JeffK

Thanks guys for the good news. Jeff

I'm buying a new boat, an Imemsa W-26 D panga and want to know if my Garmin GDS 20 will work with the Garmin 740 chart plotter I'm thinking of buying? The GSD 20 is NMEA 0183 but the Gar 740 says its 0183 and 2000 comparable. Sounds like it should work, right? Anybody know for sure?

I've captained two boats with Detroits. One had twin 871s. The one I'm on now has a 1271. They leak a lot. Not real fast. They run forever. Better suited for a work boat.

I got an email from Garmin and the 478 is campatable with my GSD 20. So I'm all set and will order the 478. Thanks guys for your good advice. This is a great source of knowledge. I really appreciate it. Jeff

Thanks. Man, I'm so far behind the times. Do you know if the 478 is backwardly compatable with the GSD 20? That's what I have on my personal boat. It would be nice if it hooked up.

I work on a lot of different boats. Some have great electronics, some have nothing but a compass and radio. My Garmin 76c isn't cutting it anymore in those situations. My old eyes are needing something bigger. I want something I can carry with me, set up quickly without a permanent mount and run off an internal battery. I saw a Garmin 276c that looks good. I'm sure there are other choices. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance. Jeff Just read up on the 376c with XM wx radio. Wow, that thing is the bomb. I want one; I need one. I can hear my daughter say, "welcome to the 21 century, Dad."

Working overseas in Africa and Afghanistan (not military) everyone used cell phones. And when the bullets started flying everyone had a cell phone to their ear which overloaded the system and there was no communication. The good old VHF worked like a charm. Cell phones are great but don't count on them in an emergency.

Roger that. I've seen Bisbing get decisions that looked downright fixed. And GSP is a hell of an athlete. I enjoy watching him perform. I taught martial arts for years, many years ago, but this UFC WEC stuff is awesome. It's brutally real.

You're going to need a respirator, goggles and moon suit to protect yourself from the toxins in that old paint. It will be worth it; you'll probably pick up a knot or two in speed. JeffK

Thanks for the kind words, guys. And yes, we realize we cheated death. I hugged the wife a little tighter than normal and allowed the dog up on the couch to sit by me.

I suffered an explosion and fire onboard a 28' Mako on 02 July. We discovered the cause of the gas in the bilge once back at the dock. A thief stole gas from the boat by removing the sending unit in the aft tank. The SOB didn't have the common courtesy to put the screws back in the unit. He just put it back in place without the screws. Once we got offshore and hit some chop I smelled gas. I throttled back and boom. It blew off the front door of the console and a round deck hatch by my feet. Fire shot up and gave me mostly 1st degree burns on my leg with a small spot of 2nd degree by my ankle. The hatch cover cut my leg and it blew off. The fire was impressive. Thanks to a great crew we put the fire out in under thirty seconds. They attacked it from both sides of the center console. Then it reignited. I had to reach into the flames to kill the engines while my crew knocked the fire back again. This was a professional boat with a trained crew. The USCG and FWC found no safety violations. I had 1 B2 and 3 B1 extinguishers in various locations on the boat. This allowed my crew to quickly grab one and attack the fire before it spread. I believe that prevented a catastrophic explosion and saved all or our lives. It's hard to believe that hitting a couple of waves hard could put that much gas in the bilge, but it did. Once we clean off the dry chem from the console wiring maybe we can find the source of the spark. My purpose for writing this is: 1. Watch out for this gas thief. His MO could kill. 2. Regs only call for 1 B2 or 2 B1s. If we only had one B2 we could not have put out this fire. And make sure the extinguishers are handy, real handy. 3. Give a good safety brief to your crew before leaving. I could not have handled this emergency alone.