Archive for February, 2011
The last day of February – get ready for spring!
Now – if you live in northern Minnesota, you know that this is a farce because we know what March can be like. However – it doesn’t change the fact that with each day, we are closer to summer! Yeah!! At times during this time of the year, I would even find it fun to swat a mosquito! …trouble is, with temps so cold, they have trouble flying with those heavy overcoats on!! (just kidding) Summer is on the way and now would be the time to update those old speakers of yours so this summer you can actually understand what is said through them! New concept, hey? Imagine being able to actually hear your own music played through an MP3 receiver jack on your marine radio receiver with the digital clarity that until recent years you could only get in an expensive sound system! Yes – that technology is out there today. I would encourage you to take a minute to assess your communication needs before the summer boating season is well underway and update where you need to make this years’ boating season a success! Replace those old worn out speakers with modern, waterproof, marine speakers. You won’t regret it. Happy Boater.
Dilemmas sneak up on you when you’re not looking…
Ready or not, you can find yourself in the middle of a “not-so-nice” dilemma and even if it’s hard for me to admit, it happened to me last week. Here I am – the guy that preaches “preparedness” in the area of communication and wouldn’t you know it – I found myself in a helpless feeling situation because I left home without any communication device when I went snow-plowing. I was in an area which had no cell phone coverage at all, and very few houses when my fuel pump on my plow truck decided it was time to quit! Not a real good situation. Now, it didn’t entirely stop, but it reduced my ability to drive highway speed down to about 5 MPH – stopping completely about every 3 – 5 minutes. Just by a stroke of luck, it ran (if you can call it that) long enough to get to the house of a friend of mine and he gave me a lift home. Sure was humbling and somewhat frustrating to find myself in that awkward situation when I should have been able to call someone for assistance with a CB Radio or a little hand held VHF radio so easily. It all worked out, but I learned a lesson that day. It’s back to that little rule that keeps popping up – “if it’s mechanical it will break”. Sure would be nice if we knew when that would be – wouldn’t it?? Always be prepared. Just because something ran well yesterday, doesn’t mean that it will run well today. Happy Boater.
Big white caps change your thinking…
Funny how your values change when you find yourself out in some really large white caps on a stormy day!! All of a sudden that money you were going to spend on a VHF Radio seems pretty small as you contemplate your situation and your family’s safety. Sure would have been nice if you had received fore-warning about that storm that hit so suddenly – right?? This is one of the really great features of the VHF marine radio – you can receive regular weather updates through NOAA and enjoy the comfort of 24/7 communication with the USCG if needed. It doesn’t figure to spend $10K – $30K on a boat and not include $200 for marine safety communication equipment. Shucks – it’s even comforting to have a little hand held VHF radio in your pocket when kayaking!! You never know when you’ll be glad you have that communication link available. That emergency doesn’t even have to be weather related – maybe you have a medical emergency. It could happen to any one of us. Enjoy your day at sea, but be safe! Happy Boater.
I’m sure it’s boating weather…somewhere….
Maybe a lot like a lot of you out there, I’m looking forward to launching my boat for the first time of the new boating season. Trouble is – even though the sun is shining today, the thermometer forgot to get on board and is still reporting below zero temps up here in the northland! UGH. Sure makes it tough to think spring when your spare time is taken up fixing the snow plow or maybe shoveling snow off the roof to avoid ice dams from forming. I guess we can’t get too much in a hurry - spring will be here when it’s ready to get here. In the mean time, lets make plans to pick up and install that VHF marine radio you’ve been saying every year that you should get, but don’t. Some things just have to be put to the top of the list and remain there until purchased. After all, there really is no price too great to put on your family’s safety when on the water. …and they aren’t even expensive for a basic unit which will provide the latest NOAA weather updates as well as providing 24/7 communication with the USCG if needed. Don’t let spring get here before you’ve done your “springtime homework”!! Happy Boater.
So you think you only need a VHF marine radio in the summer?
That ice on the lakes feels real hard and looks thick – …and it really could be thick! But, if the ice isn’t frozen from shore to shore, there’s always a chance of the wind shifting and blowing you out to sea on what will become your own personal ice flow. Just this year in our area several ice fisherman have had to be rescued from an ice flow that broke off and went on it’s merry way to who knows where! At these times, it would be a wonderful idea to have carried with you a hand held VHF marine radio. Maybe you rarely use it, but in this case it could literally save your life. These little wonders have the ability to communicate with the USCG on a 24/7 basis. Weather updates are issued regularly and if you were the one stuck on an ice flow and on your way to who-knows-where on it, this little radio would keep you in touch with the coast guard until a rescue was accomplished. Never underestimate the weather – or the elements caused by the weather like a frozen lake. Winter can be fun, but do it in a safe manner.
Happy Boater.
Hand held CB would be a great ice fishing buddy!
Imagine – the day is cold, the wind is howling, but you are heading across a frozen lake to drill a hole at your favorite fishing spot to hopefully bag a meal of fish! Now – as crazy as that sounds, there’s a lot of guys (and gals) that do just that at least once a week in the north land. I can remember having a can of pot burst and run down my leg that I had stored on the INSIDE of my snowmobile suit. Now – was it cold that day? You bet. Somehow it seemed like we were having fun , but the older I get, the more I have to wonder if we all had a few screws loose to even have attempted it on a day like that. The temp was -18 degrees F with a 20+ mph wind blowing across the open, baron spans of ice they call a lake in the summertime. Then – sometimes after all that, we possible came home empty handed. UGH. It’s really nice to have someone to talk to when out there. That’s why it’s nice to take a hand held CB radio with you. It’s small enough to fit right into your pocket and if nothing else, it will provide you with a peace of mind that you can reach those back at the base camp (or house) to let them know when you’re planning to get back home for supper! Who knows – they may be calling you wondering if they will have fish for supper! That communication link is very nice to have if you needed it. You could have medical issues, or mechanical issues with your snowmobile or just about anything! Keep yourself out of harm’s way and plan ahead with a CB radio. Happy Boater.
Communication had to have been difficult at Super Bowl…
I don’t know how many of you out there have been in an enclosed arena with something in excess of 60,000 people hollering and screaming all at the same time, but I can assure you that I have. The level of sound in there makes it sometimes actually impossible to carry on a conversation with the person sitting just a foot from you. Sometimes the loud sound actually hurts you ears. I can only imagine that there must have been some VERY difficult communication problems with the coaches sending radio messages to the quarterbacks and I can’t even imagine how those in a huddle could even come close to hearing what was said in the huddle when everyone was screaming. To me it seemed like no small miracle that they even could play together as a team in that noise. I think that those of us that stayed home and watched the game in the comfort of our own living room got the best view and the most comfortable seating!! (ha-ha). I think I’d much prefer to be out on the water in the summer listening to my MP3 tunes played through a marine radio receiver on board with my favorite friends. Now that’s something to shoot for!! The marine radios available today are conveniently equipped with a plug-in for your I-pod or your MP3 players so you can enjoy all your personal favorite tunes played right through the boat’s sound system in near perfect sound reproduction. The modern marine radio receivers also have the capability of receiving NOAA weather updates so you will always have an “edge” on the incoming weather patterns and storm systems. Enjoy the upcoming summer boating season and be safe! Happy Boater.
Below zero temps make for nasty boating conditions…
It isn’t really too hard to imagine that when you have below zero temps for days on end, the ice forms rather thick on the surrounding lakes and rivers. The title of this article is somewhat misleading in that the icy temps do more than make for nasty boating – it just plain eliminates any nice boating opportunities. Sometimes spring seems like an eternity away. Our boats sit in the storage shed and wait patiently for the promised warm winds and longer days associated with the spring and summer seasons. Now – what’s nice about that? Pretty much nothing – except for the fact that our winter is now well over half over!!! I just spent over 8 hours on my roof shoveling off the snow so as to eliminate ice dams around the perimeter of the roof – especially in the valleys. UGH – what a job. When you are faced with jobs like this – take a moment to ponder what you had wanted last summer for communication equipment, but just never got around to making it happen. Isn’t working on a boat nearly as fun as being on it? Well – o.k. – maybe not, but it’s certainly more fun working on a boat in the garage than shoveling snow off a roof!! Take advantage of the downtime to make your communication dreams come true with maybe the installation of a new set of marine speakers. Imagine actually having the right output size speakers for your sound system! The clarity of new speaker will be well worth the effort. These new speakers will prove to be very durable as they are waterproof and able to reproduce sound with digital clarity. Have fun with your project! Happy Boater.
Weather updates are critical…
Just because you woke up on a fine morning with fishing on the mind – or maybe just a day on the water, doesn’t mean that the weather will remain fine throughout the day. There’s the old phrase (that is found in the Bible, by the way) “red sky in the morning – sailors forewarning; red sky at night – sailor’s delight”. Although these are accurate and many sailors live by this, you can’t always be sure that the end of day will turn out like the beginning. For fast changing weather conditions, there is NOAA. This station provided much needed weather updates and advisories for small craft and others when on the water and they provide them 24/7. With these advisories, you have enough time to make a decision when to pull up anchor and head to shore or to a safe harbor to avoid possible precarious high seas or weather conditions. You can receive these weather update on a marine radio receiver besides being able to use the radio to keep track of those other vessels in your party – or may just friends. Music is yet another option as most of the marine radios available today have a plug-in for MP3 players as well as I-Pods you can enjoy your own music when out on the blue. Don’t be caught off guard. Happy Boater.
Those old speakers can spoil the sound of your favorite tune!
Do the adjectives “garbled”, “scratchy”, “crackly”, or maybe “distorted” sound anything like what you may hear from others when listening to your music played through a speaker system? If that is true, then it’s high time you think about adding a very important thing to your music system – new speakers. Today, marine speakers are generally high quality, waterproof, and trouble free. They will digitally reproduce sound pleasing to the ear and how about this – you may even be able to understand with someone is saying when talking to them over a radio!! Now, that may even be a new experience! There are many, many marine speakers out there and in order to be diligent in choosing which is right for you, be sure to check the specs on your marine radio receiver to see what the output rating is. That way you can match the ohms rating with your speakers – always making sure that your speakers will handle the maximum output of your radio. Do this and enjoy the summer to the utmost. Happy Boater.