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Geeky tidbits

by Douglas Gould on May 7, 2010

Here is a cool reference website for the size of … well … everything! Bookmark it.

http://www.sizes.com/indexes.htm

And, for you iPhone users out there, here is a free app that comes in handy for mechanics.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bolt-nut/id311108575?mt=8

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SPOT Assist Maritime

by Douglas Gould on April 1, 2010

Sheesh, I take a few months off in the sunny Bahamas and now I’m playing catch-up. I just found out about the new collaboration between BOAT/US and Spot Satellite Personal Tracker. It’s called SPOT Assist Maritime. The cut & paste:

Works Where Cell Phones and VHF Radio Don’t
SPOT sends your messages and GPS locations over communications satellites so you can be located quickly. SPOT can send your message and locations to others, communicating in near real time with the push of a single button- no bluetooth technology or complicated programming required. Now you can easily link your BoatUS membership directly to SPOT.

Spot seems more of a novelty than anything else; a gadget for gadget freeks who gotta have everything. I’m sure that true adventurers would have a legitimate use for a Spot. Surely, it provides peace of mind to those back home wondering if you’re alright, but for the traditional marine assistance customer who rarely gets out of VHF range, it would be merely a back up to their primary means to summon help. I worry though that this is another technology that detracts from our desire to encourage all emergency communications to remain on VHF, where the whole world can hear, and render assistance if needed.

The annual subscription fee for the Spot service might be a barrier to widespread adoption. I have a Personal EPIRB that requires no annual fees, and I know it will get the USCG’s attention if I set it off.

If you thought the privacy of cell phone communications was bad, this will be worse. Spot is a one way communication device, which means that if a boater does hit the help button, those of us who have to go out to help have no idea what is wrong, what is needed, or even what kind of boat we are looking for. All we know are two facts: a)someone hit the help button, and b) their GPS position. Pretty scanty info to launch on, eh? Do you send your biggest boat, or fastest boat? Do you bring 20 gallons of gas, in case the guy is only out of gas? Is he on his brother’s 50′ sailboat, even though his membership is for a 24′ runabout? I think the one way communication is probably the weakest part of the idea. On the other hand, if you are really broken down out with no other means to communicate, Spot could save your life. I’m thinking of those poor football players in Florida, who were way offshore. One of these may have saved some lives in that instance.

In that scenario, I would hope that it was the 911 button getting pushed because it was an emergency, in which case us private sector guys aren’t worried about which asset to launch or what level of membership or what kind of boat… the public rescue authorities will be launching everything to go look and save. They may not be any happier about the one-wayness of the request than we would be, but they don’t have to worry about getting paid.

So, Spot will be a good back-up, and useful in real emergencies, but I sure hope folks don’t begin to adopt this kind of technology as their primary means of calling a towboat.

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Driven to Distraction?

The New York Times ran an interesting article last week about distracted drivers. No, not soccer moms, but Police and Ambulance drivers, who are increasingly using computer screens, input devices, keyboards, etc while operating vehicles. Driven to Distraction – Distracted Driving in Ambulances and Police Cruisers – NYTimes.com. Now, I don’t think that we boat [...]

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March 16, 2010 Read the full article →

When Good Jobs Go Bad, Part 1

File this story under: “Some days you’re the windshield, some days you’re the bug.” It all began quite routinely, as a thunderstorm approached Block Island on Wednesday. As this cloud passed, it started to rain, and the wind shifted from E @ 6 to W @ 15. The weather caused a three boat raft-up of [...]

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August 17, 2008 Read the full article →

iPhone replaces pencil

As I mentioned in a previous post, iPhones have become standard equipment onboard Safe/Sea towboats. The large screen and fast email technology has some advantages for high volume areas like Safe/Sea’s. Way back in the old times, I would have to get all my case information via a cell phone, or over a radio. In [...]

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August 4, 2008 Read the full article →

iPhone becomes part of my cockpit

Those who know him (most of my readers) know that the owner of Safe/Sea likes to stay cutting edge. If there is a new computer out, he’s gotta have one. So of course, all the Safe/Sea captains and full-time staff just had to have iPhones. I mean, all you could do on those old Nextel [...]

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July 24, 2008 Read the full article →