All things Electronic
Sailing & Navigation instruments
Existing state:
Raymarine based system - 20 years old - give or take
There are 4 transducers
There is a sonar - doesn't work
Speed - clogged but was able to be removed and cleaned
Depth - Works but is sealed to hull
Temp - works but is sealed to hull
RADAR - unknown condition
Helm Chartplotter - screen is blown out, but it does power on
Autopilot - appears to function - ram was disconnected from quadrant
Wind instrument - appears to work
mostly unistalled and removed on 27 Mar
The plan
Garmin
replace w Garmin from storage
Cockpit Displays - Need to design helm station - liked having 2 MFDs in the helm station
Salon Display - Add an MFD in the salon
Garmin Network - install from storage
NMEA 2000 backbone - install from storage
Instruments - replace from storage
Transducers - DST 810 (Storage)
Wind Instruments - New (in storage)
GPS - replace from storage
Auto Pilot - need to determine way ahead - likely replace from storage
RADAR - likely replace from storage - move to solar arch?
Satellite Compass - install from storage
Rudder indicator - new
The NMEA 2000 Electronics Data Bus/ Network
This is the primary network over which most of the boat's electronics interconnect. Our network is more complex than most boats, but we are using it to control and monitor most of the systems on the boat.
Both the new main engine and the GenSet have NMEA 2000 interfaces, and that will allow us to view their data on the chart plotters and also remotely control them.
The NMEA2000 network interconnects all of the ships navigation systems (wind, depth, water speed, water temp, GPS, Compass, rate of turn, heal etc.)
The RADAR and AIS information is also shared through this network and the Garmin dedicated IP network.
Taken all together, this network is the heart of creating a common situation display and accompanying ability to centrally control the associated systems. The electrical system has its own data environment which is covered below.
Communications
Existing State
VHF Radio - old ICOM - not NMEA 2000 compliant
SSB Radio - remove
Uninstalled 27/28 Mar
The Plan
VHF
Cockpit - ICOM 810 BB - new
Salon - Garmin 115 - new
Sell storage ICOM radios due to lack of NMEA 2000 compliance
AIS - As far as we can tell the boat doesn't have a VHF license and does not have an assigned MMSI#. We will be applying for these items so we can properly register the AIS, EPIRB and other emergency RF gear.
SatComm
Starlink - new equipment received in early Mar 2025 - this is our high bandwidth internet connectivity but it has limitations and its cost has been skyrocketing.
Iridium Go - install from storage - need antenna cable - this is our highly reliable offshore communications
InReach - Garmin Montana - replacement mount received in Mar 2025 -- this is our primary remote tracker for passages
WiFi Bridge - we can use this to piggyback on someone else's WiFi connection.
Ubiquiti Bullet - From Storage
Before Starlink, was useful to piggy back on remote wifi, not sure about usefulness today
POE
Cellular Modem - our alternative to the SatCom
Alternative to Starlink
Antenna mounted on mast
Install from storage
Ship's Router/ WiFi - this our primary LAN
ASUS xxxx
Ships IP Network
Runs the NordVPN Client on behalf of all shipboard devices communicating online
We will have CAT 5 run to the primary devices (Cerbo GX, Yacht Devices LAN bridge, Ship's PC)
We will use WiFi for our Mobile Devices and anything else that doesn't have a RJ45 port and is conveniently located within easy reach of existing LAN cabling.
Master Alarm Panel - www.aquamarine.com
Main Engine
Water Flow - new
Exhaust Temp - new
GenSet
Water Flow - New
Exhaust Temp - new
Engine Room
Water In Fuel - from storage
Fire/ Heat
Smoke sensor
Electrical
Multiplus - alarm relay
Cerbo GX - master alarm
Battery Protect - Alarm out
Alternator - Alarm
Refrigeration (Cerbo GX Temp Alarm)
Pumps & Bilges
Engine Bilge (Cycling, long run time)
Engine High water alarm
Salon Bilge
Salon High Water Alarm
Fwd Bilge
Fwd High Water Alarm
Fresh Water Pump (Long run time)
Dinghy
RIB Theft
Motor Theft
Electronics
Anchor Drag
AIS Alarm
Master Alarm Panel - Explained
Most modern boats have multiple systems with audible alarms. The issue is that the standard alarm is a buzzer. Well once a buzzer goes off you have to find which one it is and then determine why it's going off. In the old boat, in its original configuration, there were at least 5 different alarms sounded the same. It drove us insane and we were determined to come up with a better mousetrap. The first iteration was based on a Yacht Devices Alarm Button. This sounded like a great idea as we could define a DIFFERENT sound for each different alarm. This turned out to be just as bad, as we still needed a cheat sheet to match which sound went with what alarm. Still too difficult to deal with when things are going sideways in a gale at 2AM in the morning.
On both Air and Space Craft they solved this problem with what's known as a master alarm panel. A single buzzer is sounded and the pilot or engineer would consult a panel that has lit buttons or lights. The button associated with the alarm is clearly lit so it's obvious which system is alarming.
The idea for the boat is simple analog panel where there is an LED light for each alarm circuit on the boat.
The various electronics devices on the boat with alarm circuits have a relay that is closed to signal an alarm state. These are directly fed into the panel.
The pumps' electrical circuits are fed through a Yacht Devices Run Time Indicator to monitor both cycle and run time. If a pump is cycling or running long, the Yacht Devices system can then close a relay sending a signal to the alarm panel.
We have had issues in the past with our onboard refrigeration, so we are going to have temp sensors in the various cooled areas so that we can automatically monitor for unexpected temperature rises.
For the engine room, we are monitoring for water in the fuel system, Heat (i.e. Fire) and Smoke.
For each engine, we are monitoring raw water flow and the temp of the exhaust. Raw water (i.e. sea water) is crucial to keeping the engines cool. If a strainer becomes clogged or the impellors on the raw water pump fail, the cooling water flow is interrupted and the associated motor (main engine, or GenSet) will rapidly overheat and if not shut down quickly will damage itself up to and including seizing.
For the Dinghy, we are going to try a theft alarm. Dinghy (really outboard motor) theft is an issue around many islands. We can run a ground loop through these items and if the loop is cut, it will trigger an alarm on the panel.
Finally, we are working to develop an Anchor Drag alarm device that will work off of the NMEA 2000 data (GPS specifically) and sound an alarm if the boat wonders outside of a predefined area (circle with the anchor at the center of it). What is cool about our device is a combination of its simplicity, low power requirements and the external alarm. The plan is to automatically calculate the anchor position as well as the circle's allowed area. The device will alarm if the boat wonders.
We plan to have remote alarms in both the master cabin and up in the cockpit, that way we will hear an alarm at night (when the berth AC is on) or underway, for whoever is on watch up in the cockpit.
Entertainment
Existing State
TV in Salon - circa 2006
Radio in Salon
CD Changer in Salon
TV in Master Cabin
Uninstalled 27/ 28 Mar
The Plan
New Smart TV in Salon
New Smart TV in Berth
Plex - install from storage
Pulsar equipped Android Cell phone for music source
Stereo - Garmin Fusion stereo - install from storage
Cerbo GX and Victron's Data Environment
Victron has its own proprietary data environment to communicate between its devices.
The heart of their environment is a GX device running the Venus OS. Fun fact, the Cerbo GX is really just a raspberry pi but with a whole host of input and output ports.
The Cerbo GX has an HDMI interface to allow the use of a touchscreen monitor as the display.
The Picture above shows all of the inputs and outputs we are expecting to implement, while the green lined diagram to the upper right shows the external Victron devices connected to the Cerbo GX
Victron has a cloud environment that allows remote monitoring provided there is an internet link available. We have used this in the past quite successfully to do monitoring from anywhere as long as the boat's TCP/IP network is connected to the Internet. It also has long term data storage allowing trend analysis.
Finally, if this was all not enough, we plan to be able to turn our hot water heater on and off by a combination of the battery state of charge and the solar input. This requires some specialized programing via a system called Node Red and external relays. The picture to the right shows the devices we plan to use for this function. This is an experiment and we will post the implementation details here once we have it all working.
