Evolving

 One discovery from the recent Gippsland lakes trip was how useful Navionics on a tablet can be, especially navigating waters you are not super familiar with. I have an old tablet with a cracked screen so I thought I'd give it a try, and it worked well.  Except in the energetic tacking up Bunga Arm, the tablet, along with everything else not secured firmly, tended to slide from side to side with a hearty crunch each tack. 

I am sure there are sophisticated off the shelf holders but thanks to a few bits of scrap ply - of which I have no shortage - and a few screws and I have a holder that  can be held securely on the hook on the Port side bulkhead #4.  I hope this will work OK for fine weather, and it should be sheltered there from spray and even light drizzle.  If it really starts raining I cut the backing piece to size so it fits between the hatches on Bulkhead #3. 

At the top, the holder hooks onto the bungey that runs across the cuddy, (which is also useful for hanging other things you don’t want wandering around). At the bottom there is a  toggle piece that rotates in the mast box cutout and locks the bottom so it won't want to swing round. 

Note also the net shelf within the hatch itself, which makes much better use of the available storage space towards the top of the enclosed cuddy space.

These additions are yet to be given any sea trials, but I am hopeful they will work. One of the nice things about small boats, the little evolutions and enhancements make the boat more adapted to how you actually use it.

Meanwhile, looks like Snapper season is upon us. The Altona ramp was chockers today, a nice day on a weekend. I will have to track how it goes midweek.