Can You Sink a Boat for Lack of a One Dollar Bolt??

I suppose theoretically it's possible. But can you really repair a 30-year-old radar unit for $30.00? I am here to tell you that you absolutely can, if the problem is the same as ours. Not long ago, I fired up our Raytheon SL70 radar unit and it all started fine. Once it was going, however, the beam was doing the sweeps, but there were no targets on the display. An internal self diagnostic showed everything was working okay, but obviously it wasn't. This unit is long past its manufacturing date and it's highly doubtful if Raymarine will even fix these any more or if it's worth it. So trying a few things couldn't hurt.

A short climb up our mast, and a little gymnastics, allowed me to remove the end of the cable from the back of the scanner. The weak link in these units has always been the fragile 8-pin plug that attaches the cable to the scanner and provides all of the data the display needs to function properly. The wires are very small and the flat plastic plug is very easy to damage. Upon further inspection, I found two wires that virtually came apart once I started moving them around. So the problem became obvious. But was the solution going to be simple? I considered doing some kind of direct connection between the wiring in the scanner and the cable. How complicated that would be was hard to tell without taking everything apart. So on to the computer for research. It seems this is a common problem and many folks either replaced the entire radar or replaced the cable with a used one purchased somewhere online like from Ebay or from individuals who were upgrading and had working units they wanted to sell. But well into about 10 pages on Google Search, I found a reference to a Raymarine part to repair the plug. But did Raymarine still sell the part?

It turns out that they do. An online search shows it's even available at Amazon.com and Raymarine will sell the product, part number R126, directly. It's only about $20, and with shipping, brought it to about $30.

The pins require a special crimping tool, which I don't have, but I was successful in crimping the pins with a pair of needle nose pliers. Care also needs to be taken to be sure that the wires are in the right sequence and that the pins are inserted into the plug in the correct orientation. They will actually snap into place and not be pushed back out when the plug is inserted if they are installed correctly. With the new plug attached and inserted in the scanner, and the power wires reconnected, it was time for the moment of truth.

And it works. Considering that a new radar unit would cost us about $3,000, I think this $30 investment really paid off. Sure we would like to have the latest and greatest in broadband radar. But we mostly use the unit for tracking rain squalls and keeping an eye out when we are running at night or in fog. Our aging RL70 will do that just fine, so we will use the savings for something more urgent or to splurge a bit while we're cruising.

Let us know what minors repairs you made that saved you major dollars. Click on the comments and share your story.

The Great Book Of Anchorages Website

As we promised, the new website for The Great Book Of Anchorages, http://www.tgboa.com/, is ready for visitors. Susan and I are about as excited as two kids on Christmas morning. You can order your copies now and they're ready for immediate shipment. This whole process has been such a fantastic experience that it's hard to put into words. From our decision well over a year ago to publish an anchorage book that will provide all of the information boaters like ourselves have looked for, until the launch of the website today, we have been like a couple of giddy school kids. Every step of the way has been a real thrill for us. But the website is a lot more than just a place to order the book.

We really thought it was exciting when we received the first run back from the printer. The book was even better than we imagined. Needless to say, we are very proud of the finished product. But when the final touches were done to the website today and our webmaster said, "Go for it", well, the feeling is unbelievable. What started as an idea in the back of our minds a long time ago is finally a reality that we can share with everyone. What still amazes me, even now, is that we didn't need a big publishing house or have to hire writers, editors or a large staff. We accomplished our dream with nothing more than a dream, a laptop, our experiences and a lot of hard work and late nights on the part of our Editor, Susan Landry. It's Susan's knowledge, experience and eye for nothing less than the best that made all of this happen.

We hope everyone will enjoy reading and using the book as much as we enjoyed putting it together. We also hope you will enjoy the many spectacular anchorages just as we have over the years. When you visit the website, be sure and take some time to view our photo galleries. One feature we like is the Interactive Map page where you can move around the map, zoom in and out, change the map look, and click on many of our anchorage photos. The photos are located on the map at the exact spot where we anchored on many of our trips along the waterway. The website will be a work in progress for a while. We will be working with our master webmaster to improve the look and enhance the experience. THAT'S WHY WE NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU. First, let us know if you find any glitches or anything unusual when you visit the site. We can get any problems corrected almost immediately. Also let us know if you would like to see any additional features. Most importantly, let us know what you think. You can drop a comment here at the end of the post or use the Contact Us page on the website. We welcome and appreciate your comments. If you're a Facebook user, don't forget to visit our Facebook Page. So enjoy and thanks to everyone for your patience and encouragement. Chuck and Susan

The Great Book Of Anchorages

Susan and I are very, very, very excited to announce the start up of Beach House Publications. Our first book for The Great Book Of Anchorages series covers the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway from Norfolk/Hampton Roads to the Florida Keys and includes the St. Johns River. The research for the book has spanned a period of 20 years. For the last year we have been working on an easy-to-use format that we felt comfortable using as active boaters. Once we decided on a format, Susan began putting all of the information together in a logical order. Many times we went to our boating friends for their input and suggestions. The result has been a publication written for boaters by boaters. We have developed an anchorage book, not a cruising guide or combination cruising guide and anchorage book.

Beach House Publications and The Great Book of Anchorages series was conceived and born on a laptop in the forward cabin of their current Marine Trader trawler, Beach House. The first in a series of anchorage books, Hampton Roads/Norfolk to The Florida Keys, Including The St. Johns River, has been decades in the making. Research began over 20 years ago with a first trip down the Atlantic ICW from the Chesapeake Bay to the Florida Keys and continues today. The information contained in The Great Book of Anchorages is the result of all of those many years of searching for the best anchorages along the way and the desire to share that information with other boaters. Having been users of almost every major boating cruising guide and involved in the publication of one of the larger guides, there was one aspect that seemed to be constantly missing. That missing aspect is detailed anchoring and free dock information. The Great Book of Anchorages now fills that missing information in a  new easy-to-use format. 

This is the first in what will be a series of six anchorage books that will encompass the waterways of the United States known as The Great Loop and a special edition covering the Bahamas. The Hampton Roads/Norfolk to The Florida Keys, Including The St. Johns River edition is now available to the boating community at our brand new website, along with lots of photos, interactive maps and interesting boating links. The publications can be purchased through our website at http://www.tgboa.com/, for an introductory price between now and September 30, 2012 The next edition will be The Bahamas, which is scheduled for release in the fall of 2013 after an updated research trip through the island chain. Additional books in the series will be the Chesapeake and Delaware Bay, New Jersey to New York, including the Hudson River, Chicago to Mobile, and finally the Gulf Coast Intracoastal Waterway from Mobile, Alabama to Cape Sable, Florida. The order and dates of release for the additional books will depend on input and requests from the boating community. 

This is the book most marinas are going to hate. The Great Book of Anchorages may very well become the standard for anchorage books to follow. Boaters can finally do an entire cruise without any marina stops or choose when they want to find paid dockage. The books are designed for information on anchoring and free docks and nothing else. It doesn't pretend to be a cruising guide or combination cruising guide and anchorage information.

•  Over 530 anchorages and free docks in the first edition.
• Anchorage and free dock details with color chartlets from NOAA charts.
• Mile-by-mile anchorage locations with GPS waypoints.
• Easy-to-use format and indexing for quick reference.
•  Discussions on types of anchors and anchoring techniques.
• Suggestions for planning your next trip.
• Save time and searching with anchorage locations at your fingertips.
• Save thousands of dollars in dockage fees.

If you would like more information on The Great Book of Anchorages series, drop us a line in the comments section.

Our new website, http://www.tgboa.com/ is live and ready for your viewing pleasure. You can also purchase your copy now at an introductory price until September 30. You can also visit our Facebook page.

Susan Landry, Publisher/Author/Editor

Chuck Baier, Publisher/Author

Update After Tropical Storm Isaac

Unlike what the folks in the northern Gulf around Louisiana and Mississippi are experiencing from hurricane Issac, tropical storm Isaac was pretty much a non-event for Beach House and her crew. This did bring our total named storms we have had to deal with to 17. By previous standards, this one was no worse than many afternoon thunderstorms we have encountered in south Florida and elsewhere. The difference being, it lasted for a few days rather than a few hours. But don't get me wrong, we are always extremely happy when conditions are less than anticipated, and nothing pleases us more than having to do all of the preparations and then not need them. As a matter of fact, we prefer that scenario to most any other. We did, however, have some wind and rain for a couple of days.

As the storm moved north of the Florida Keys, the winds picked up from the northeast in the 20 MPH range. It stayed that way pretty much most of the day, and for a while Sunday night, it actually became calm. We had rainfall on Sunday in the 2- to 4-inch range and found two water leaks we didn't know we had. That was to be expected. On Monday morning, the winds picked up and held all day Monday and Monday night. The direction had switched from the northeast to the southeast and was blowing 30 to 35 MPH straight up the canal into the marina. As protected as we are here, this is the longest fetch. We saw some wave action and even white caps at times as the gust picked up to about 40 MPH. Interestingly enough, there was very little rain.

Southerly winds will pile the water up in the marina. It runs out of places to go since we have a weir dam just beyond our slips. The predicted 3- to 5-foot storm surge turned out to be about 2 feet. The water stopped rising about a foot from the top of the seawall. The dock ramp was a bit uphill for a day. Fortunately, it never got any higher than that. So all in all, we count ourselves lucky and consider this good practice for the next storm. Hurricane season is far from over. Thanks to everyone that emailed us with their best wishes. It's always appreciated.

Riding The Storm Out, Waiting For Isaac

We knew it would be too good to be true. Spending a hurricane season in Florida without dealing with a tropical system. And along comes tropical storm, soon to be hurricane, Isaac. This will make for 17 named storms we have had to deal with living on our two most recent boats - 16 on Sea Trek and now our first on Beach House. To say we're practiced at preparation is an understatement. Much of what we did to prepare Sea Trek (read about it here.), we have also done to prepare Beach House for Issac as it approaches us. You can see the projected path of Issac and all other storms in our storm tracking widget in the left column of the blog. As of 11 A.M. this morning, the outermost bands are hitting us and the rain and winds are picking up.

The anticipated winds will be coming from the northeast initially and switch to the southeast, then south. That will put the heaviest winds on our stern and then switch to our port beam and blow steadily for at least two days. They are now expected to be at least tropical storm force with gusts to hurricane force. Docklines are our first line of defense, and placement is important to keeping the boat off the dock and pilings. Several good, sturdy spring lines are set up to keep us from getting pushed into the dock with the wind astern. It's always been our practice to use over-sized docklines at all times, so getting different lines for storm conditions is not necessary. But we do double and even triple up on lines depending on how strong we expect the storm to be. We always prepare for the worst possible conditions. Our docks are floating docks so they will rise and fall with the storm surge, but we still add lots of well-placed fenders.

Next we have added lines in anticipation of the strong southerly winds that will occur as the storm passes just west of us. Fortunately for us, the houseboat that was in the slip next to us was moved, and this gives us some breathing room and allows for longer docklines spread out like a spider web. This is always the best tactic if possible. A couple of fenders are also in place to protect us against a couple of pilings. Our neighbor has tied their skiff in the empty slip under our docklines.

A big concern for us is our new hardtop over the flybridge. The manufacturer assures us that it can handle most storm conditions but cautions us that the weak link is the attachment point for the original stainless steel bimini bows to which the hardtop is attached. Based on that information and the inability to remove it without major assistance, we have tied it down to the upper flybridge rails and ran several lines over the top and down to the lower handrail stanchions for extra security. Time will tell how well this works for us.

At this point the boat looks like some mutant spiders have crawled out of the Everglades and tried to entrap us in their web. This is a good reminder that we can't have too many lines aboard and they should all be of more than adequate strength. It's also a good reminder of why we carry at least two good sets of docklines at all times.

Everything that we can possibly remove has been taken off the decks and stowed away inside the boat or somewhere ashore. Covers have been placed over the seats in the flybridge and lashed down so they won't get blown off. The flybridge seats are large storage lockers with lots of tools, etc. in them. Heavy wind-blown rain can work its way under the seats and get everything inside wet if not covered. We covered the seats with small plastic tarps, put the regular seat covers over the tarps, then tied lines around the bottoms to keep it all in place.

Our final prep this morning as the winds starting picking up was to remove the last of the canvas covers off the windows. These can blow loose and the snaps can do damage to the wood and paint in 50- to 60-mile an hour winds. Our water tanks are full and the holding tank has been emptied. We have plenty of gas for our Honda portable generator. We're taking bets around the marina on how soon the power will go out. The fridge is stocked and the cars are full of gas if needed. The current forecast moves the storm a bit to the west as it passes and that will help. But with these storms, they don't always listen to the National Weather Service and prefer to do as they please. So once again, we have prepared for the worst, but will hope for the best. Our best scenario would be to have done all of this preparation for nothing. That really wouldn't make us feel bad. We'll post back after it's all over to report the results.