New boat tunning chapter 1: Google Home, Nespresso and Tender Davits

[wawando]

Hi,
Just bought a 35 foot hardtop boat and now it is time for the "finishing touches":

- Google home: The first ones are "hey google open the hardtop", "hey google play the news" to listen to the latest financial and tech news and the basic "hey google play soft music". I already installed everything in my house from the door bell to open curtains, air condition, vacuum, light inside and garden... so i am really addicted to the thing as it is useful so this will be a nice compliment on the boat! (and to have at least one thing to make my friends with 50 foot and big cats jealous of the little boat ).

- Nespresso (or equivalent): how can we live without it? 1300w is a lot of power off the marina.. doing homework on this one...

- Tender and davits: first important area. I have 6 months to get this done. Have found very interesting solutions, clean and relatively cheap (3k eur) from
Hurley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdyiFQAigTc
Weaver: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7Dn1Q1e7Lo

Has anyone got them, has feedback or know similar solutions here in Europe?

Thank you!

 

[mlines]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wacaco-Min...ocphy=9046105&hvtargid=pla-377636377436&psc=1

 

[wawando]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wacaco-Min...ocphy=9046105&hvtargid=pla-377636377436&psc=1

Thx! I had a look on your site. Super, congrats! One of my great friends has a 2250 just like yours, he will love your site! About the Minipresso, it is one of the options but only if i can't find a "insert the capsule and go" solution.

 

[jrudge]

I have extensive home automation.

This all requires one thing. The internet.

I would never put it on a boat. The thing is unreliable enough as it is and having constant internet whilst possible close to shore is just going to cost and be a source of hassle.

Automation is bad enough at home.

 

[wawando]

I have extensive home automation.

This all requires one thing. The internet.

I would never put it on a boat. The thing is unreliable enough as it is and having constant internet whilst possible close to shore is just going to cost and be a source of hassle.

Automation is bad enough at home.

Lets see how it goes... i like to experiment. All on non-essential stuff, of course!
I only navigate close to shore, where we always have 4g.

About the Davits, found it in Europe, in UK in fact. Any feedback on this?
https://www.bhg-marine.co.uk/hurley-h3o-davit-system-including-electric-winch-5832-p.asp

 

[jrudge]

The best value controllers are Sonoff.

I have 50 of them ... but on a boat ... no! At home they seamlessly control pretty much everything. They ( mostly) run on 240v. There do have some ( 4 way controllers) that run on 24volt.

See how you get on. but do bear in mind no manufacturer does it ( that I know of) and as someone who uses a lot of them I would not put it on a boat. Power, water, wifi, Internet, voyage fluctuations. I am sure you can get it to work - the issue will be hassle and reliability.

 

[wawando]

The best value controllers are Sonoff.

I have 50 of them ... but on a boat ... no! At home they seamlessly control pretty much everything. They ( mostly) run on 240v. There do have some ( 4 way controllers) that run on 24volt.

See how you get on. but do bear in mind no manufacturer does it ( that I know of) and as someone who uses a lot of them I would not put it on a boat. Power, water, wifi, Internet, voyage fluctuations. I am sure you can get it to work - the issue will be hassle and reliability.

I agree, sonoff rules!
Have you tried this one? https://www.amazon.com/Sonoff-Wireless-Automation-Modules-Compatible/dp/B07F6YZXST

 

[maby]

We have Alexas everywhere - dotted round the house, in the car and on the boat. We did test Google Home, but I could never get on with her - Alexa is just so cheeky and seductive! My wife refers to her as "your girlfriend"...

Alex works OK through a 4g MiFi hotspot provided the signal is good. The trouble is that the mobile phone companies tend to put the cell masts a few miles inland - they don't want to waste money providing high speed coverage ten or fifteen miles off-shore. Just moving along the south coast, it is rare to find a marina or anchorage with good 4g signals - you are often doing well to get a 2g connection! Personal Assistants like Alex and Google Home do like their bandwidth - the poor dear often takes several seconds to analyse my request and produce a response... I'm guessing that decent bandwidth is even more rare as you get further north in the country with far lower levels of population along the coast.

As far as the other items on your list are concerned - we've never had any of these new-fangled coffee machines - not in the house and certainly not in the boat! I'm perfectly happy with a spoonful of one of the better instants in a cup of water boiled in the kettle! I would love davits, but ours is a sailing boat with nowhere to attach them, so we have to tow the dinghy when we have it inflated.

 

[wawando]

We have Alexas everywhere - dotted round the house, in the car and on the boat. We did test Google Home, but I could never get on with her - Alexa is just so cheeky and seductive! My wife refers to her as "your girlfriend"...

Alex works OK through a 4g MiFi hotspot provided the signal is good. The trouble is that the mobile phone companies tend to put the cell masts a few miles inland - they don't want to waste money providing high speed coverage ten or fifteen miles off-shore. Just moving along the south coast, it is rare to find a marina or anchorage with good 4g signals - you are often doing well to get a 2g connection! Personal Assistants like Alex and Google Home do like their bandwidth - the poor dear often takes several seconds to analyse my request and produce a response... I'm guessing that decent bandwidth is even more rare as you get further north in the country with far lower levels of population along the coast.

As far as the other items on your list are concerned - we've never had any of these new-fangled coffee machines - not in the house and certainly not in the boat! I'm perfectly happy with a spoonful of one of the better instants in a cup of water boiled in the kettle! I would love davits, but ours is a sailing boat with nowhere to attach them, so we have to tow the dinghy when we have it inflated.

Thank you for the feedback!
I also have Alexa but she feels dumb when compared to Google...
By the way i switched from all-time-iphone-user to Android just because of the google voice assistant...
About the H3O Davits i posted, i am wondering if it fits the Leader 10 platform, but it seems to be very small and tidy...

 

[BruceK]

We struggle with the basics of Google Home and chromecast. On the other hand our 4g signal in N Wales gives us better performance than home broadband several miles out and is in constant use streaming video and music content to several devices at once.

 

[wawando]

We struggle with the basics of Google Home and chromecast. On the other hand our 4g signal in N Wales gives us better performance than home broadband several miles out and is in constant use streaming video and music content to several devices at once.

I will do some tests when i actually get the boat (it is being cleaned up).

I found the Davits here https://www.bhg-marine.co.uk/hurley-h3o-davit-system-including-manual-winch-4271-p.asp

I am thinking that mechanical might be the best option as it does not need more of the precious battery energy (that i already am going to burn on other stuff like google and those useless things... )... Any suggestions?

 

[sharpness]

I fitted the hurley H30 davit to mine last year (pics below). Although not cheap to buy, it's well made, easy to install, and makes launching and retrieval of our tender (Ribeye 2.8m and 10hp outboard) a simple enough process. The most time consuming part is strapping the tender in position on the bathing platform.
One point to note, although there are demonstration videos showing the davit being used to retrieve heavy jet ski's and tenders, in practice i wouldnt have thought it is as easy as they show it, if the tender and outboard are extremely heavy.



Edit: No idea why the pictures are attaching sideways

 

[wawando]

I fitted the hurley H30 davit to mine last year (pics below). Although not cheap to buy, it's well made, easy to install, and makes launching and retrieval of our tender (Ribeye 2.8m and 10hp outboard) a simple enough process. The most time consuming part is strapping the tender in position on the bathing platform.
One point to note, although there are demonstration videos showing the davit being used to retrieve heavy jet ski's and tenders, in practice i wouldnt have thought it is as easy as they show it, if the tender and outboard are extremely heavy.

View attachment 82003View attachment 82002

Edit: No idea why the pictures are attaching sideways

Thank you for the feedback!
Can you help me with two important questions: what is the width of your platform?
Do you recommend electric or mechanic winch?
Thank you!

 

[BruceK]

I will do some tests when i actually get the boat (it is being cleaned up).

I found the Davits here https://www.bhg-marine.co.uk/hurley-h3o-davit-system-including-manual-winch-4271-p.asp

I am thinking that mechanical might be the best option as it does not need more of the precious battery energy (that i already am going to burn on other stuff like google and those useless things... )... Any suggestions?

I'm not familiar with that particular Hurley davit but am with it's predecessor which cradles a dinghy well but if the dinghy is heavy and the swim platform a little high can be a very heavy pull indeed and if the pulling straps arent just right can pull the tender up skew and be a faff to get right especially in any swell.
However the biggest issue may be swim ladder placement and configuration. My concern would be falling / diving in and not being able to easily board again if the tender is up. So I went from weaver style davits to traditional instead.

 

[wawando]

I am studying the "what dinghy" subject.
From what i have read so far it is trickier to choose than the main boat
A 2.50m to 2.40m soft bottom with as much power as possible 8hp 2T engine is the target, at least for now... The thing is that my boat is only 3m73 wide, so can't have a huge tender, max 2.40 to 2.50...

 

[BruceK]

I am studying the "what dinghy" subject.
From what i have read so far it is trickier to choose than the main boat
A 2.50m to 2.40m soft bottom with as much power as possible 8hp 2T engine is the target, at least for now... The thing is that my boat is only 3m73 wide, so can't have a huge tender, max 2.40 to 2.50...

I have a 280 large diameter tube on that width. Air deck or inflatable keel. It leaves enough room to board with the dinghy offset. Soft bottom for weight. Not a problem with a hard bottom in the Med but with large tides, having a heavy dinghy stranded up top the beach is a real pain. A 280 given your family size is really minimum. I carry 2 adults, 2 kids and a dog with all the beach accoutrements in a single trip. If you are a beach goer then your tender is probably your most important choice when it comes to leveraging enjoyment from your boat.

Edit
Not the best of pictures but it shows my setup. Separate outboard bracket. Dinghy offset. Davit arms can be removed or swung inwards very easily for bathing platform access.

 

[simonfraser]

any one got a nespresso working off an inverter ?
1300W but not for long ?

 

[ryanroberts]

The main problem I can see with google home for boat automation is that it doesn't work without an internet connection. That said are there any voice based control / watch helping products out there? It is possible to build decent voice control systems that don't need an internet connection.

 

[BruceK]

any one got a nespresso working off an inverter ?
1300W but not for long ?

That'd be 100 plus amp pull on a 12V system. So doable unless you have true dedicated leisure D/C house batteries (or a lot of them) but not really advisable on a house battery setup. We have to suffer cafetiere our cruising companions, well we always know when they wake up when on an anchorage, they run a genny, we hunt for water bombs

 

[maby]

The main problem I can see with google home for boat automation is that it doesn't work without an internet connection. That said are there any voice based control / watch helping products out there? It is possible to build decent voice control systems that don't need an internet connection.

It takes quite a lot of processing power to do general purpose, speaker independent voice recognition. I fired up something on a Raspberry Pi a couple of years ago and the results were distinctly unimpressive.