Crowdsourcing a TV

The sheer number of projects on the boat is sometimes overwhelming, and project work is punctuated by training, which is even more exhausting.  That said, we are getting a lot done on both fronts.  I have come to a point, though, where I need to appeal to our readers for help, with one of the more minor projects.  To wit:  we need a television.

Louise watches almost no television, and I don't watch much myself, but sometimes I like to turn it on at the end of a long day, when my brain is so numb that even surfing the internet is more work than I want to do.  But I can't watch television on the boat, because the TV that came with it has no headphone jack.  In fact, there does not seem to be any way to get the audio out of the TV, even if I had an external amplifier, without the speakers blaring.  If I want to watch TV but Louise does not (which is the norm), she, understandably, does not want to have to listen to it, whether she's here in the saloon with me, or below, trying to sleep.

There are other issues with the TV, too, such as it is blocking part of one of our view out the windows, and it's much smaller (27") than the one we had on Odyssey (32").  We knew that part early on, and it was a "distant future" project to replace the set.  Now that we've discovered the lack of headphone capability, it's moved up the list rapidly.  Among other things, we are paying monthly for a DirecTV subscription that is all but useless at the moment.

We've identified a spot for a larger screen, above the forward end of the saloon settee, and I thought it would be a slam-dunk to just order a decent 37" model, a size that would fit nicely there.  When we were in California, I helped install a 37" set for my mother-in-law which was just 2" thick, a perfect fit for us, and I nearly ordered the same model for myself.  At the last yawning instant I learned that it had no headphone jack, even though the manufacturer's web site says it does (just before the "specifications subject to change" disclaimer).

I've spent several hours already, time that might have been more productively used, looking for a TV that will meet our needs.  Alas, headphone jacks seem to be going the way of the vinyl record.  So if any of our readers can point me at a set that will meet our needs, I am all ears.  I'd love to have something that is highly rated with great picture quality, but it's so hard to find anything at all that at this point, I am not picky.  The requirements are straightforward -- the set can be no larger than 37" x 23" x 3", must have a headphone jack with a way to shut off the speakers, and a minimum of 32" (diagonal) screen.  I found exactly one TV on the market that meets these criteria, but it is a "3D" model costing north of a grand, at least twice what I am willing to spend on this project.

The set we have on Odyssey is 4" thick, common for that era, which is just a bit too thick for the intended location (more than about 3" will interfere with the headroom for anyone seated at that end of the settee).  Nevertheless I am considering moving it aboard, and replacing it with the 27" unit from the boat, just so I can have a working TV aboard until we solve this problem.  Then I can stop thinking about it until much later, when I have more bandwidth.

In other news, we spent the day training yesterday, and I am happy to report that we did not hit anything else with the boat, unless you count the mud at the bottom of our marina. This despite the fact that halfway through the session, Captain Gary informed me that, for training purposes, our bow thruster had just gone out and I would have to complete all remaining maneuvers without it.  We were able to get back to our own dock on more or less the first try, but coming to a windward dock across from the marina fuel dock was more of a challenge.  It took me four or five tries to get alongside the first time, and after we tied up, Gary suggested I try again. (Louise adds: Gary only smiled when I said, "Hey, if the bow thruster had really failed, the LAST thing we would do is move from this successfully docked position." Gary is a taskmaster.)

The second pass was even more of a challenge, but we managed to get a breast line onto the dock.  Then I struggled mightily to bring the boat alongside, backing, filling, and trying to use the rudder and prop wash to thrust us onto the dock as Louise tried again and again to throw the lines to the distant cleat.  Nothing I tried was working, and even Gary was perplexed, until we finally realized the port side of the boat was on the bottom.  It was low tide, and in the spring tides yesterday that was negative three-quarters of a foot.  As soon as we realized it, I shut down the engine, as I did not want to suck any more mud through the heat exchangers.  We declared a one-hour hiatus, to allow the tide to come back in and give us a bit more clearance before heading back to our own dock.

We had finally managed to put the lines on while I was motoring the boat against the dock, so we had a good list to port when I shut her down.  Shortly after I snapped the photo at the top of this post, I slacked the lines and we came more or less level, but it was still a good leap from the boat to the dock and vice versa.  Once we had a little water under the boat we called it a day and went back to our own slip, once again with an audience.  They seemed appreciative; I'm thinking of leaving a hat upside-down on the dock so we can collect some tips next time.

I spent part of today listing the recent take-outs (step lights, table pedestal) on eBay, and the rest of the day installing new items that have been delivered over the last couple of days.  We now have a pedestal system for the table in the saloon that can actually raise it to dining height (the previous pedestal topped out a good bit too low for comfortable eating, with barely enough room to squeeze one's legs underneath), as well as allow the table to slide several inches toward the settee, so that it's out of the way of the aisle when not in use.  The last of the parts for the pilothouse table also arrived today, so we'll be able to mock that up on our next day off, probably Thursday.

Tomorrow we have another training session scheduled, and the person who might touch up our paint will be coming by after we return to the dock.  All this week there is a food festival going on at the restaurants around the marina; we attended the kickoff this evening involving tapas from multiple venues, served around the massive statue of Neptune not far from us.  We can still hear the live entertainment as I am typing.