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MikeReynolds - 9/24/2020

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Dick - 9/23/2020

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MikeReynolds - 9/23/2020

Gday all,
If you're interested in how NMEA-2000 and SignalK changed one bluewater cruising boat's electronics system you may be interested in this...
http://yachtzenagain.blogspot.com/2020/09/our-nmea-2000-and-signal-k-electronics.html

Unsure whether this type of information would be welcome on the OCC Facebook page.  Comments on that welcome too.
cheers,
Mike.
sv Zen Again

Hi Mike,
Please, your information, to my mind, definitely has a place on the Forum and is most welcome. There was lots of interesting information, much of which was above my pay grade.
My interest is in safety issues: can you spell out the ways in which you see the electronics you added improved the safety of the vessel and its crew?
And, you suggest at the end of your blog, that it was not till you had completed the additions that you felt ready to do an ocean crossing: what aspects of your additions did you feel was critical to being ready for an ocean passage?
Thanks, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

Hi Dick,
Thanks for your reply.  The electronics I've added most recently was the small computer on which I loaded SignalK and InfluxDB.  This transformed our electronics from realtime-only to also providing historical data, and allowing the use of the same display software on all our devices.

Regarding improving safety:
1. Uniform display of realtime data across iPhone, iPad and Mac is a safety plus, especially when tired/stressed.
2. Display of environmental data (atmospheric pressure & temperatures) along with the usual boat performance data is a safety plus.
3. Availability of trends (from recordings) is a safety plus.
4. The ability to easily select between redundant data sources fed to all displays is a safety plus.
5. Hardware redundancy is a safety plus.

By the way, our only hardware chartplotter is an old, very small Garmin.  We expect to dispose of it soon since software chart plotters which we can run on all our devices offer more features and (on iPhone and iPad) are portable.  We carry multiple iPhones and iPads and they're far less susceptible to lightning damage unless connected for charging.  That's another safety plus.

At the end of my blog I say we feel ready AGAIN.  Just as when in the past we've headed off into the wild blue Zen Again again has a fully capable, modern electronics system.  We don't have a lot of expensive kit, but we have all the information and it's well presented.  For small boats and/or those with limited budgets I believe my approach has merit.

By the way, my first question in this thread was whether a link to blog posts like mine were welcome on the OCC Facebook page which seems much more popular than this Forum.
Cheers,
Mike.

Hi Mike,
And I had hoped to answer that question with the first sentence of my post:
“Please, your information, to my mind, definitely has a place on the Forum and is most welcome.”
I suspect you are correct that FB is more popular, which is a shame, in part, because, as I understand it, contributions such as yours are not archived to enable reading and study in the future. Some posts are worthy study, especially by those who make the effort to venture into new territory: early adapters so to speak. And you certainly sound like and early adapter in this area.
I will spend some time thinking about your post, but I did wish to respond quickly to your question of whether you were welcome: And to reiterate, absolutely, you are.
My best, Dick

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Dick - 9/23/2020

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MikeReynolds - 9/23/2020

Gday all,
If you're interested in how NMEA-2000 and SignalK changed one bluewater cruising boat's electronics system you may be interested in this...
http://yachtzenagain.blogspot.com/2020/09/our-nmea-2000-and-signal-k-electronics.html

Unsure whether this type of information would be welcome on the OCC Facebook page.  Comments on that welcome too.
cheers,
Mike.
sv Zen Again

Hi Mike,
Please, your information, to my mind, definitely has a place on the Forum and is most welcome. There was lots of interesting information, much of which was above my pay grade.
My interest is in safety issues: can you spell out the ways in which you see the electronics you added improved the safety of the vessel and its crew?
And, you suggest at the end of your blog, that it was not till you had completed the additions that you felt ready to do an ocean crossing: what aspects of your additions did you feel was critical to being ready for an ocean passage?
Thanks, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

Hi Dick,
Thanks for your reply.  The electronics I've added most recently was the small computer on which I loaded SignalK and InfluxDB.  This transformed our electronics from realtime-only to also providing historical data, and allowing the use of the same display software on all our devices.

Regarding improving safety:
1. Uniform display of realtime data across iPhone, iPad and Mac is a safety plus, especially when tired/stressed.
2. Display of environmental data (atmospheric pressure & temperatures) along with the usual boat performance data is a safety plus.
3. Availability of trends (from recordings) is a safety plus.
4. The ability to easily select between redundant data sources fed to all displays is a safety plus.
5. Hardware redundancy is a safety plus.

By the way, our only hardware chartplotter is an old, very small Garmin.  We expect to dispose of it soon since software chart plotters which we can run on all our devices offer more features and (on iPhone and iPad) are portable.  We carry multiple iPhones and iPads and they're far less susceptible to lightning damage unless connected for charging.  That's another safety plus.

At the end of my blog I say we feel ready AGAIN.  Just as when in the past we've headed off into the wild blue Zen Again again has a fully capable, modern electronics system.  We don't have a lot of expensive kit, but we have all the information and it's well presented.  For small boats and/or those with limited budgets I believe my approach has merit.

By the way, my first question in this thread was whether a link to blog posts like mine were welcome on the OCC Facebook page which seems much more popular than this Forum.
Cheers,
Mike.

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MikeReynolds - 9/23/2020

Gday all,
If you're interested in how NMEA-2000 and SignalK changed one bluewater cruising boat's electronics system you may be interested in this...
http://yachtzenagain.blogspot.com/2020/09/our-nmea-2000-and-signal-k-electronics.html

Unsure whether this type of information would be welcome on the OCC Facebook page.  Comments on that welcome too.
cheers,
Mike.
sv Zen Again

Hi Mike,
Please, your information, to my mind, definitely has a place on the Forum and is most welcome. There was lots of interesting information, much of which was above my pay grade.
My interest is in safety issues: can you spell out the ways in which you see the electronics you added improved the safety of the vessel and its crew?
And, you suggest at the end of your blog, that it was not till you had completed the additions that you felt ready to do an ocean crossing: what aspects of your additions did you feel was critical to being ready for an ocean passage?
Thanks, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

Gday all,
If you're interested in how NMEA-2000 and SignalK changed one bluewater cruising boat's electronics system you may be interested in this...
http://yachtzenagain.blogspot.com/2020/09/our-nmea-2000-and-signal-k-electronics.html

Unsure whether this type of information would be welcome on the OCC Facebook page.  Comments on that welcome too.
cheers,
Mike.
sv Zen Again