It has been a while since I first started the demo work on Red Rover’s electronics. I am just now posting the install/completion story, not that we just finished it up, but we have had our nose to the grindstone working to prepare for our trip to Alaska. I am starting this story while having a cup of coffee in the pilothouse looking out over the marina in Ketchikan. Looking back over the last week of coming up the west coast of Vancouver Island from Seattle, we appreciate the upgrade more than ever. Our first outing with the upgrade six weeks ago was definitely information overload vs what we had before. But now as me are getting a handle on what we can pull up when it is needed, we truly understand the value of the tool we’ve just brought on board. The other reassuring thing that I am noticing (again) is how many of the commercial/charter ships in this harbor have Furuno equipment installed. No kidding, at least 95% of what is mounted is Furuno. Reassuring on the choice of manufacturers.
Once I had 90% of the old equipment removed, Brad with Emerald Harbor Marine had a fairly clean slate to start working. He first set out to clean up the power runs and pull new power for all the new equipment. He also tidied up the 120v power that was behind the dash.
To wrap up, I am glad that I was as involved as I was for this upgrade. I learned an huge amount about wiring, Red Rover’s hidden areas, the electronics packages inside/out and what modern day navigation equipment is all about. I enjoyed the work and look forward to using/learning more about our new tools as we explore SE Alaska.
I would also like to give a shout out to Larry, Brad and Scott with Emerald Harbor Marine (again). They were more than open in allowing me to assist with the project. They gave great advice throughout the project. And what was stellar was I received multiple calls/texts/emails from each of them leading up to our Alaska departure as well as communications from them during the trip seeing if we needed anything, had questions or any issues. I have no doubt that they would bend over backwards to assist us with anything that popped up (with the new system or any other issue that could arise). We will be updating the autopilots sometime after we return to Seattle, probably early winter. This should be a pretty straight forward project compared to what we just completed.
So interesting! I’m generally allergic to electrical/electronic stuff, so though much of this went over (over!) my head, I can appreciate the transition. I loved the photos of Zoe, and the Samsung tablet that you can take to your stateroom!
Epic post! Thanks for documenting this project!
So interesting! I’m generally allergic to electrical/electronic stuff, so though much of this went over (over!) my head, I can appreciate the transition. I loved the photos of Zoe, and the Samsung tablet that you can take to your stateroom!