Projects

I love working on projects – I usually have 10 or so in process at any given time both on the boat, and at home. Many of these projects turn into reviews of various products or technology, which I also enjoy. Almost all of the projects are driven to make our lives on the boat and elsewhere more comfortable or safe, and are cataloged here.

83 posts

Projects

Seaview - more than just mounts

As part of the project to update Rendezvous electronics, I planned on replacing the older Furuno open-array radar, which required looking for a new mounting solution on my arch. I started searching for mounts, and came across a lot of solutions.

Steve Mitchell Mar 12, 2019 11 min read

Projects

New LED lighting everywhere

Updating your boat to LED lighting is an easy way to make it feel more updated, livable and safe. MarineBeam, SuperBrightLEDs and Dr. LED converted me fully to LED.

Steve Mitchell Jan 31, 2019 18 min read

Projects

Installing and using a Victron LiFePO4 energy system

With my LiFePO4 power design complete, I was excited to install and use the new system for most of this sailing season. The installation took longer than a traditional battery installation, and had more complexity, but turned out to be a fantastic setup for the longer trips I went on this summer.

Steve Mitchell Oct 31, 2018 20 min read

Projects

Correcting the list - LiFePO4 power system design

Due to weight and features, I decided to convert my sailboat power system to LiFePO4. This article covers the design which settled on Victron components.

Steve Mitchell Aug 15, 2018 19 min read

Projects

Improvements with a new propeller

Grace came with a factory prop when I purchased her - it was OK, but after 3 years of using that prop, I felt that I could get better speed and potentially other benefits.

Steve Mitchell Jun 8, 2018 8 min read

Projects

Major mast work

In the last year I have had a number of issues with items in or on Grace's mast. During a recent trip to Blake Island, the anchor light stopped working, and that was the last straw. It was time to dig deeper into fixing all of the issues.

Steve Mitchell Jun 4, 2018 18 min read

Internet

Modular, cheaper boat internet solution via Netgear and MikroTik

I've written a lot about my boat network, and in particular, Peplink products that offer a ton of functionality and features. For the last 6 months, I have been playing with configurations and hardware that cost less, but still provide flexibility and features that more expensive solutions offer.

Steve Mitchell May 28, 2018 29 min read

Internet

Using an Intel NUC as a powerful boat server

I use an Intel NUC as a boat linux computer to run Grafana, SignalK, Zabbix and many more tools.

Steve Mitchell Apr 28, 2018 21 min read

Internet

Best LTE antenna and booster for the boat

For almost two years I have been testing, re-testing, and re-wiring my setup on Grace in an effort to find the best LTE antenna configuration.

Steve Mitchell Apr 10, 2018 17 min read

Projects

Completed navigation panel

I redesigned my nav and electrical panel, and finally got the parts to put it all together. A fun and beautiful project!

Steve Mitchell Feb 17, 2018 11 min read

Projects

Redesigning the nav and electrical panel

My navigation and electrical panel has been in need of an update for a while. In addition, I have never liked the electrical circuit layout, and am out of DC circuits. I have a general design of what I would like, but still have not settled on a final solution for the electrical panel.

Steve Mitchell Jan 21, 2018 13 min read

Projects

Raymarine ITC-5 simplifies older ST instruments

I am always on the look out for ways to make my instruments more reliable. I came across the Raymarine ITC-5. It seemed perfect to help increase the quality of my network while replacing some old pieces.

Steve Mitchell Jan 16, 2018 4 min read

Projects

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