June 17th, 2022
Throughout the cold winter months at Berthon Spain, in Palma de Mallorca, our marine electricians have been keeping busy!
Most recently on an Apreamare 54 that is currently undergoing a complex yacht refit. Yacht storage has been dealt with by us, safely inside our ‘Big Blue Shed’ – since October last year. This has allowed our electrical engineers to access all areas and give her navigation equipment and on-board internet access/Wi-Fi a complete upgrade.
The owners of Apreamare 54, CERISE BLEUE had requested an upgrade of all the electronic boat navigation equipment installed. They had been using an older Raymarine system, therefore for them the obvious choice was to upgrade to the latest Raymarine model available. The dual chart plotters at the helm required replacing along with auxiliary equipment behind the scenes. This task required some serious thinking by our electrical engineers to make the new shape fit in the old hole! This involved removing all the control instruments and adapting the panel to build a new custom screen mount.
Also newly fitted at the helm station was an instrument display for all the upgraded sensors. The depth sensor, speed log and wind instruments were replaced with the latest Raymarine models, allowing the yacht captain to have a much clearer understanding of their surroundings from safely inside the wheelhouse.
The autopilot was in desperate need of a complete overhaul. Our marine electronics team needed to route a new network backbone cable from the autopilot computer all the way to the helm station in order to fit a new autopilot control unit. The instruments were then linked to the hydraulic components of the autopilot system. A Raymarine rudder reference sensor was also installed. All of these upgrades not only improve on-board safety but also keep the yacht up to date and potentially more future proof.
Aside from the navigation equipment, the owners of Apreamare 54, CERISE BLEUE also requested Berthon Spain upgrade the media equipment and sound system on-board. Two new televisions were installed as well as a new amplifier for the speakers throughout the saloon and cabins.
To allow these amenities to function correctly, an upgrade to the on-board internet access/Wi-Fi was required. A new Pepwave antenna has been installed in conjunction with a Pepwave 5G router. This new design of wide band antenna is designed for much longer-range connectivity from its increased capacity to receive signals. It is basically 4 antennas in one! Thus resulting in a stronger connection, which can be received much further off shore. It is easy to see why more and more owners and captains are requesting this improved access to Wi-Fi on-board their sailing/motor yachts. This is the second installation this year, and I am certain there will be more to come.
Get in touch to see how we can help…
Contact andrew.fairbrass@berthonspain.com.
