppelin concert?...the stint as engineer on the Gulf supply boat? -- but there's no denying the new sounds I'm hearing through the Phonaks. I still delight in everyday noises like the crinkle of paper, and my music collection has come alive. Plus I'm looking forward to the quiet anchorage sounds I didn't know I was missing, I think that improved hearing is going to help me catch system problems on Gizmo earlier, and I know I'm going to be able to manage cell calls underway better. And it happens that I'm aware of how ineffective hearing aid technology used to be...
That somewhat odd looking "waterborne structure" is Robinhood Marine Center's first Island 40, designed to give renters who may only have small boat skills a wicked nice Maine cruising harbor experience, as in swinging on a mooring with seals, osprey, lobster men, and cruisers for neighbors, with good exploration possibilities in all directions (and with a pleasant "destination" marina nearby). And it's a hoot! I'm sitting at the Tessie Ann's spacious aft dinette right now, enjoying a cool sea breeze and the use of a well thought out battery/inverter/solar panel system...
It's just a draft -- artist I'm not -- but maybe someone out there in Panbo land can craft this into something fun for a hat and business card? The graphic idea is an electronic wave turning into an ocean wave, but I'm open to another design...as long as it floats some boats. Seriously, the first hat (a nice long-billed, cotton khaki cap) will be yours, plus my undying gratitude. (If it would help to start with my draft creation in vector form, you can download it as an .ai file.) Homework is completely optional, of course, and you, like me, may have a holiday to celebrate...
My search for Gizmo's navigation PC has taken a strange turn -- as you can see above, posed around a Furuno MFD12 -- and I'm blaming a Panbo commenter who recently crowed about scoring a 12v, fanless all-in-one Datalux iPix on eBay. I'm close to crowing myself -- and maybe a few of you will join me, as there are three left -- but I could use some geek help to better understand what's under the hood of this particular Datalux Tracer police car computer...
Raymarine introduced its Virtual Sea Trial system at the Miami Boat Show, and I was one of many who got quite a kick out of it. Note the twin wide open throttles (or WFO, an acronymn that will gather more meaning next week). When I wasn't driving the big simulated RIB over waves off the well detailed port of Marseille, France, I tried some slow speed docking maneuvers and was pleasantly surprised to find that the faux twin outboard backed and filled quite realistically. Of course having this high quality simulator integrated with twin E-14 Widescreens plus ST70+ autopilot and instrument heads meant you could really get a feel for how those devices work. But boys will be boys...
: "Holy sh*t! Look who got beat with the ugly stick." (
