Here’s an edited version
of an article to appear in Pacific PowerBoat’s next issue.
FOUR GREAT
PRODUCTS TO
ENHANCE WINTER CRUISING – AND ONE’S FREE!
We
really enjoy our winter cruising, but
when it’s
dark from before 1800hrs
until first
light arrives about 0700
the
dynamics are quite different to summer cruising
when we’re
still on the beach or BBQing until much later. These four products have helped keep us safe, warm and entertained during
those 13 hours of darkness aboard
Rapport.
See the light
– Techlight hand-held spot
In
days gone by our hand-held lights
were usually
a 12 volt spotlight with a halogen bulb connected through
a cigarette lighter socket and
a trusty battery powered Dolphin . When
using these
during
night searches as
Coastguard volunteers we
often found the boat’s wiring to the power socket was too light for
sustained use of
the spotlight, due to the heat generated, while
the Dolphin
had limited
range and runtime
plus
expensive batteries
to replace.
Also if the Dolphin hadn’t been used for a while we
needed to remove and replace the (same) battery, presumably to provide a
better connection.
But
a technical
revolution has been occurring during the last 15 years or so not
only with LED bulbs, that provide brighter light, give a higher quality beam and consume less power, but with
rechargeable lithium batteries that continue to improve as well as becoming lower cost. I can distinctly recall
when I first became seriously aware of this. Technical guru Chris aka MacGyver, our most frequent
visitor to Envoy made his first visit in late 2010. We were sitting in the cockpit after sunset in a bay near
Bodrum when Chris showed me a black aluminium flashlight about 130mm
long, with an LED bulb and powered by a rechargeable lithium battery.
This compact light easily illuminated trees on the foreshore, which I
guess was about 250 metres away. By comparison the
light from my
largest flashlight – a
clunky unit with
4 x D cell batteries and conventional
bulb couldn’t even reach the shore. Flashlights using conventional dry cell batteries lose their brightness early on as the batteries start to lose their charge, however lithium battery powered lights can lose much more charge before their brightness reduces. We now carry one of the new generation MK 7 Dolphins with an LED bulb aboard as one of our low cost general purpose flashlights together with a rugged,
no-nonsense looking Teklight
ST-3329 we
bought from Jaycar Electronics for $159.
The
Techlight has an incredible 480
metre range
and its 4,500 lumens of light (the
Dolphin has 200 lumens) provides
amazing brightness. It’s waterproof and floats, has a convenient wrist security strap and its lithium
battery pack is rechargeable using either
a mains charger or
USB cable, both
supplied. Its full power option provides 75 minutes use
while its still very bright low power option increases this to 150
minutes. If the proverbial hits the fan the unit can also emit a continuous SOS signal. In
essence the
Techlight provides the power of a hard wired spotlight with
portability and
we love it.
User
tips: it
takes about 40 minutes for human eyes to completely adjust to darkness so
using low
level red lighting at
the helm and
reducing brightness on navigation
screens
helps
maintain night vision. Don’t try to use any spotlight through windows and avoid directing the beam on reflective surfaces.
Have
we moved – Anchor Watch HD app
for devices
When the wind is howling at 40
knots with the boat moving around during squalls as we encountered
during early July’s “weather bomb” it can be difficult to tell
if your anchor’s dragging during the night, especially as distance is far more difficult to estimate during night time. Most plotters
incorporate anchor alarms, but as with our boat these may be on the
flybridge and difficult to hear below. Enter Anchor Watch HD – a
free app allowing you to maintain anchor watch from below or even
while away from your boat.
When you open the app while
connected to the internet it shows a Google Earth view of your
current location and while Google Earth is not essential to use the
system, being able to see your position on a map provides additional
reassurance. This view is historical, so boats shown on the map will
not be there now. You can change the scale using normal two finger
zoom.
After your anchor is set press the
anchor button and an anchor icon with an orange circle around it appears at
your position. Now while the anchor icon
remains in the original anchored position a blue/white/blue circle
shows your current position. There are two on screen buttons to the
right of the anchor button that increase and decrease the alarm range, which would typically be about 15 metres to allow for some sideways movement. The actual range displays on top
centre of screen together with the distance
and bearing from your current position to the original anchored
position. If your vessel moves outside the set alarm range a volume
adjustable (seriously loud at full volume) siren sounds and a
dialogue box appears allowing you to ignore the alarm for 30 seconds
while you adjust the scale or “raise the anchor”. The app can
also send an alarm message by sms or email allowing you to monitor
your anchored position while going ashore.
User
tips: the app consumes a lot of power so keep your device charging
when it’s using this app. Make a note of your GPS position after anchoring so that if you suspect dragging you can compare that with your current GPS position.
Stay warm as toast – Gasmate
heater
Even
on cold nights,
once we
start cooking the boat warms up quickly and when using our
generator we can also run our 2.4Kw electric fan heater. At
other times we use our Gasmate
portable heater with
its ceramic
burner providing
an atmospheric warm glow.
We bought
ours from
Bunnings costing
$140
and using
disposable
220gm
butane gas
canisters costing
about $1.40 and lasting about 90 minutes. It’s
very safe as
a simple
lever disconnects the
butane
cartridge when not in use and gas
supply automatically
stops if
the unit should be accidentally knocked over, the
oxygen level becomes too low or
the flame
goes out. It’s
piezo
ignition works well and it’s compact
and smart with the butane cartridge housed within the casing.
User
tip: when
using the Gasmate allow
some fresh air into
your boat and never use it while sleeping.
Gasmate butane cartridge heater and Techlight spotlight
Entertainment during those
long nights – RSE Mini-Lite Plus
We promised ourselves our next boat would have Sky TV capability
to watch
favorites
such as Super Rugby.
When we bought Rapport she already had an Avtex flat screen
and a
TracVision
TV5 satellite dish enabling us to watch free to air TV. Our friend Chris suggested buying
an
RSE Mini-Lite high
definition digital
satellite
receiver
enabling
us to plug in our Sky card from home.
The
unit
is
easy
to install, attaching to the rear of the flat screen
and wired
to
our AC
power
supply. It’s
performed well
and
accesses
Sky channels
wherever
we are, except
for some unknown reason Oneroa.
The
RSE unit costs $199 and can be bought through RSE
in Takanini or
providers
of caravan accessories.
User
tip: the power to the Mini-Lite and screen must be off before
you insert and remove the Sky card. If you don’t do this the Sky card will no longer work until after it’s used again in your box at home.
Enjoy
your winter cruising!
