I'm sure that Furuno folk are going to grin over these photos; I bet you all will. But you must click them to full size, and also please trust me that the phenomenal detail is even more so in reality. This 18-inch model of a 1983 Jarvis Newman 36 took 1,100 expert hours to build -- expertise not just at documentation and delicate hand work but also at 3D CAD, naval architecture, laser cutting tools, and jewelry making. Adding in a lifelong passion for boats, an artist's eye, and the patience of Job gets you to one of my local treasurers: model maker Rob Eddy...
Instead of being "released" in Miami last week, my poor cranium got stuffed to the cobwebbed rafters. Admittedly, there is a phenomenon whereby the longer I cover marine electronics, the better I get to know the developers and the more they want to tell me about their latest projects. But there's something else going on, too: I believe the pace of innovation is increasing (and some healthy trends are emerging). I'll try to hit a few examples today, but it may take weeks to detail all the goodness I saw at the show...
Good grief! It was plain as day that this America's Cup was going to be all about technology (and bad mojo), but a pair of wind-seeking microlights equipped at minimum with anemometer, satellite compass, and radar? I can't find any info about the Alinghi Air Force on the team's own site, but Sailing Anarchy has the tape, and some trenchant commentary. If any of you can find out more on that electronics set up -- or, even better, what's on the boats -- please let us know. Meanwhile, I'm lining up the resources I'll use to monitor this madness in progress...
Why were nearly 100 megayachts anchored off St. Bart's last night, instead of cuddling up in lovely Gustavia for the New Year's Eve party? Well, apparently it was quite rough down there, and even the vessels that had already made it into the inner harbor were asked to leave because of the swell. Which must have made for a hellacious scene...
The Celestial Compass iPhone app would have trouble near a Pole too. The ancients developed an amazingly effective system for delineating positions on the earth's surface, but all related systems tend to go wacko when you're in that tiny area where a foot step can span many degrees of longitude. Big thanks to Dave Blazek for letting me use his cartoon (you can see more here), and for more holiday grins...
There's a fair bit of hokum wrapped around the Thanksgiving holiday we're about to celebrate here in the states, which I'm particularly aware of as I just finished Nathanial Philbrick's excellent Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War. But it's always good to get together with friends and family. And to give thanks. I have much to be grateful for, like all of you who read Panbo, and especially the ones who take the time to participate in the comments sections and forums. It may get contentious sometimes, but it's good. And a specific thanks to Roy Delgado, who made me laugh twice; first with the cartoon above, and then again when explaining how he'd hoped it might the one that finally got accepted by the New Yorker magazine...after nearly 20,000 submissions! I'll be back on Monday, and iPhone users should come by early, as I'll have 50 treats to hand out.
You may never feel comfortable about slapping a bowl of chips and a couple of beers on this coffee table, but it surely would impress the folks visiting your super yacht, and it's wicked fun. Tucked somewhere in that table is a full on Mac computer that's networked to a full on distributed entertainment system -- curtains, lights, movies, internet, whatever! As usual, the megayacht sections of the The Fort Lauderdale show were awash in wretched excess, but also as usual, the good folks at Palladium Technologies demonstrated how creative, even joyous, cost-no-problem electronics can get...
I can't quite grok that such a short summer is nearly over, but do realize that a moment like above may not come around again. That's the lovely day sailor Heron, Mark Island and the Camden Hills in the background, and several blissful tons of seal basking in the sunshine. But I am looking forward to the Camden Windjammer Festival this weekend, though partially because I plan to use the incoming fleet to test ARPA and MARPA...
. But it's always good to get together with friends and family. And to give thanks. I have much to be grateful for, like all of you who read Panbo, and especially the ones who take the time to participate in the comments sections and forums. It may get contentious sometimes, but it's good. And a specific thanks to Roy Delgado, who made me laugh twice; first with the cartoon above, and then again when 
