Cruising Helmsman – June 2017

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Cruising Helmsman June 2017

The exposed f lexible cable loom can be

tidied using a fabric cover.

LIGHTNING

Those exposed overhead electronics

made it rather easy to disconnect them

from power, antennae and data cabling.

Paranoia perhaps, but having endured

some terrifying and prolonged electrical

storms under convergence zones, we make

haste to physically isolate electronics

whenever a thunderstorm seems likely!

I hope this makes zapping by voltage

spikes induced by nearby lightning

strikes less likely, although now it has

become something we generally do

whenever the boat will be left unattended

or not actively sailed. So it is no hardship

to apply the same philosophy to the

cockpit electronics too. One could also

argue that routinely storing electronics

below when in port perhaps extends its

operating life, or makes its accidental

damage less likely.

SOME DETAILS

For what interest it may be, our Mk.2 and

#3 pivoting arrangements are based on

ABOVE: Mk3 with VHF,

chartplotter and socket for

below-decks VHF remote mike.

RIGHT: Below decks electronics

rack can slew from port to

starboard and slide aft.

OPPOSITE PAGE: Hidden

connections are neater but

being able to physically

disconnect things

maximises the chance of

surviving lightning-induced

voltage spikes.

“ONCE I HAD LEARNED THE HARD WAY NOT

TO HIT IT WITH MY HEAD WHEN DUCKING

AROUND THE WHEEL, I WAS PRETTY HAPPY.”

Since my boat is nearly always at anchor

or on a mooring, I see the ability to easily

dismount and store the electronics below

decks as an advantage.

As a side benefit, the little

chartplotter can be used in the dinghy,

powered from a portable battery, with

its skimmer transducer clamped over

the transom. Rubber boots are available

to seal disconnected plugs, but for

neatness we also use a canvas bag

that gathers the dangling cables and

tightens around the bracket with an

elastic cord.

BELOW DECKS PIVOTING

Our original 1988 crop of marine

electronics: HF, VHF and ham radios,

were in the navigation area below decks.

They were on sliding racks that allowed

the cable connections to be fairly easily

accessed. But, as our cruising continued

and electronics proliferated, there

simply was not space for radar, then GPS,

then chartplotters and finally AIS.

So the radar was initially suspended

from the deckhead above the engine box

and eventually this overhead bracket

system was expanded to accommodate

the rest on a support frame that could

be swung to port to face

the navigation area,

starboard to face a quarter

berth, or aft towards the

companionway.

The frame pivot could

also be slid aft to bring the

displays ~500mm closer to

the helmsman and reachable by someone

sitting on the companionway.

Cockpit displays are better if that is

where the person is, but I still find this a

practical if not very neat system below

decks. The radar and, even at a distance,

the back-up chartplotter/VHF is visible to

the helmsman.

Depending on your boat’s layout

this might be worth considering as an

alternative to near-helm mounting, as

the gear can be easily disconnected

but does not need to be dismounted.

PRACTICAL

ELECTRONICS