Spring is coming, and still more things to do!

Hi All, Spring is on it's way, and I still have a few more projects to complete. Over the Winter I worked on my Enclosure and completed it. Or so I thought. This Enclosure wraps the complete cockpit with clear vinyl windows, which will be great in the cold weather, and will also protect you from bugs is the warmer weather. But that is where the unfinished business comes in. When it is warm out it will be too hot inside. So what I will do is replace one panel on each side with a screen door when the need arises. One little project. See Pic.
     Over the Winter I also got my diesel heater operating. This project bothered me a little, because I wasn't sure if when I got it going that it might put my boat on fire. Well when I first fired it up, the chimney got very hot. Which meant to me that the heat was going out the stack. So I  installed a fan to blow on it. After the fan was installed,  the top of the chimney, inside the boat, was cool. You cool feel the heat blowing into the cabin. see pic.

I also worked on some of the electronics. Now I have Satellite radio. This is great. No more static interference. I don't have too carry CD's around with me, and I can lock onto any station for the entire trip.

     I'm now  getting ready to install my Navtex Receiver. This is a neat little unit. It will give me text messages on:  Weather warnings, Navigation warnings, Search and rescue information, Piracy alerts, and if you were that far north or south, Ice warnings, and more. What's nice about this unit is that all you need is an antenna, looks like a GPS antenna. No fees to pay. And also you can program it to just give you the warnings desired for your area. When I listen to the WX channels on my VHF I usually fall asleep or lose concentration by the time the paticular forecast that I am looking for arrives. Now no problem, it automatically stores itself in the unit and I can see immediately what I am looking for at my own leisure.
    Next on my list of projects will be to install my SSB radio. I don't think that it wil be too dificult to install. The problem will be to get it working correctly. But we will see.
    So until the next blog. Hope you all enjoy the early Spring.
George