Boat PC on our Maxi 1000 – Navigation, AIS, Weather, emails and TV
I like to keep things simple on the boat as everybody can operate simple things and they tend not to fail in the wrong moment but over the years the laptop started to become a constant companion on longer trips. Initially just to be able to get a weather forcast from the Internet but later I added a NASA AIS receiver for safer Channel crossings and soon things started to get complicated. Not because of the technical solution but there was no safe place for the laptop to be kept while sailing, hence it was not much use with the AIS in more than very light winds.
The dilema I got into was that I was not prepared to spend all the money on a chart plotter and electronics charts if I would still use paper for everyday navigation and that I liked the additonal benefits a laptop/PC has over a plotter, like Internet, iTunes, DVDs for the kids etc. The solution seemed to find a home for the laptop that would be safe, the screen being viewable while the keyboard is protected – who want’s to go down in his oilies and flood the laptop.
Soon I found myself scanning the internet on Car PC options and TFT screens as I couldn’t come up with a good solution for the laptop that would not involve a separate screen and I learned that laptops are quite power hungry. I did also look at those boat PC packages that are on offer but found these too expensive and not surprisingly the components used look exactly like those on the Car PC websites.
1st – 3rd May 2010
A helpful midday HW, but questionable wind & weather, encouraged 10 Maxis. 8 on Saturday all arriving in quick succession, including Vertigo from Swanage.
The Marina helped by berthing us together so that we
could mingle and catch-up experiences, including the new website trials with which Graham Bobbit has become involved. The showers kept away providing evening sunshine for the 6pm pontoon party to start the evening. We didn’t sink the pontoon, but kept the other passing crews guessing if they could slip past without slipping into the water. Then a choice of ferry or walking around the causeway to the Brading Haven Sailing Club for a pleasant evening and meal together as 21 people.
We were awoken from a wet night and dull Sunday morning with a cold North wind to the sound of boat heaters! We exchanged Maxima, which had to leave for Second Rebellion, and unexpectedly Magewind put in an appearance too. Magewind was due in a race to Cherbourg. However having thought better of foul tides and an anticipated yachtsman’s gale from the North decided to rush back and enjoy a sheltered Sunday with us. We nearly managed a full committee when it was heard that Vouvray (Chris Wildey) fell short of surprising us, but reached Newtown Creek from Poole after having to replace his masthead sheaves.
Sunday was a free time day for crews to enjoy the area. Colin of Huggy Bear felt he deserved the prize for effort. He joined the Round the Island cycle ride. Well done indeed, cold and wet, but full of beans. Christine made the more comfortable option of remaining onboard for a quiet read. Others took to the buses to Sandown & Ryde. Our visitors on their Beneteau 411, Imagine enjoyed the excellent Roman Villa at Brading.#
The Marina staff again assisted with a tent to shelter from the winds as well as an effective gas BBQ with which all 24 of us managed to cook our meals together. Wisdom prevailed as it became dark for the desert and coffee onboard 2 larger boats.
Bank Holiday Monday returned to a sunny, but cold wind and we all made our way as planned to the Baywatch café for a final gathering before departures. Those bound for Portsmouth head to wind under power, those further west took to sail and a spanking good fine reach, including Vertigo off to Swanage.
Maxi Rally Bembridge 1/2/3 May 2010
| Boat Name | Model | Crew | |
| 1 | Huggy Bear | 38+ | Colin & Christine Summerfield |
| 2 | Imagine | B’teau 411 | Ian & Pauline |
| 3 | Blue Rider | 1000 | Peter & Sue Stonestreet |
| 4 | Blue Lightning | 1100 | Peter & Sarah Sands |
| 5 | Maxima | 1050 | David & Sandy Hodges |
| 6 | Vertigo | 1050 | Graham & Wendy Bobbit |
| 7 | Asante | 1100 | Andy & Sara Horwood |
| 8 | Look in for Kloos | 1000 | Julian, Carolyn & Nic Trimming |
| 9 | Second Rebellion | 1100 | Eric, Patricia, Kiera & Cameron Sey |
| 10 | Magewind | 1050 | John Skipper |
Maxi Owners Association Rally – Easter 2010
Mooring up at Howard Hayles
1) Maxi 1050 finishes 7th in 2009 ARC
A French owned Maxi 1050, “Minimaxi”, finished 7th overall in the Cruiser Section & 1st in her Class in the 2009 ARC.
Her blog can be viewed at http://blog.mailasail.com/minimaxi and can be read in English using Google’s Translate toolbar. Hearty congratulations to “Minimaxi” from the M-O-A!!
This is the second Maxi (that we know of!) that has participated successfully in the ARC. The other one was a Maxi 33 ‘Kjempekjekk’ back in 2003.
2) More on Maxi Yachts, AGM and Rallies, and web project!
The Maxi 1300 has been exhibited at both the recent Hamburg and Düsseldorf boat shows, with an order already placed for a French customer. We have just heard the new Maxi 1060 is already at the Gothenburg Boat Show which opens tomorrow until the 14th Feb. A string of new agents are being established across Europe, with Turkey, Slovenia and Croatia joining those already signed in Italy, France and Holland and starting their own marketing activities. We now look forward to seeing similar progress in the UK, historically one of the most important markets for Maxi Yachts.
M-O-A members will be pleased to see dates announced in the members area for this year’s AGM and our popular Solent Rallies. The AGM venue will be announced as soon as possible, together with further details on the Rally programme.
We have been quietly working on a new web project to replace our FrontPage-based web (which has become somewhat cumbersome) with a more interactive Web 2.0 CMS offering far better user functionality for both public and members-only. It is too early to make firm promises as the new project (which will be based on Joomla 1.5/1.6) depends solely on volunteer effort but we are learning fast! We are looking for a new webmaster from within the membership to administer and manage our new Joomla web. We hope their task will be less time consuming than our current FrontPage web because various committee and other members will contribute or update their own items directly from any web browser. So the inevitable plea of “help!” to our members – can you help us finalise our web project, or would you consider volunteering as our new web master?
Chris
New Maxi 1300 exhibited at the Boat Show, 23 -31 January 2010
We are very pleased that the new Najad/Maxi corporate structure is now beginning to take shape, with the latest Maxi 1300 taking pride of place on the Najad/Maxi stand in Dusseldorf. The German dealer for Maxi, who also represents Grand Soleil and Najad, describes the 1300 as having “great ambience with a Scandanavian touch”.
Late last year, details of the new investment and corporate structure concerning Maxi Yachts as part of the Najad group were revealed in a Press Release. The M-O-A Committee have already established contacts with the new majority investor in the Maxi Brand and look forward to an early meeting with the CEO of Animatrix Capital LLP.