Wired On The Water

Boat/US Magazine, Sept, 2000 by Elaine Dickinson

Another writer who recently moved his office on board his 33-foot trawler in the marina at Santa Barbara, CA, is Tony Gibbs, author of 15 books and the "West Winds" column in BOAT/US. Magazine. Gibbs had an office built in the V-berth that can be packed up for cruising. He uses a PowerBook laptop, ink jet printer, installed bulkhead mounted telephone and exterior modem. The fax was "just one machine too many" and it remains at home, he said.

"The laptop has proven to be amazingly sturdy," Gibbs said of the computer that he figures has circled the globe at least twice with him while he was a roving editor at Islands magazine and it performed well in the hottest, dampest climates. Last winter a heavy rainstorm found its way through a leak in his overhead skylight and flooded the computer's keyboard. "I thought it was all over but I poured out the water, set it upside-down over the forced-air cabin heater for an hour and it worked fine."

A check with a major manufacturer and direct seller of PCs revealed that its laptops can operate at temperatures between 41 and 95 degrees F and be safely stored between -13 and 140 degrees F Relative humidity tolerances are 20-80% for operating the computer and 15-98% while stored. They don't recommend that it get wet.

There are also "marinized" computers available on the Internet, some which claim to meet U.S military specifications, but they're expensive.

Power Play

What power supply a computer on board will use is also a major consideration and Gibbs said one of the biggest problems he had was either sags or surges in the electrical current while connected to shore power at his marina. The facility has since rewired the docks and the service is much better, he said.

Computers can also be run without shore power off the boat's batteries using a 12-volt adapter, or on 110-volt current through an inverter. Gibbs and Neale strongly recommend the heaviest-duty surge protector you can get. Many laptops will run for an hour or more on its internal batteries, but navigators would be advised not to rely on batteries alone.

So what else does your computer do on board? Programs are available for keeping logs and maintenance records, even parts inventories. And, when the anchor is set and the kids are restless, the evening can be spent playing games or, with the advent of DVD, watching movies. You could rent, for example, 'Mutiny on the Bounty" and wonder how Capt. Bligh survived 41 days at sea with no electronics.