Reaping the rewards of a RAM

One of the things we did on Rasmus that we LOVED was add a VHF repeater in the cockpit.  What that means, for those who don't know, is that instead of going down below to use our VHF radio to talk - we added a full remote control "RAM" (remote acces mic) in the cockpit that ran off the same antenna and system as our "master" VHF.  Many people get by with using a simple handheld VHF radio in the cockpit for this purpose, but the handheld has nowhere near the range of our ship's VHF and handhelds do things like run out of batteries and go swimming.  Nah.  We prefer the more permanent solution.

As such, we decided to do a "repeat", and install one on Asante.  So nice, so easy.  The hardest part about the relatively plug-n-play install was fishing the wires down our steering pedestal, into the engine room, and finally to the "master" VHF at our nav station.  This is why marine electricians get paid the big bucks: running wires is not only incredibly time consuming, but requires an ungodly amount of patience.  With the help of some brute force, an hour's time and a few drops of dish soap (for lube!), we finally muscled that wire where we wanted it. This little mic will make life just a little bit easier, and when you live on a boat - all those "little" conveniences add up!

Over and out!