Lots O Things To Do
Well not really. More like a little bit of stuff to do.
But first - clearance items are going to kill me. Well not exactly kill me - more like make me broke. I was at the evil boat stuff store to help instruct a basic navigation class. No big deal. But there is a clearance item table. And on that table I found a rail mount radar reflector holder. For $5! I saved $15 plus shipping!
Of course now I have to buy a $40 radar reflector to put on the $5 rail mount radar reflector holder.
See I "need" one of these things because my boat is mostly invisible to radar. But with this thing I will show up as a blip. In theory, someone running at night using radar will see me and the blip I create and not run me over. In theory. I would not put much money on that theory.
But really, what I have to do - HAVE TO DO - is get un lazy and finish the stereo install that I started the week I got the boat. That, by the way, was right before Memorial Day. I got the 4 speakers in. The speakers that came with the boat were cheap and shot. So I pulled the good speakers out of the old boat, swapped em for the crappy shot speakers, then got 2 more just like them. 4 in total. I put em in a while ago.
Anyhow, all I need to do is the following:
1. Wire the speakers.
2. Install the stereo.
3. Wire the speakers to the stereo.
4. Run power to the stereo.
5. Install the satellite radio receiver.
The hard part is going to be number 2. There is no good place to put the darn stereo. This is probably why it is not installed yet. There is just not any good place to put the darn thing! Seriously. There is no room on the "dashboard" because that space is occupied by the marine VHF radio, the sonar unit (fish finder) and the GPS chartplotter. Oh yea and the compass. Who uses those things anyway? This is the 21st century.
So I am thinking that I can maybe mount the radio on the side of the center console. Or under the center console. Or somewhere else. But it needs to get done today.
Because Sunday I might go hang with some peeps at the Stiltsville sandbar. Where is this? Find Stiltsville marker "1A" and follow the finger channel EAST. You will see the sandbar. And a few boats. I am the one in the 19 foot power catamaran that has "Seagull" written on the side of the hull near the stern. Seagull boats are not very common, so chances are very good I will have the only one there. The boat has a teal blue Bimini top. And what else??? OH YEA! A new Stereo with 4 speakers and Sirius satellite radio service. And a GPS chartplotter. And maybe even some beer. Most certainly some beer.
For a lot of you, this is the "last weekend of summer". But not here. I still have some more summer. But this is the last three day weekend of the summer. So everyone will be out. The ramps will be busy. So I have to leave early to beat the morons.
And I have to install the stereo and satellite radio thingie, because I want it for the sandbar. It will be cool.
posted by The Lazy Iguana @ 02:00
8 Comments:
Read my guide to stereo install. We dont have ocean where I live but damn that sounds like the coolest day ever. I was thinking of chartering a yacht for my next vacation but being landlocked my whole life I would prolly drive it onto some shoals and drown.
Well ya hafta be cool! So get to work. BTW, when you don't buy clearance stuff, you save even more money. Amazing how that works.
Rabbit rabbit.
I agree, the news is not newsy anymore, they make the biggest deal out of the stupidest things. and then there's this stereo install that is stressing. I say just get an mp3 player and stick it in your ears
The lazy,
That Doozie is tough. You need a super structure on that thing. You're cramming too much stuff in a small space.
Why is it that all morons have boats? It doesn't seem right.
Scribe - In a way, boat installations are easier than cars. You can pretty much put stuff anywhere you want. There is no dashboard. I can move gauges. I can add installation boxes. But when the boat fights you, it is just horrible. Everything becomes much harder to do.
TLP - I am cool, and I did get to work. The clearance items are things I wanted to get anyway. Mostly. Sometimes I get hit by the "wow this is cool and it on clearance so I better buy it now" virus.
Actionbell - I thought about that. But the boom boxes have their own problem. Mostly related to powering them. They do not have marine speakers, and they do not always run on 12 volts. You have to use batteries OR plug them into 120 volts. 120 volts us dangerous on a small boat.
Doozie - I like to share my music with the planet. Can't you tell? Plus ear buds are not very comfortable for long periods of time, and can promote hearing loss. The stereo is the way to go. I need to be able to hear the marine VHF.
Krok - I still have a lot of room for stuff. The boat has an amazing amount of room for stuff. The instrument panel is getting cramped, but I needed all that stuff. The GPS chart plotter is awesome, and I need it so that my marine VHF radio is DSC enabled. The fish finder is useful to tell me the depth and bottom structure. The gauges tell me things like fuel remaining in the tanks, speed, engine RPM, cooling water pressure, engine hours, and so on. My extra stuff is mostly removable.
Forget the Radar $40 reflector. Just make a hat out of aluminum foil. It works for me and has a side effect of preventing aliens (space) from reading my mind.
I wear tin foil under my hat already. It reflects all the UV rays. And the secret transmissions from Atlantis that keeps telling me to tie up to the sea wall on Brickell Key, run into the Mandarin Oriental Hotel butt naked yelling "killer bees, killer bees" and then give the people in the lobby the helicopter.
I think the $40 will be worth it to avoid being run over. Not much fun with the boat if its lying on the bottom of the bay!
I would listen to the secret transmissions from Atlantis. As long as the voices aren't telling you to kill people, rape the neighbor's pets or sell the neighborhood children for drug money, the voices should be obeyed.
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