I'm a gear guy, pure and simple. Electronics, engines, rigging, hand tools – I love it all. While I try to maintain a seaman's respect for simplicity, I also believe that technology can make us safer and more comfortable.
Those two ideas are sometimes in conflict, but not always. In the 1980s, many of us spent hours on the bow untangling the roller furling. At the time, it seemed anything but simple. But today's more robust units are standard equipment. Mature technology is a good thing – and so when the large boat shows come along, I tend to stock up.
I just got back from my third Miami boat show, an event that often finds me holed up in a corner of the convention center, scratching out calculations on a brochure as I try to figure ways to afford my latest obsession. Truthfully, it's not a bad place to buy if you are an informed consumer. The dealers trot out their "boat show prices" and there are sometimes half a dozen in the room, so you can deal a bit. All of them want show-related sales. None wants to ship unsold items back to the shop.
This year was no different. I was toying with on some high-powered, long-distance scopes, which function like really powerful binoculars. And I had my eye on infrared night-vision cameras, which I have been drooling over since I had the chance to play with a Thermal-Eye 4000M over the holidays. Between tours in the Mad Mariner booth – we were exhibitors this year – I shopped the wares and began my calculations.
THE UNWANTED MOMENT
Then I had a rare, unsolicited and unwelcome moment of clarity. Walking past an orgy of electronics, engines and all other things marine, I thought about my trawler's true needs.
Anonymous Source needs to be hauled and painted. The VHF on the flybridge needs to be replaced. Her tab indicator, part of my NMEA 2000 rig, needs troubleshooting. She needs her bilges cleaned, her canvas scrubbed and her pinstriping is cracked and needs removal (why do they use stickers?) Down below, the handle to the bathroom door falls out and needs repair – badly. Last season, a friend of mine got locked in there for about 30 minutes during a day trip. We didn't hear him over the diesel until we slowed to drop the hook!
Then there's the equipment waiting for installation. That flybridge radio, an Icom IC-M422 with a command mic, has sat in my office all winter. So has a SeaCas AIS unit, a Maretron weather station and half a dozen lesser gadgets picked up here and there.
The truth is that the last thing I need is new gear. If the boat could talk, she'd tell me to buy some soap and a brush, not electronics (cool as they are). What I should do is put my time into maintenance, and then install what I have. And so that is my resolve.
I kept my money in my pocket this year.
Glen JusticeAnonymous Source was new in this picture, but she's not anymore. And so, I have work ahead.
