Boat Apps: Miss Geico app Keeps Fans up to Date on AMF Offshore

There's probably no team more visible or more respected than the crew from AMF Offshore Racing and the Miss Geico team. In addition to being a major sponsor for series like OPA, Miss Geico is probably the most recognized boat in offshore--and they are known for bringing that extra level of excitement to every racing event in which they they attend.

That's probably why one of the first apps I added to my iPhone was the Miss Geico app, from appmii. Like the iTunes store description says, it allows team fans to interact in a whole new way, making friends, checking out exclusive content and staying on top of everything the team is involved in, as well as offshore racing in general.

In addition to lots of photos, audio and video clips - located in a Media section, there's some integration with Twitter and Facebook as well. It's a pretty neat app, and a nice complement to AMF's current website, which is also very cool. I would be remiss, however, if I didn't point out that the app links to Events and News currently include no content; hopefully that will be remedied as the 2011 racing season continues. To get the app, go HERE, or upload directly from your phone.

Blogger Offers Awesome New Ways to View and Enjoy BigBadBoat

We're always trying to discover new ways to make our content more interesting and accessible, from providing an improved mobile site that's easier to read on the iPhone to audio posts from Odiogo and more. Thanks to Google and Blogger we can offer another site enhancement that will make it easier and more enjoyable to read BigBadBoat on the iPad or other tablet viewers.

Blogger's Dynamic Views allows you to access the website in several different ways, including Flipcard View, Mosaic View, Sidebar View, Snapshot View and Timeslide View. These views require modern browsers such as Internet Explorer 8+, Firefox 3.5+, Chrome or Safari. Many elements of these views will not work should you have an older browser. Here are what a few of them look like:

ABOVE: Flipcard view.

ABOVE: Sidebar view.

ABOVE: Mosaic view.

In all views, search is available in the upper right hand corner. Clicking on the ">" arrow in the very top left of the header bar will slide the header bar across and allow you to choose different views for the current blog as well as type in a new blog URL.

As you can see, these views lend themselves really well to reading on tablet devices like the iPad or any tablet PC. To read more about these views and how they work, check out this article: All about Dynamic Views for Readers.

Offshore Only: Exactly That - 24/7

Whether you're new to performance boating and want some information, or are an experienced boater trying to make some new contacts, it's hard to top Offshore Only, better known to its members as simply OSO. The site is one of the oldest and also the largest High Performance boating site on the Internet, and it's highly popular forum is probably the best place around to find out what's happening in the world of Offshore Powerboating.

The site is truly broad and comprehensive - featuring photo albums for members, a classified ad section, videos, live chat, hot spots an event calendar and much more. If you're looking for poker runs and events to attend, there are special forums arranged by geographic location, and insightful discussions about the various racing organizations, various boat brands and even the historical development of the sport can be found. Basic memberships that allow you to read content and post are free when you register; additional options like extended PMs, etc. are also available for an affordable annual or semi-annual membership fee.

PHOTO CREDITS: OffshoreOnly.com.

As I mentioned before, Offshore Only is big...and the people there are ready to provide you with helpful advice and opportunities to network with lots of like-minded performance boaters. If you're a frequent visitor, you'll eventually find yourself at home - and you'll be sure to enjoy some entertaining photos, funny stories and the inevitable banter that you'll find at any dockside tavern. Boating season has already started for some people - for those of us in Northern climes, it won't be too much longer. Tune into OSO now and get yourself on track for the season!

Boat Apps: Knots Free Keeps You Sharp on Useful Skills

We've checked out a few iPhone apps that are useful for boating before, but it's been a while...so we thought we'd start taking a look as some useful examples we've come across lately. Let me preface this post by saying that if you are a veteran boater, you're probably tied enough knots you could probably tie them in your sleep. If that's the case, then Knots Free may not be something you need.

But if you are still refining your boating skills, training a young boater on the basics of docking, line handling and seamanship--or just plain forgetful, Knots Free may be pretty handy. Don't expect too much here; the program costs nothing and the selection of knots you can learn is not huge, but it covers the basics and is very simple to use.

To use the program, you simply open it up, click the name of the knot you want to learn, read the description and use the step-by-step pictures to learn how to tie the knot. Designed for iPhone and iTouch OS 3.0 or greater, some of the angles on the photos for a couple of the knots may seem hard to follow, but overall it's pretty handy, either at the dock or at home, brushing up on your skills. Check it out at the iTunes store HERE.

Boat Air Conditioning...Revisited

With snow blowing in the air, summer cooling may be the last thing on your mind. But that doesn't stop us from searching for useful items that will make next year's boating more enjoyable.

A while back, we took a brief look at some DIY ideas for turning regular beer coolers into reasonably functional air conditioners that would help make those summer overnights on the boat a little more bearable. Turns out the folks at KoolerAire have developed the idea a little more fully, providing a ready-to-go unit that provides reliable 12-Volt cooling for almost any boat.

The KoolerAire fits securely within the top portion of your cooler trapping the cold air inside. Once the unit is turned on the powerful, 100 cfm, brush-less fan draws hot air in through the large opening directly into and through the ice. The air is instantly cooled to about 50 degrees before being released through the smaller vent. The air conditioning unit is designed for their exclusive foam ice chest or fits the Igloo Marine & Family 25 quart brands.

To find out more - check out the KoolerAire website.

Got to be the Slickest Ear Buds Ever...

Normally, I hate using ear buds - maybe it's just my ears - but they always seem to fall out into my lap. To me, nothing beats the sound of old-school, over-the-ear headphones, and that's what I normally wear - even if I'm out walking or jogging. In addition, if you're on your boat, you're probably more likely to have your music blasting out of the custom stereo you installed.

PHOTO CREDIT: teknines.com.

Be that as it may, I might make an exception for these Teknine Nine Millimeter earphonesmade by a company called MUNITIO. At $250 a pop, I doubt that I will be owning any soon - but these 18k gold, 9mm casing ear buds are very cool indeed. All the components are top end ; to find out more about the features, go here.

The first run is limited to 500 units, so you might want to get one fast. Just the thing if you own a Cigarette Top Gun!

The Simple Joys of a Well-Thought Out Swim Platform

Of course, most of today's new boats already have an integrated swim platform, and there are some great manufacturers out there making sharp, powder-coated custom platforms for older models. Once in a while, we come across a savvy owner who decides to make his own, and that's just what we're featuring here.

PHOTO CREDIT: SeriousOffshore user / Sicksation.

Serious Offshore member Sicksation recently shared some photos of this platform he made for his Sunsation Aggressor. As you can see, Not only is is nicely coordinated to the color of his boat, it also features some integrated drink holders...for your cold cans of, er...soda pop.

The unit was CNC-machined out of 6061 T6 aluminum, and he reports that he has made several more units that are designed to fit almost any single-engine boat, with a similar design soon to be available for twin-engine boats. Also, the cup-holder has been moved to the back of the platform. Nice job!

Useful Tips for Getting Oil Off Your Boat

Matt Trulio, former writer for Powerboat magazine, has posted some very helpful (and timely) guidelines for getting oil off your boat. Given the recent environmental disaster we are seeing in the Gulf of Mexico, it's some good advice, originally provided by the folks at Meguiars.

PHOTO CREDIT: www.examiner.com.

There are many performance boaters on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Mississippi -- not to mention Florida, which probably is considered the home of offshore powerboating. Considering the current conditions in the Gulf, it's almost inevitable that boaters will find oil residue on their hulls. Matt has sorted out the basics on how to handle the problem here.

VIDEO: Why Every Fast Boat Boat Needs a Kill Switch...

Unless you're just putzing around the lake at no-wake speeds, it's always a good idea to have an ignition kill-switch and a lanyard installed on your boat. This is one of the first things any high-performance boat owner should look into, because if you are hitting the waves at any kind of speed, bad things can sometimes happen. This is especially the case if you are a new and relatively inexperienced boater.

This video picks up at Stuart Inlet, FL, after the driver and his two passengers have already been thrown off their center console boat. This is not necessarily a high-performance boat - but it's obviously fast enough to cause trouble for an inexperienced driver. Another boat is running alongside, and the YouTube poster (jeremyglass86) is taking the video:

"...another boat picked up the boat owners and we rode along side, radioed the coast guard, and made sure no one was hurt. "

Thankfully, the folks on the "chase boat" did the right thing - while it might be tempting, it would be very foolish and dangerous to try and get on board a boat moving across the waves at speed. The lesson here is simple: Use a kill-switch and lanyard, which will shut the boat down immediately if you fall or get ejected from the boat for some reason. Without one, your boat just becomes a guided missile that's been let loose to destroy or damage property, or even worse--hurt someone. Not to mention the damage to the boat itself, which could be avoided.

VIDEO: Apaches Go Head-to-Head at LOTO

Apaches are great boats - but you don't see one every day - much less two of them speeding side-by-side across the water. That's why we just wanted you to see this great-looking video posted on YouTube by user 41Apache, whose 41-foot No Reservations is shown flying down Lake of The Ozarks with a 31' Apache named Indian Giver. As he explains on an accompanying thread on OSO:

"I was running 65-70 in that video at about 3700-4000 rpms. Wave heights were 4-5's with a few 6's thrown in between. The swells were from hurricane Bill."

The footage is better than most casually-shot onboard videos - that's probably due to the excellent GoPro video camera, which is specially made for high-shock environments such as this. Also - a little scotch tape over the mic helps cut down on the wind noise!

There's a nice thread on OSO about this video HERE - and some accompanying videos that aren't too bad either - but for very different reasons!

Cool Your Boat Cabin With a Portable DIY Air Conditioner (Hey...it holds beer, too!)

Some of us out there actually USE our boat's cuddy cabin, either to get out of inclement weather, for a quick "pit stop" or imagine this: for sleeping! My wife usually insists on an air-conditioned hotel room, but I find the gentle rocking of the waves actually helps put me to sleep.

Of course, there's a problem with boat cabins -- most get really hot after your boat's been out in the hot sun all day, raging across the water on a Poker Run. Sure, if you've got a big-dollar boat with built-in air conditioning, this is no problem, but for many people with more modest rides, the answer to cooling is either an expensive custom built-in unit, something really bulky and ugly-looking, or--the hotel room.

PHOTO CREDITS: Instructables.com (user CameronSS).

For those of us who are handy, however, I came across this neat project on Instructables (via Lifehacker) where user CameronSS has a guide to building a portable air conditioner out of a small cooler, a cheap bilge pump ($11 unit from Wal-mart) and other materials that you might already have in your garage or basement. Even if you need to buy a few parts, you're in for about $30 or so at most for the base model. The whole unit runs on ice-power and 12v fans, which can plug into the DC outlet in your dash. Here's what happened when the builder used it to cool off a hot vehicle:

"...the air in the cab was 95 degrees, parked in the shade after a morning of sun, and the outside heat index was 108 degrees. Within five minutes the cab had cooled to 75 degrees, and the air output was 65 degrees. With two quarts of water that had been refrigerated and 8 pounds of ice cubes, the ice had melted after 40 minutes, leaving 50 degree water, with an output of 65 degree air..."

While it's not perfect, this project should work decently for many boats under 30' -- depending on the size of the cooler. Don't forget, you could also put beer in the cooler too, which is a side benefit for many of us.

PHOTO CREDITS: Instructables.com (user taz300nice).

The Instructables website also has some alternative versions of this air conditioner; some are simpler (like the one above) -- using no pump or internal radiator but simply one or two fans, with a warm-air-into-cooler / cold-air-out-of-cooler design. Check them out -- I'm sure boaters would have a lot of great customizing ideas to add as well. If you build one - take a picure and send it to us!