Trick Your Ride Page 4

Everyone dreams about buying that new boat. Historically, PMY readers have traded up every three years. But for a lot of us, that usual step up is going to have to be deferred for a few months. However, that doesn’t mean we’ll have to put up with the same old boat. Take a look around, and you’ll see that there’s plenty of room for improvement onboard.In this section PMY’s editors offer 14

By Mike Smith

October 26, 2009

Electronic Eyes
Cost: $2,000 and up

Certain devices make us realize that
we’re living in the future. There may be a
distinct lack of jetpacks around, but other
Buck Rogers-style items have come into
their own.

Take electronic monitoring systems,
which we discussed extensively in our
June issue (see “Customizable
Monitoring”). With one of these on your
boat, you can turn on and off every light,
check your bilges, activate your radar,
initiate a fuel transfer, and do just about
any other conceivable task that runs on
either your A.C. or D.C. circuits. These
systems are new; they’ve only begun
showing up on new boats, but they are
the wave of the future. Different
manufacturers such as Krill (pictured)
allow for varying levels of customization.

Installing an electronic monitoring
system is not a do-it-yourself project. The
installation of the unit requires
the services of a professional and
wiring and fitting all the
necessary sensors isn’t
something most of us would
want to do on our own. But
when the pro gets all the mindboggling
complexity sorted out,
you’re left with one of the
simplest-to-operate setups you
can imagine: a streamlined, clear
interface that is customized to
your boat.

On some higher-end systems, you
don’t have to rely on interface panels that
are fixed to the boat. From the click of
your smartphone, you can perform all the
tasks noted above working through the
Wifi system on your vessel. And there’s
even talk of making these systems
accessible over your cellphone’s network,
so you’ll be able to do things like check
security cameras, know if a bilge pump
isn’t working, or see if a light was left on
using your smartphone as your display
screen from hundreds of miles away.
How’s that for a device that can once and
for all eliminate worrying about the
condition of your boat?

—Capt.Grant Rafter

Chill Out
Cost: $299 and up

If you regularly boat in places that are
hot with a capital “h,” exterior misters are
a great option, which is why they’re so
common on high-end sportfishing boats.
Much like the versions you see in the
produce section of your grocery store,
the nautical models are based on the
theory of evaporative cooling. Just splice
a connector into your onboard water
source and liquid will be routed to a
series of nozzles, which you can attach to
your hardtop or cockpit overhang. The
resulting mist is expelled at a rate of
around one gallon per hour, so the
system shouldn’t materially affect
your boat’s water capacity. And
because the droplets released by the
nozzles are so tiny, they instantly
evaporate, which cools the surrounding
air by some 20 or 30 degrees. Best of all,
depending on where you want to place
your misters, installation can be totally
DIY. Companies like Misters Unlimited
and Boat Misters (right) offer a variety of
options—from models that clip
right on to your bimini (below left)
to stainless steel, “no tools”
versions that be installed above a
favorite sunpad. Prices begin
around $299 for smaller, biminifriendly
models.