Don Wilson, the "Tech Doctor"

I have had a chance to check out a press release that came in over the wires yesterday regarding our friends at XANTREX. Online training videos with their TECH Doctor, Don Wilson are now available to answer common questions about not just their products, but all things related to their products like types of electricity, battery info and the like. So, head over to: www.xantrex.com and click on the new "Tech Doctor" link. Don is going to walk you through some really excellent and easy to understand lessons about things you want to know about your boat's electrical system. Highly recommended.

The Whisper Fan Controller

As I've already mentioned, I spent last week at the IBEX industry show out in Louisville, Kentucky. While there I had an opportunity to check in with our friends at Dometic Group for a look at what's new in their world. One item really caught my eye, especially because it can be easily retro-fitted to existing boats with Dometic Group AC units installed, whch covers any boat with either a Crusair or Marine Air System installed. Check out the video linked here: http://www.youtube.com/embed/L-dQM6rAbgI

So you may be wondering how this works. Basically by increasing the number of electrical pulses sent to the blower motor by a factor of hundreds over what traditional triac controls can do, the power pulse frequency smooths out the power supply dramatically reducing the motor mechanical noise that occurs with the triac's. I was amazed at how much quieter this controller made the blower motor on the demo unit. If you're into the sound of silence after a long day, this could just be the ticket for your boat.

Well, we've survived the East Coast bash known as hurricane Irene. Lest those of you out there think that just because things got down-graded to category 1 and then later to tropical storm warning level here in New England it was no big deal, let me share several photos I took from my little corner of the storm during and immediately after. All photos were taken in Wickford, RI, my hometown. BTW, I'm still without power and it looks like it will be several more days before we get it. I am sending this from my office, which does have power and is located just up the coast from Wickford. My point here is that even a category 1 hurricane packs a real punch! We'll get back to things about wiring and electrics later in the week. 

 Wickford Harbor during the height of the storm . The wind out of the East, South East and a moon high tide. Our breakwater was totally submerged and the seas just kept on coming for several hours. This shot was in front of my house.

This is all that is left of a family friend's beloved Ensign after the storm. A boat had pulled its mooring and run over his mooring line thereby setting him adrift. Enroute to this point the boat bounced over a stone jetty.

This trawler broke off its mooring and ended up here at the dinghy dock at WYC.

In all not too bad. I can remember hurricane Bob some years ago. We spent a week cutting up boats and their parts all over the beach in front of my house. Two boats on the rocks this time was nothing. I hope the electricity comes back on fairly soon, the candlelight dinners are getting old already!

Our friends over at Xantrex have  just made an interesting announcement that could get you into a free inverter for your boat.

To enter for a chance to win the inverter, or other prizes you will need to enter some suggestions for topics to their Tech Doctor. So, if you have inverter questions, this could be the best source of information. Check it out at:  http://www.xantrex.com/mail/mobile_images/Xnews-2011/articles/techdoctor_062011.html

I'm just back from one of my favorite annual missions. For the last few years I've been honored to be a judge at the Mystic Seaport classic boat rendezvous in Mystic, Connecticut.

This year I was assigned to be one of the judges in the 40 ft. and up power yacht category and I had the pleasure of checking out some absolutely exquisite boats. My favorite in this year's grouping, and ultimately the big prize winner for the weekend was a beauty named Dolphin from Sorel, Quebec, Canada. The boat is a magnificent example of the commuter yachts from a by-gone era.

Dolphin was built in 1929 by Consolidated Shipyard and is 65' in length. Check it out here:

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Now as you can imagine, there have been some upgrades over the years to Dolphin. The engines were of course originally gasoline fueled and they have been replaced with six cylinder diesels by Cummins. The original electrical system was 32 volt DC and that has been upgraded to 12 volt. To get a feel for the quality of the upgrades to this vessel, check out this panel set in the absolutely beautiful engine room on Dolphin:

So, even a boat built almost 90 years ago can be as up to date as a brand new one and it can be done tastefully so as to not ruin the classic appearance of the boat. All of the electrical upgrades I could see on Dolphin were done using Blue Sea gear, one of my sponsors here. Everything was descreetly hidden in the machinery space and really done with great attention to detail.

 If its good enough for Dolphin, believe me, the gear will serve you well. My congratulations to the owners and captain on Dophin. Simply beautiful!