Finally got a good GPS~!

BellevilleMXZ

Scored a good deal, will be nice to use this next year!  $2400 Canadian around here.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/172021433692

BellevilleMXZ

I could have got cheaper for sure, but I want something newer. Too many stuff lurking under the water around here to mess around.

Michael T

@BMXZ almost identical to the one I have. You'll love it. Big bright screen and the choice of knob control or touch screen. Easy to read and easy to use, with a huge array of features!

BellevilleMXZ

Yeah I'm not cheaping out on a GPS, not with my record....lol

Michael T

ABMXZ - don't worry about that prop brother, anyone who says they haven't hit anything has been boating with a rubber duck in their bath tub. .....but I do agree, why have one of those 3 inch gps screens that you have to get on your knees with a magnifying glass to read? You have the real deal now!

BellevilleMXZ

I need the big screen, my eyes aren't what they used to be ;-)

TonyWalker

TonyWalker

This is our GPS arrangement.  Now instead of using a FedEx mailer to use as a sun shield, I simply rubber band the GPS cover there.  Relocating the GPS as shown solved all viewing problems.

Michael T

.....Happy Admiral, happy boat. P.S. like that sunshade for your GPS!....Whoa! Just noticed - are those throttles pinned??????? Impressive!

TonyWalker

Not pinned but she does like to run the boat fast!!

TonyWalker

I enlarged the photo.  It looks like we were running at about 3900 revs.

TonyWalker

By mounting the GPS on a bracket, and covering the hole with a piece of bakelite, you have a nice panel to mount switches and stuff.  One of the things that is mounted there is my RG8 antenna connector for my ham radio set up down below.

TonyWalker

When I used the FedEx mailer for a sun shield I would often get kudos for my simple solution.

Michael T

@TonyWalker, simple is often best!

Handymans342

What is that block box on the rear arch canvas?

raybo3

I was wondering what the block of wood with the red and black pins is?????

TonyWalker

The black thing up against the canvas is the end of one of the seats that go to the Port-a-bote that we had with us.  I use aircraft clamps to fasten "D" rings to the bimini support rods.  8 in total, in pairs.  Made a very practical way to support light things up against the top.  The Port-a-bote itself fit nicely on the catwalk between the cabin wall and the rail on the port side.

Right now the D rings store two of my admiral's fishing rods on one side and on the other side, they support the cockpit table top.  The table top is held in place with bungee cords.  Effective solution to where to store this piece of awkward size and shape.

 

The two sticks are red and green painted pieces of a broom stick mounted on a base shaped like nuns and bouys.  The base is secured to the deck with velcro dots.  I orient it so it will match the channel markers in channel we are transiting.  It helps eliminate that source of possible confusion.

 

Tony

Handymans342

Great idea especially around here where the markers are backwards due to the ICW

Michael T

@TonyWalker, great channel marking idea. We run up and down the St.Lawrence River so the markers are reversed with each run. I have a suction cup mounted channel reminder on my helm that I can spin when I turn around. I'll try to take a picture of it. Cheap and effective as the markers are often single and getting on the wrong side of one can be real bad! I slowed for a kayak a coupler of years ago and an impatient captain behind me swung around me and went starboard of a green marker - by only about a boat width or so and put himself right on a rock shoal. That made one h*ll of a sound!

TonyWalker

Ain't that the truth.  We were going along at a prudent speed in the Trent Severn and we had one of those impatient fellows roar around us outside of the channel.  A couple of makers up the way, there he was stopped and his engine hatch was up.

BellevilleMXZ

Michael T said:

@TonyWalker, great channel marking idea. We run up and down the St.Lawrence River so the markers are reversed with each run. I have a suction cup mounted channel reminder on my helm that I can spin when I turn around. I'll try to take a picture of it. Cheap and effective as the markers are often single and getting on the wrong side of one can be real bad! I slowed for a kayak a coupler of years ago and an impatient captain behind me swung around me and went starboard of a green marker - buy only baout a boat width or so and put himself right on a rock shoal. That made one h*ll of a sound!

Hey that's a good idea, where did you get it?

Michael T

@BMXZ they have them for sale at most boating stores. There are some stores in T.O. that could ship you one but I'm thinking that Bay Marine in Trenton could get one fast if they didn't have one in stock!  I have a couple handy for myself and have bought them for boating friends for gifts when invited for a ride on their boat (along with some home-made margaritas .....when back at the dock LOL) They have saved me a couple of times when I have come upon a marker and can't immediately remember which side of it I should be on. I know of dozens of places where you and I will boat that have hazards immediately on the other side of the marker! .....P.S.  remember "RED right when RETURNING"

BellevilleMXZ

Yeah I going to hit the boating show in Toronto, so will probably grab one there. Glad to see I'm not the only one that has a hard time keeping everything straight lol

TonyWalker

Another great thing for the boat for maybe less than 5 dollars from West Marine (for one) is the rudder position indicator that you stick on the steering wheel hub.  I have touted this one before but maybe there is someone who got on the site after my last mention.  I could not dock the boat without one and have any sense of what was happening vs what I was doing.  It is a really simple device as it operates uses gravity to know where it is positioned.