Overheard on VHF Channel 16 in the San Juan Islands of Northwest Washington state: “Vessel Assist, Vessel Assist . . . .”
Seconds later, a Vessel Assist boat answered and the operator asked about the nature of the boater’s problem.
“Vessel Assist, I’m dragging my anchor . . .”
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We all do dumb things like that occasionally. (Dragging happens and should not be criticized. Calling Vessel Assist is . . . . well.)
Recently, I blogged on and on about looking for the simplest and easiest answer when something on a boat stops, breaks or acts strangely. I said, for example, don’t change starters because an engine won’t crank and the problem is a loose wire.
It’s time to confess. I don’t always follow my own advice.
More than a year ago I grew tired of using a laptop for navigation because it required putting the computer on the galley stove and running wires back and forth to the helm. It was a nuisance, unsightly and difficult to see. So, I asked an Anacortes computer shop to build a PC that would fit in the shallow space just forward of the helm on my 42 Grand Banks. They delivered a black box 3¼” high, 12” inches wide and 15” inches long and a 17” flat screen monitor that tucked nicely into a space ahead of the helm The computer was a perfect fit and was loaded with Windows XP for good performance with Nobeltec and Rose Point software. I took it home and ran it in my office for several weeks – without incident – and then installed it on Quadra.
In the 2008 cruising system, however, the computer would lock up (freeze) occasionally and rebooting was necessary. At the end of the season I took it back to the shop, assuming the problem was in the computer. The dealer checked it out and ran it for 24 hours without a problem. I returned it to the boat.
Things got worse the first day of our planned 10-week cruise into the waters of the Inside Passage in northern British Columbia. I had loaded the newest version of Rose Point’s Coastal Explorer software and was dismayed when it locked up in less than five minutes. At other times, it might run two or three hours without problem. I turned to Nobeltec and found it was similarly affected.
Because Rose Point was the newest kid on the block I couldn’t shake the notion that it was at fault and was blind to other possibilities.
Rose Point offers good advice in loading, setting up and operating its software. And, if there’s a problem, it urges boaters to send an email message to the company. Nobeltec now is part of Jeppeson, which specializes in flight planning for aircraft operators and other forms of navigation software, and which is owned by The Boeing Co. Not sure how to catch Nobeltec’s attention, I sent a message describing my problems to Rose Point and suggesting in frustration that I might delete the new Rose Explorer software. I was in a remote British Columbia marina where email was hit-and-miss.
Within an hour, Steve Hodgen of Rose Point responded with a message explaining that the problem might be with a serial/USB converter. In less than another hour, I received a message from Jeff Hummel at Rose Point, who emphasized that nearly every owner’s problem with navigation software could be traced to a converter. I’ve known Jeff for several years; he once wrote an electronics column for PassageMaker Magazine and I usually see him at boat shows where he amazes me with his description of the work he’s done to convert a commercial fishing vessel to a marine archeological vessel. (Yes, he plans to search for sunken ships.) I respect his knowledge and trust his recommendations.
Serial/USB converters have been needed for years because most GPS systems came equipped with a serial connector on the end of the cable. Few laptops have serial ports; computers now use the more versatile USB port system. Thus, a special convertor is needed to connect the GPS serial cable to a computer’s USB port. (This all changed with the introduction of NMEA 2000 systems. But most of us don’t use them, so listen up.)
Slowly, the messages from Steve and Jeff soaked through. I had used a serial/USB converter for years – and I had plugged into my new computer. In looking for the simplest answer (Rose Point was at fault) I failed to analyze the system. (What single thing could cause both software systems to malfunction?) I should have known. Rose Point’s software was not the problem. It was that little snake in the computer locker – the serial/USB converter.
I installed Nobeltec years ago, before Rose Point, and, following Nobeltec recommendations, I ordered a serial/USB converter from SeaLevel. It worked perfectly until last year, when it apparently began to suffer from old age sludge in its electronic arteries. I hadn’t thought about it in years and gave it no consideration when I moved the connector from my laptop to the new desktop computer. I overlooked it completely in my search for a more complicated solution to my problem.
If I still were using a laptop for navigation and a serial/USB converter to feed GPS data into a laptop, failure of the SeaLevel device would have been stranded Quadra in remote central British Columbia without electronic navigation capability.
However, Steve and Jeff’s messages sounded a screaming cerebral alarm and in a flash I remembered my serial port/USB connector AND that my new dedicated ship’s computer has TWO serial ports. It took less than a minute to disconnect the ailing SeaLevel connector and to plug the GPS directly into the computer’s serial port. And both Rose Point and Nobeltec have worked flawlessly since. It’s what you would call a simple fix.
I should have identified the converter as a possible source of my navigating woes. It was the single basic component that would affect both software problems. I made an assumption, forgetting my newsroom training that banned assumptions because they usually are wrong. I should have carried a spare converter on board – just as I carry a spare starter. Dumb and dumber.
Thank you, Steve and Jeff, for your prompt and friendly aid. It was another lesson learned.
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Another voice on VHF Channel 16: “Say again your problem.”
“I’m dragging my anchor.”
“Pull the hook and get out of there.”