Captain’s log
Dateline: 02.05.2022
Searchlight
Traced two wires from the middle of the bow to my electrical panel. I’m putting marked zip ties on wires to make better sense of what goes where, and eventually make everything nice and tidy.
The object of my interest today is Golight Radioray searchlight.
Used multimeter to find out if the voltage is there. It is.
At first it seemed like the problem was in the lamp, but then I realized that the thing only has two wires, ergo needs to be controlled from somewhere else, remotely. Found the remote inside the charting table. Had to buy two A23 batteries to make it work. Haven’t seen those in forever, forgot they’re 12V. So small yet so powerful. Reminded me of those tiny female anime characters that kick ass non-stop yet refuse to die.
I was able to turn the searchlight on, but the light from the halogen lamp was extremely dim, the thing was emitting constant clicking noise, and there was no way to turn it off or change its angle via the remote once it was on. I believe it’s been there since day one — means over 20 years. Maybe over 10 years, but still, it’s a long time for something that’s claiming to be "weatherproof"... it’s not even IP65.
Dismounted, disassembled. Inside it had one and a half PCBs, two DC motors, lots of dead spiders, and some dirt. I don’t expect those motors to work, most likely they’re dead, and I want them to be.
If I decide that I do need to have a searchlight for some reason, I’m probably going to buy a cheap waterproof LED spotlight that can recharge from the sun, and then add a couple of servos and a remote to it, potentially slap a camera on top. This way it won’t require any wires and be as waterproof as I’ll be able to make it with my 3D printer. New LED Golight products cost close to $700, and I don’t expect them to last — having seen what’s on the inside and how many gaps it has for dirt and salt water to enter. Their products likely work better for cabins and offroad vehicles.
Round hatches
Those ten round hatches that were installed instead of leaky cabin windows about a decade ago, they turned out to be Jim Black.
More specifically, they are 592-20RND-05-02-05.
20", but almost all stuck and leaking at this point. The only good thing about them is that they’re tempered glass and not acrylic.
That can become a bad thing if I cut myself while removing them.
Trying to figure out what to replace them with. Lewmar only makes acrylic round hatches, but if I put four square 70cm hatches
in the front to have a better view, then those will be definitely acrylic, and hence I could keep them all Lewmar without resorting to sketchy brands. And I absolutely love how the boat looks from a side with those three round circles, I think there’s only one cat in the world that has that. The front appearance I really hate, it looks like a retarded spider with those four round "eyes", not to mention you can barely see anything through them due to the angle.
Considering installing different sizes for the round ones. It’s three on each side, that means I could make two of them 18", two 20", and two 22". Need to do some drawing in GIMP to know if it’s a bad idea or not. Whatever I get, I hope to be able to open them up more than 90 degrees — the current hatches say on them they can’t be opened more than 90 degrees, and that stinks. Not that it matters, since they’re all stuck for good.
My other ideas include:
- self-tinting layer or electric window tint
- remote opening mechanism
- mechanical shutter for round hatches (something like what analog cameras used to have)
- OLED stickers that are see-through but emit light and hence light up the cabin when needed
- organic solar cells to make everything above require no wires
It’ll be nice to open all of them when I’m finally anchored in Hawaii, the airflow in the cabin is going to be absolutely sick!
