chartplotter

I wanted to mount my new Garmin 740s where it would be usable from the cabin and the cockpit, so a swing mount made sense. My companionway is lined with hand holds, and the inner cabin wall housed the compass and a light fixture, making room tight. I couldn't find a manufactured mount that fit right, and I didn't trust the PVC option (from a recent Good Old Boat magazine) to hold up a couple thousand dollars in electronics.

I had a foot-long teak 1x4 laying around, so I bought a small teak cleat mount, a 1/2"x3" stainless bolt, a nut, and some washers.

I first notched the cleat base so it would fit over companionway trim, and beveled it so the "top" (which fases down in this application) was level. I drilled a 1/2" hole, and using my wood chisel recessed the head of the bolt and expoxied the bolt in place. The block is secured with 2 1/4"screws into the companionway frame. A stack of washers provides clearance. The GPS is mounted on the provided bail mount, installed upside-down. A pair of heavy stainless fender washers sandwich the teak "arm" to provide a bit of extra support, and a stainless lockwasher keeps everything in place. I'll probably locktite the nut once everything is settled in. I'll take it all apart and finish the wood - eventually.

Cleat base notched, beveled, and drilled

recessed bolt

mounting pilot holes drilled in companionway frame, through trim

Finished product. The internal GPS works great, even through the bracket, teak board, cabin top, and dodger!

The hinge point

Next up: Installing a transducer and my new GMR 18 radar dome.

GARMIN 200/50 KHZ 12/45 DEG. ADJUST IN-HULL TRANSDUCER mounted under the starboard setee. It's glued on with 4200 and filled with mineral oil. I could only find foo-foo scented mineral oil at my local CVS, so the boat smells like a whorehouse now.

Closeup of the transducer mount. Performance has exceeded all expectations, and I have no holes in my hull.

 I decided to pull the mast to install the radar. I really liked the idea of having the radome up and out of the way rather than on a pole in the cockpit, and I'm pretty sure the mast hadn't been off since it went on in 1982.

KKMI hooked me up with a shed to work out of the rain. They're a little expensive, but the service is spectacular. I ended up pulling the mast on a Friday evening and sticking it back in the next Monday morning. Then I slept for a couple days.

Stick-less. Ouch.

The radar is mounted on a SeaView platform below the spreaders.

I added Antal fiber mast steps while I had the mast down. One of the best things I've done to the boat.

All new wiring, including the radar wire. I spent most of the weekend trying to stuff all that shit through the mast-to-deck hose and fittings.

Ta-Da!

 

Computers and navigation

We purchased a HP Mini 110 Netbook and a GlobalSat BU-353 USB GPS Receiver, and installed OpenCPN rather than buying a chartplotter. It was terrible - every time we really needed it, either HP or Windows was busy updating something, had crashed, or had lost connection to the GPS. The only way to re-gain GPS connection was to reboot, and we never - not one time - got the machine to shut off on it's own. So you have to hold the power switch until it dies, then deal with the "oh geez, Windows got all crashy" errors after it restarts - in about 5 minutes.

We installed Ubuntu Linux, and so far so good. The install was a little tricky due to HP's use of a non-standard network card, but there is good help available on the Internet. A cold boot, from pushing the power switch to looking at a chart in OpenCPN with a GPS fix now takes 35 seconds. Total number of Linux crashes to date: Zero.

However, we're still ogling the Garmin GPSMAP 740s. Not being able to see the laptop screen in bright sunlight is inconvenient at best, and the option of radar and depth information integrated with charts is VERY appealing. There's also the weatherproof factor - we KNOW we're eventually going to get the HP wet and it will die, we just hope it doesn't happen at an inconvenient time. The Garmin will happily ride out weather in the cockpit with us. Decisions, decisions....