DMK Yacht Instruments

Many years ago, Oct 2011 to be exact, I splurged on a Airmar PB200.  Its now sitting on top of my mast.  The PC software that accompanied it is not really suitable for sailboat use but it gives a good idea of the sensors capability;

 

In order to use it for sailing purposes I plan to use it on a NMEA 2000 network and display the data on a MFD and on an iPad via a WiFi transmitter.  After much faffing about I plunked for the DMK Box 11A.  So far I'm well pleased.

Check out the boys at DMK;

http://www.dmkyacht.com/overview

Leave a BLOODY loop........

I recently helped a friend on a quality (read expensive) sailboat to change out a faulty LPG control panel in his galley.  The first photo is of the control panel AFTER we had freed up the wires behind the panel.  

On removing the screws the control panel would only move forward an inch and the wires were not accessible.  To access them we had to empty the wardrobe in the aft cabin AND;

1.  Remove the top panel, disconnecting the light.

2.  Remove the left hand shelf supports, which blocked the rear panel coming forward.

3.  Remove the rear panel.

4.  Then remove the side panel 

5.  THEN REMOVE THE TWO CABLE TIES WHICH KEPT THE WIRES TIGHTLY COILED WHICH PREVENTED THE LPG CONTROL PANEL FROM BEING REPLACED FROM THE FRONT (which would have required ONLY the removal of 4 screws).  

INSTALLERS; FFS LEAVE A BLOODY LOOP.

Mast is UP....again

Tides Marine Track and Slide System

A very good addition to an older mast.

Aft deck lockers.......

Ever boat has those little items that are not "good" but are not bad enough to warrant the time and effort to overhaul them.  The aft deck lockers on the Whitby 42 fall into this category, IMHO.   They are excellent storage lockers but the lid is a simple fiberglass molding that fits into groves on the deck.  A gasket is inserted here to keep the water out.  As everything is flush with the deck this seldom works.  The lockers have drain holes on the transom to let water out but the lockers tend to get wet and grubby.

Some time go I bought two;

Innovative Product Solutions M-1330-AW / 520-503 13 x 30 Arctic White Boat Deck Hatch


These were the closest fit that I could find.  They are big enough for the fiberglass LPG bottles that I plan to use.

They will be mounted on 1/2" starboard to get them above deck level, but have their own seals and locking mechanism.  This is what the dry fit looks like;

Windlass.... Engineered!

OK, my buddy MacGyver calls it "butt ugly", which, as he speaks with a southern accent, does not sound good.  My wife calls it "industrial"  which does not sound much better.

I prefer to call it "engineered" or even "over engineered".  This is the windlass install.  The box is an old fiberglass battery box, converted to hold the anchor wash down hose, the manual winch handle and the wired winch control.