MarinerNetwork.net

While boaters share a unique passion for the water, the cost of owning, maintaining, and insuring a boat is at an all-time high. A good quality 30’ fishing boat can easily cost $200,000 and the expenses for maintaining the boat can run tens of thousands of dollars, per year. Economists are predicting a recession in 2008 and the importance of cutting down expenses is more important than ever. Market research has been conducted which concludes that boat owners use new boats extensively in the first year but use decreases with each passing year. We live busy lives and our time is valuable – boat owners find it hard to get the full benefit from their investment. Those with the time and resources to charter a boat also need to consider lodging expense –anyone who frequents Ocean City, Maryland, knows that a decent hotel room can run $200 per night during peak season. All things considered, true boaters feel an unrelenting passion for boating and reluctantly spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on their passion. Wouldn’t it be great if we had a recession proof, cost effective, alternative to owning/chartering boats but also had the freedom to use the boat when we want to, to go where we want to, and to use it on our terms?

Mariner Network LLC has found the solution. With the BoatShare™ program, you pay a yearly fee to use our boats and we take care of the initial investment, the cleaning, the maintenance, the insurance, the dock fees, and the captain’s salary. Each of our boats is staffed by a full time captain to ensure you spend the day enjoying the water instead of worrying about getting to and from your destination safely and efficiently.

Click here to complete our market research survey and you will become eligible for 1,700 BoatShare™ points or keep reading to learn more about the details of this amazing new service. Read the rest of this entry »

Boating is one of the most economically challenging hobbies a human being can have.  My 20 foot Grady White was small, burned hardly any gas at all, and was as inexpensive to maintain that a boat can be.  Even still, each year my boating hobby required thousands of dollars in gas, repairs, storage, insurance, and maintenance.  In investigating alternatives, I have found a way for boaters to reduce costs, share the burden of expense, eliminate the risk, and get the most of their boat each year.
 

Mariner Network will be launching a new boating service that allows boaters to enjoy the benefits of owning a boat but only pay a fraction of the expense typically associated with owning a boat.  Starting next summer, we will be offering our friends and partners the use of a beautiful 28′ Albemarle sport fishing boat based in Ocean City, Maryland.  Each partner will have access to the boat 6+ pre-reserved days per year.  For more information, please email us at admin@marinernetwork.net.  Space is limited.

MarinerNetwork.net is conducting market research to determine the level of consumer demand for a new line of marine electronics.  Depending on the response, we will take the next step to solicit proposals from electronics manufacturers to develop prototype devices.

Figure 1: Illustrative Example of Device

The purpose of this project will be to develop, deploy and test a new line of marine electronics with integrated software capable of communicating with other similar devices and with land based devices via the Internet.  The final product is envisioned to be an integrated VHF Marine Radio and Marinerized Mobile Computer capable of sending and receiving both analog voice communications as well as digital IP Based communications.  A wireless adhoc (mesh) network will allow multiple similar devices, close in proximity, to share information and initiate private VoIP communications.  The integrated VHF radio will allow for long distance analog voice conversations.  All communications will be cached for playback (like TiVo!) and for sharing messages accross devices.

Features:

• Intel microprocessor
• 7-Inch Diagonal 256-Color TFT Sunlight Viewable LCD Touch Screen Display
• Screen Resolution: 800 x 480
• 12 Channel GPS WAAS Smart Antenna
• Boots from 32MB of StratoFlash, into 64MB of system RAM
• USB device interface supports camera attachments
• PCMCIA slot, a serial port, and external connections for speaker/microphone headsets
• Cartography: C-MAP NT+, C-MAP MAX capable
• Commercial Grade ITU Class D VHF
• Digital Selective Calling (DSC)
• Position Request and Send Functions
• Push-to-talk (PTT) handset
• 2.4GHz wireless networking, 802.11 compliant
• External Omni directional WiFi Hi-gain Antenna
• Meets environmental, shock, and vibration requirements compliant with MIL STD 810F
• NMEA 2000 Compliant

Mobile mesh networking technology allows each device to act as a repeater and a router.  This capability allows each unit to extend the network with self-forming and self-healing networks based on ad hoc, peer-to-peer networking.  Users can make ad hoc calls to other systems on the network by IP address, or they can go through a gateway/gatekeeper combination to call any phone number on the planet. Accessories Include: wireless PCMCIA cards and software for laptops that repurpose the driver of a commonly available wireless NIC to allow PTT communication with this base unit.

Some examples of fun and useful applications are:

- A commercial fisherman in the Chesapeake Bay can interact with a recreational fisherman in San Franscisco Bay to swap knowledge and experiences.

- May day calls broadcast from distressed vessels can be replayed to review GPS location information.

- Weather information can be shared vessel-to-vessel, improving boater safety.

- A wife, using the inernet based functionality, can call her husband who is fishing on Lake Michigan.

- Fishing teams can share real time pictures of released billfish with the tournament committee boat. 

The result of this work will continue the development of the Mariner Network mission: to enable mariners to communicate more effectively, with each other and with land based users, thereby improving their boating experience and improving boater safety.

In January and February, I start to get the fishing bug and become extremely restless.  In a moment of boredom, I was browsing the Internet and came across a somewhat surprising service offering.  I wish someone had clued me in to this earlier…

I thought Southern California and Mexico was the only place to experience long range party boat Tuna trips.  I was surprised to learn that there are party boats that do 32 hour overnight trips to the Canyons off of New Jersey.  These late summer Tuna trips are a great way to experience Tuna fishing and are much more affordable than the expensive 4 person overnight canyon trip on a sports fisherman.

The Voyager is one such party boat based out of Point Pleasant, NJ.  OFFSHORE TUNA FISHING IS THEIR SPECIALTY!   The target species is Yellowfin and Albacore tuna.   Occasionally, they also catch Allison and Big Eye tuna, Swordfish, Mahi-Mahi, White Marlin and Mako shark.   They fish at one of the famous New Jersey offshore canyons such as the Hudson Canyon, Toms Canyon and the Lindenkohl Canyon.  Read the rest of this entry »

Many non-boating friends don’t believe me when I tell them this… but fishing is by far the most expensive sport there is.  I work with many avid golfers and they insist that golf costs more to pursue than fishing.  They couldn’t be more wrong!

The example they always use is Tiger Woods.  They explain that traveling to the exotic golf courses requires tens of thousands of dollars per year.  They explain that Tiger’s clubs cost over $100K after customizations and fittings.  They explain that the cost of pros, swing coaches, and golf balls runs hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.  While I agree that golf, too, is an expensive sport, it pales in comparison to what is needed to excel in fishing.

The story I tell them is this…  Imagine playing golf as a hobby - you’re not Tiger you’re just an avid golfer.  Imagine this:

• You have to buy your own golf cart which costs $1.5M (the cost of a used 58′ Viking).
• You have to ship your golf cart to each location you play golf and it costs $40K (the cost of our travel and shipping the boat to St. Thomas the last time we fished the Boy Scout Blue Marlin Tournament).
• Your golf cart breaks down in the middle of the tournament and you have to fly a specialist in from Florida to fix it which costs you $50K.
• Each golf club costs $7500 (the cost of 80lb class Shimano reels and roller guided rods). 
• Each golf ball costs $150 (the price of a blue marlin lure which you can expect to lose at least one of in each tournament).
• Each time you pull your golf cart away from the club house, you have to put $1200 of diesel fuel into it.
• It costs $20K to enter the tournament (the price of entry fees and Calcutta’s in the Boy Scout Tournament).
• You have not just one caddy but three - one responsible for driving your cart, and two responsible for choosing clubs (we had a captain and two mates in the Boy Scout).

So the next time someone tries to tell you how expensive their favorite sport is… make sure you defend our sport.  We’re not stupid for spending so much of our hard earned money to enjoy our passion - just a little bit crazy!

Has anyone seen these new Aircard Wireless Routers?  They let you turn your laptop Aircard (sold by Verizon) into a portable WiFi hotspot anywhere there is a cell phone signal.  These would make a great addition to any medium to large sized boat. 

 

Cell Phone towers not only provide service for cellular phones, but also signals that can provide high speed internet. These signals include CDMA, EVDO, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, and HSDPA. In order to receive these signals you must be signed up with a carrier such as Verizon, and you will be provided with a PCMCIA card to receive the signal.

Here’s some info about one of these routers currently on the market:

The 3G Phoebus portable cellular Wi-Fi router is the easiest, most economical way to convert CDMA, EVDO, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, and HSDPA signals into a Wi-Fi/wired signal that can be shared simultaneously with any allowed user group.

Simply plug a PCMCIA card (aka PC Card bus) into the 3G Phoebus MB6000. The 3G Phoebus simply converts the CDMA, EVDO, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, or HSDPA signal into a Wi-Fi signal while also enabling wired Ethernet. This allows multiple people such as a traveling work team to use one single cellular signal account, saving you money. It also allows you to get high speed internet in geographical regions where internet is hard to come by.

The 3G Phoebus accepts most cellular PCMCIA cards from the market today, and you won’t have to worry about different drivers or client software. Simply plug the PCMCIA card into the MB6000 and turn the power on, and you will instantly be able to put multiple computers (Ethernet wired or wireless) on the internet.

The Phoebus has a lot to recommend it. It’s the only model with an on-off switch, a clicky chrome marble on the front. It’s also the only model that when used with Sprint or Verizon cards, automatically configures itself; you can skip the setup steps involving the Ethernet cable and Web browser. You literally plug the thing in, insert the card, and start surfing. That feature, and its super-clear browser-based Web setup page, makes the Phoebus the simplicity champion.

I met with the sales associate of the care free boat club today.  Here is what I learned.

They are a members-only boat club offering a carefree alternative to boat ownership. They spend their time taking care of all the hassles of owning a boat, so that members spend their time creating new memories with family and friends.

There are no slip fees, repairs, cleaning, maintenance, insurance — nor depreciation! Your membership with Freedom Boat Club means all of these time-consuming and expensive necessities are taken care of by the club staff.

They have over 35 boats ready for members to take out onto the water. Take a speedy powerboat out for a ride, relax out in the sun on a deck boat, settle into a favorite fishing spot with a center console fishing boat, or try your hand at sailing; you can do it all! There fleet is published online.

They’ve got locations in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia. You can take a boat out from one location one day, and go to another the next; no need to worry about moving or storing the boat, or dealing with limited dock space!

   

The Carefree Boat Club, part of the Freedom Boat Club, has a variety of boats to suit every nautical need. Cruising, recreation, fishing, sailing; boats tailored to all of these activities! The boats included in the fleet are top-of-the-line vessels  and boats are added to the fleet on a regular basis, so be sure to keep checking back! Read the rest of this entry »

Integrated Boat PC / VHF Marine Radio / WiFi Repeater / WiFi Router

Figure 1: Illustrative Example of Device

• Intel PXA255 microprocessor
• 7-Inch Diagonal 256-Color TFT Sunlight Viewable LCD Touch Screen Display
• Screen Resolution: 800 x 480
• 12 Channel GPS WAAS Smart Antenna
• Embedded Linux - kernel 2.4.20
• Boots from 32MB of StratoFlash, into 64MB of system RAM
• USB device interface supports camera attachments
• PCMCIA slot, a serial port, and external connections for speaker/microphone headsets
• Cartography: C-MAP NT+, C-MAP MAX capable
• Commercial Grade ITU Class D VHF
• Digital Selective Calling (DSC)
• Position Request and Send Functions
• Push-to-talk (PTT) handset
• 2.4GHz wireless networking, 802.11 compliant
• External Omni directional WiFi Hi-gain Antenna
• Meets environmental, shock, and vibration requirements compliant with MIL STD 810F

Mobile mesh networking technology allows devices to act as repeaters and routers.  This capability allows each unit to extend the network with self-forming and self-healing networks based on ad hoc, peer-to-peer networking.  Users can make ad hoc calls to other systems on the network by IP address, or they can go through a gateway/gatekeeper combination to call any phone number on the planet. Accessories Include: wireless PCMCIA cards and software for laptops that repurpose the driver of a commonly available wireless NIC to allow PTT communication with this base unit.

Date:  January 20-28, 2007 
Hours: 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM 

Brought To You By: Baltimore Convention Center
Phone: 410-649-7111   
Event Web site: Visit the event’s web site

Description: The Baltimore Boat Show features more than 500 power boats for all budgets and lifestyles – from luxury motor yachts and high speed performance boats to sport fishing boats and personal water craft – as well as the latest equipment, fishing gear, navigation devices, and nautical accessories. Special features at Baltimore’s largest and oldest boat show include the professional wakeboard demonstrations “Rail Jam”, the Power Boat Docking Challenge, IGX Virtual Waterway video games. Free parking and continuous shuttle service run from Camden Yards Lot C. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for youth ages 13-15, and free for children 12 and under.

Have you ever tried to use a PocketPC on the boat?  It’s a nightmare. 

First of all, even though you get a cell phone reception does not mean your internet connectivity will work.  Even when I set up the device to have my home page be the Chesapeake Bay weather radar and managed to right click and choose “refresh”, the page did not load.  When it did load, it took so long to load that I lost interest before it finished.  It’s easier to simply observe the horizon to get a weather report.

Second, the screen is so small; I could not make out any detail.  With such low screen resolution, I was not able to determine whether the radar was indicating a storm just about to slam us or that I was in the clear.  Not to mention the waves made it impossible for me to focus on the tiny screen. 

Lastly, I have no GPS connected to the device so there was no way to determine where my boat might be located on the map.  There are many companies that sell integrated GPS receivers and chart plotting software, for the PocketPC… but to my knowledge, no one makes a weather overlay to go with it.

The only time I saw a PocketPC successfully used was shark fishing, on a clam day, 3 miles off the beach.  My brother logged onto a gambling web site and lost $100 in 15 minutes.  Probably best to leave the device home from now on.

I am hoping that one of these days, someone integrates a 10.4″ inch touch screen, with a small waterproof boat PC, a GPS, chart plotter and weather software, and makes it all affordable enough to justify the cost.  Until that day, we seem to be stuck with VHF marine weather radio!

This is a great boat for anyone wanting to do some intense fishing without spending a boat load on gas! It is very fishable and with its cuddy cabin, is great for short overnight trips.

The boat is at Beacon Light Marina on the Middle River, on the Chesapeake Bay, just north of Baltimore MD. Read the rest of this entry »

My old man retired several years ago and each summer he has been taking exotic trips to great fishing locations around the world… trips to the Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, and Costa Rica.  Next summer, he wants to try something different - he’s thinking Alaska.

Many years ago, I planned a fishing trip to Alaska for myself, my wife, and two of our friends.  We all were just out of college but we knew exactly what we wanted out of the trip.  The requirements were great fishing, easy to get to, and $1000 or less per person.  Only spending $1000 per person was going to be difficult but I was determined I could do it.

With the old man wanting to know the details of my trip, I felt it about time I reveal our itinerary, trip details, and how it turned out… and I might as well publish it here so others might be inspired to take a similar trip.  Here is what I learned…

Read the rest of this entry »

All boaters have an appreciation for the high life.  Why else would we shell out thousands of dollars per year to enjoy our passion?  We do it because we love the relaxation, the excitement, and the peacefulness that comes from being on or around our planet’s greatest natural resource: the water.

The way we live our lives is no different.  We play hard, we work hard, and we enjoy life.  Part of experiencing life comes from enjoying the fine foods that God has blessed us with.  This is why MarinerNetwork.net has categories for food recipes and wine reviews. 

MarinerNetwork.net’s sister site, www.gotwines.net is all about wine.  It has wine reviews of hard to find wines, small batch wines, as well as the mass production stuff.  There is an online store where you can order wine to be shipped FREE to over 29 states across the country.  Check it out!

From time to time, we import recent wine reviews from www.gotwines.net to www.marinernetwork.net so that our boating enthusiasts can experience the same high quality reviews that our wine lovers do, each day.

Have you every noticed that, for the most part, hot girls don’t like fishing?  My brother and I have a theory… fishing and outdoor adventure activities, in particular, don’t have enough people around to tell the hot girls how hot they are.  If I were an attractive female, I would want to frequent events where I got hit on all the time - like a bar, or the pool, or a pool bar. 

So, long story short, I don’t know any hot girls that enjoy fishing so I can’t add their pictures to the blog.  In an attempt to determine if such a girl exists, I have scoured the web to find the top three hot girl fishing photos. 

I didn’t want to find pictures of models posing as though they were fishing.  I passed these sites by… I wanted to find the real thing - girls that really enjoy fishing.  It was not easy - pics of hot girls that like posing for a camera and really enjoy fishing are hard to come by.

1st Hottest Fishing Girl on the Web - I found this one at www.sportfishermen.com.  This one exemplifies what I was looking for… an authentic, action shot, of a hot chick enjoying fishing.  She’s not afraid to get her hands dirty and seems to be enjoying herself.

2nd Hottest Fishing Girl on the Web - Hooters Calendar Girl, Tara Banks, was photographed on a fishing charter.  Check out the site at  http://www.marktheshark.com/. 

3rd Hottest Fishing Girl on the Web - http://www.swordfishingcentral.com/ has a collection of hundreds of hot fishing babes.  And, yes, I know that this one looks very “staged” but this girl is too hot not to include in our top 3.  Lets hope that girls like this really like to fish.

Honorable Mention - Here is one more from Swordfishingcentral.com. It looks pretty staged… but just had to include it.

If anyone has photos that prove my theory is wrong and that hot girls really do fish (apparently when I am nowhere to be found) - please email them to me and I would be happy to post them in a follow up article.  For now… this is my story and I’m sticking to it.

I have compiled several Marine Radio VHF Audio Stream Links below.  If you have Windows media Player (which most everyone should have as part of the Windows operating system), all you have to do is click on the link.

These links are great.  I use them quite often to see what fishing is going on in California and I hope that the east coast gets some similar audio streams going.  There seems to be a real market out there for hearing what VHF traffic is going on offshore, especially during fishing tournaments. 

Monterey Bay (Ch 9, 11, 16, 17, 19)

Half Moon Bay (Ch 7, 16, 18, 19, 74)

Golden Gate (Ch 19, 66, 67, 69, 79, 80)

San Francisco Bay (Ch 19, 68, 78, 79, 88)

NOAA (Ch 1)

We at MarinerNetwork.net would be happy to assist any tournament director wanting to investigate this technology to help promote their tournament.  Leave a comment and lets see what we can get started.

Welcome to the “World Series” of shark fishing - the nationally televised Tournament and the pursuit of the IGFA World Record and $1,000,000!  This year Shark Hunters raised the bar by taking the most successful tournament series ever to the national level.  In an unprecedented format, the top contestants from both the East and West coasts were unleashed into the shark-infested waters off Northern New England and Southern California. 

Shark Hunters: EAST vs. WEST began with two qualifying tournaments on each coast in order to narrow down the pack to the top ten qualifiers (five from each coast).  These top ten qualifiers then battled on both coasts to determine who is the greatest shark hunter and from where the greatest shark hunters hail.  

The two-day finale of the Shark Hunters East Vs West Tournament allows each team to weigh in one fish per day, which meant that any single huge fish on the last day would have to stand up against the combined two-day catches of some of the best shark anglers on the water.   Several impressive fish were weighed in the first evening, including a 324-pounder by West Coast team Great White Hunter and a 646-lb. monster hung on the scales by East Coast representatives Team Tango.

It wasn’t until 9 p.m. when East Coast team Insufficient Funds — the eventual second place finisher with 689 total pounds — hung up their 535-lb. mako that Team Strike Zone knew they had taken the title.  Third place went to East Coast visitors Team Tango with 646 pounds.   West Coast team Great White Hunter finished in fourth with 408 pounds. For their winning efforts, Team Strike Zone walked away with the event’s Grand Prize, a new Pro-Line center-console offshore boat with Honda 4-stroke outboard power.
 
The Shark Hunters East vs. West Tournament Series is a follow-up to last year’s Ultimate Shark Hunters TV Show/Tournament Series — which Team Strike Zone also won.   This year’s event featured two qualifying tournaments among 10 East Coast teams and two qualifying tournaments among 10 West Coast teams to narrow down the top five teams from each coast. Once the top teams from each coast had been determined, the East and West qualifiers faced off for two days in New Bedford, Massachusetts, followed by this past weekend’s Grand Finale in Marina Del Rey. 

Marlin! Multiple jumps… This video shows what fighting a small jack marlin is like in St. Thomas. These guys are feisty! Over 20 jumps, caught on video. (Marlin Jumps )

Video - Marlin jumps in cockpit… While on a fishing trip over the Fourth of July weekend in Panama, 18-year old Stephen Schultz was injured when a 600-pound Marlin he was reeling in leapt into the boat, striking him in the head and chest.  (Marlin Attack!)      

DestinSharks.com - Destin Sharks is a blog for boaters and fisherman.  Destin is located in Florida and hosts multiple shark tournaments during the year.  (DestinSharks.com)

Sunset Marina Web Cam - Sunset Marina, located in Ocean City Maryland has a great web cam where you can watch the fish cleaning station on early summer afternoons.  If you tune in at around 5PM, starting in June, you can watch some nice size tuna on the cleaning table.  (Sunset Marina Web Cam)

My Desire Fishing Charters - “My Desire” is a 35′ cabo fishing for Trophy Rockfish in April, May, October, and November. The boat docks at Sunset Marina in Ocean City Maryland for the summer. Choptank River, St. Michaels, Maryland. Phone: 410-745-3297 or 410-310-9659 (cell phone).  (My Desire Fishing Charters)

Coastal Fisherman Magazine, Ocean City, MD - The Coastal Fisherman paper has some of the best local fishing reports I have seen anywhere in the country.  They publish less often in the winter.  Every published issue ends up on the web site for you to see online. (Coastal Fisherman)

Last but not least… Saltwater Sportsman’s Fish Babes… enough said.  (Fish Babes)

We have changed looks!  We are now hosted by 1and1.com using Wordpress as our blogging tool.  If you have reached this page from a Google search, take a momment to browse around.  For returning users, check out the new digs!

The Charles Creek Miradero Merlot goes very well with beef and heartier chicken or pork dishes. It also works well with mature cheeses like Cheddar or Gouda.

Cline Cellars “Small Berry” Mourvedre, 2004, Oakley, Costa County, California

Planted in thousands of acres of vineyards by Portuguese and Italian immigrants over 100 years ago, the disease phylloxera has left behind only 600 acres in Oakley, half of which is owned by Cline Cellars. In this tiny area outside San Francisco, on the San Joaquin and Sacramento River, Cline controls some of California’s oldest vines of Zinfandel, Carignane and Mourvedre.

This vineyard’s terroir plays an important role in its wine’s final character. The phylloxera resistant, sandy soil of Oakley delivers uniquely elegant personality, and nearby eucalyptus trees contribute an unmistakably minty nose and flavor. It is said that a single unnoticed eucalyptus leaf can impart this almost mentholy dynamic to an entire barrel of vino.Aside from that refreshing mint derived from eucalyptus, the grapes themselves contributed a couple of things to this wine. Small yields contribute to the intensely extracted flavors, most notably of tobacco and chocolaty plum. Tannins and acid are well balanced across the palate, which begins fruity, but finishes dry and earthy. Crack a bottle and drink it over an hour or two with your favorite lamb dish and just watch how it develops from the first glass to the last sip.This wine is in that low $30 range, which is a really tough price tag for some folks to swallow. It’s not cheap enough to drink every day, but it’s not really expensive enough when you’re trying to splurge. Take my word for it and pick this wine up while you can; you’ll thank me for it later.

Costa Rica

Costa Rica is located approximately ten degrees North of the Equator, on the isthmus of Central America. Costa Rica is bordered on the North by Nicaragua and on the South by Panama. To the East lies the Caribbean Sea, and to the West, the Pacific Ocean.

Costa Rica is a small country, irregular in shape and less than 20,000 square miles in size. At it’s narrowest point, just 75 miles separate the Caribbean Sea from the Pacific Ocean. From North to South the country is just 180 miles long.  Jagged mountains run through the heart of Costa Rica, extending almost continuously from the northwest to the southeast corners of the country.  There are four major volcanic mountain ranges: Guanacaste, Tilar Central and Talamanca. These mountain ranges are separated by low passes and valleys, and rise increasingly higher in the southern part of the country.
Just south of the Central Range is the Central Plateau, or Meseta Central, which is the social and economic soul of Costa Rica, and home to approximately 60 percent of its population. The four principal cities that compose the Meseta Central region are Alajuela, Heredia, Cartago and the capital city of San Jose.  The “Meseta Central”, is marked by a mix of virgin forests, cultivated lands and urban centers, all set on rolling terrain, bordered by large mountains.

The country-side slopes precipitously towards the country’s two coasts. These slopes are etched with fast flowing rivers, some of which have been harnessed to provide electrical power. Geographically, Costa Rica is blessed with tremendous diversity and the lush radiance of its rich tropical settings. Read the rest of this entry »

Australian Wine has Taken off like a bat outta hell in the last fifteen years.  This has created a major export for the Aussies, nearly increasing five fold in as many years.  Their major wine has come to be shiraz.  The name of the grape Shiraz was taken from that of the city of Shiraz in Persia, where the process of wine making possibly originated 7000 years ago. The Shiraz grape was introduced into Australia in 1832 by James Bubsy, an immigrant who brought vine clippings from Europe with him.

For many years, Australia Shiraz producers have added up to 4% Viognier to their Shiraz to add apricot tones to the wine’s nose and palette.  My absolute favorite three are featured here.

Elderton “Comand” Shiraz, Barossa Valley, Australia, 2002

 
Up is down, down is up with this one!  There are incredible attributes of intensity within a very dense wine.  However, for all the power and depth of flavor there is a remarkable display of elegance.  Imagine grabbing a ripe plum from the Clark Farm across the street, throw in some fresh Virginia blackberries, and finish it off with some dark chocolate swiss truffles from the dessert menu, and you have a good idea of some of the prominent flavors found in this exquiset bottle.  Don’t expect the flavors to die off quick either.  You’ll practically have to brush your teeth to get rid of this finish.   

Torbreck Vineyards “Descendant” Shiraz, Barossa Valley, 2002

The Descendant is a single vineyard Shiraz-Viognier. The name implies that the wine is the “descendent” of David Powell’s flagship wine, RunRig.  The wine exhibits tar and black olive, offset wonderfully by the jasmine and apricot aromatics of Viognier. Smooth and supple, it’s juicy and slightly jammy, ripe and concentrated, this big boy is what I call balanced!  Try this perfect wine with some nice roast beast for an awesome aussie holiday!

Molly Dooker “Carnival of Love” Shiraz, Australia, 2005
 
The husband and wife winemaking team of Sparky and Sarah Marquis (mar-QWISS) are synonymous with the finest wines to emerge from Australia’s respected landscape.  Here they have created a PERFECT specimen of Australian shiraz.  The bouquet is full of licorice, chocolate and spice.  There are some really cool layers of espresso, raisin and vanilla coated oak.  Again, opulent yet elegant, this powerhouse can be soft and sexy.  There is a silky and creamy mid-palate structure that leads you into a teeth staining, killer of a finish.

Spiros Hatziyiannis, Santorini, Greece, 2002

I love a wine tastes great for a good value, but I also love it when the wine has a great story.  Wine can be a conversation piece just as it can be a delicious intoxicating beverage.  In the case of Spyros Hatziyiannis, this story comes from the region.  On the breathtaking island of Santorini, the production of wine dates back to the time of the Bronze Age. After the devastating volcanic explosion in 1650 the island was covered with volcanic ash.  This catastrophe created the foundation for perfect soil conditions which now produce very distinctive wines. Known for black, volcanic soil beaches, and whitewashed houses, the Aegean island of Santorini is ideal for very dry wines made primarily from Assyrtiko grapes. The average age of the root stock of these vines are 70 years, and many vines date back 150 years or more. 

Spyros Hatziyiannis itself exhibits strong pear and mineral aromas on the bouquet, with just a hint of anise.  The flavors are similar to the nose with some pinot grigio-esque citrus with a fine degree of complexity. The wine has some great tart end notes that are surprisingly rich. 

Santiago Ruiz, Albarino, Rias Baixas, Spain, 2005

Again we have a wine rich in tradition and lure.  So the story goes, when the winemaker’s daughter was getting married he created a hand drawn map for attendees to the ceremony.  He also created a treasure map to one of the best wine producers in this region of Spain, as well as the label for the bottle. 

Strong pear on the nose, the wine has an extreme bouquet, with notes of apple and honeysuckle.  On the front the taste is similar to the nose but with added apricot and a hint of grapefruit.  You defiantly will notice the bone dry texture on the back notes which are very a powerful tart citrus.  This comes to very lemon or lime juice taste on the back.  This albarino is a  great deal at the Bridge for $19.  After all, as Rob would say, Pinot Grigio is sooooo 5 minutes ago.

Arabako Txakolina, “Xaramant” Txakoli, Basque, Spain, 2005

First of all, there are some very funny pronunciations here.  Don’t be scared, as we’ll walk you through them.  The title phonetically is [Ara-back-o Chak-o-lina, “Zara-mont”, Chak-o-lee]  This Basque wine contains some amazing Pinot Grigio similar notes.   Some of the care put into this wine is evident in the Basque word meanings.  First, Xaramant means Charming in Basque, and this light white definitely displays a charm as all 120 acres of plantings are almost entirely consumed by the local fishermen.  The local grape is Hondarribi Zuri and fermented entirely in steel.  Zuri means white in Basque, and shows true to the light effervescence of the aroma. This is a good example of the kind of modernization of a lot of older Spanish regions are going for.

I’ve found some almost Sauvignon Blanc notes of grass and juicy fruit present, but the ringing flavor is lemon-lime citrus so common to a Pinot Grigio.  Fill your gullet with fish or chicken on this one.  Try it with feta or cucumber for a true taste adventure sure to please the buds.

Pikes “EWP”,  Shiraz, Australia, 2002
 
It’s kind of funny because despite the label proudly displaying a pike (a freshwater game fish), pike are not native to Australia.  This once again leads me to believe hat all Aussies a little nutty, but damn they can produce some good wines.  The EWP Reserve is no exception.  The owner of the vineyard is Neil Pike, who inherited the property from his great grandfather father Edgar Walter Pike.  The initials of this name created the dedication, “EWP reserve”. This very special shiraz comes from a designated section of the Gill’s Farm vineyard block.  Super flavors of ripe berry, and some more notes of oak here than my other selections.  The familiar hints of chocolate add structure to a beefy finish.  Enjoy this fabulous wine for a decade or longer.

What is a Meritage?  “Meritage,” pronounced like “heritage” is an invented word that combines the words “merit” and “heritage”.  A Meritage wine is defined by the Meritage association as a hand-crafted wine blended from the traditional “noble” Bordeaux varietals including: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot and Malbec. 

Geyser Peak Reserve ‘Alexandre Meritage’, Sonoma County, California, 2002
A deep, dark, entirely opaque color lends clues to the complexity of this wine. The aromas are of blueberry with surprising hints of herbaceous mint. Think dark on the front notes as I’ve noticed ripe cherry and blackberry. On the back there comes a battle of juicy fruit, versus tannin and oak.  Both add a multilayer complexity to a stellar wine.  Approachable, but expect a finish that keeps going as you let this Meritage breathe; and let it breathe you shall.
Trentadue  ‘La Storia’ Meritage 2003 
 
A Bordeaux blend of 74 percent Merlot, 17 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, and 9 percent Cabernet Franc. This wine is well balanced, smooth and deep.  An “almost” Merlot with huge fruit and outstanding tannic structure. This choice displays Bordeaux grapes at their best.  Very dark, inky color, this Meritage exhibits dense and concentrated fruit with sweet oak flavors.  Normally ratings and awards don’t mean much to me, but these must be noted as they are from some of the best in the country.  DOUBLE GOLD, BEST OF PREMIUIM RED - San Francisco International Wine Competition   DOUBLE GOLD, BEST PREMIUM RED - 2006 San Francisco Competition  GOLD - 2006 Orange County Wine Competition  98 POINTS, BEST MERITAGE IN CALIFORNIA - 2006 California State Fair
Chateau Ste Michelle, ‘Artist Series’, Meritage, 2001
Wow, wow, wow…. I don’t know that there are better words to describe this pinnacle of true Meritage wines.  A nose of anise, roses, and rich cherry, this blend of Cabernet Sauvignon,  Merlot, and  Malbec, is an overpowering, highly dynamic wine.  Almost hard water-esque, it covers the tongue with notes of dark fruit, tobacco, and anise.  A full-bodied wine, this intense muscular finish will leave you wanting cases. Drink it for a decade with the best steak you can find!

George Shinas utilizes his all consuming passion for perfection and time honored traditions to create some amazing handcrafted wines.   Shinas minimizes the use of irrigation, a practice by which many French winemakers claim, curbs standardization of wines across vintages.   The Winery also employs a horizontal trellis system, which allows for ideal fruit exposure which ripens the fruit to perfection.

The grapes are also left on the vines much longer than on average.  This allows for more intense round flavors. The grapes are all harvested by hand with only the very best quality being selected.  The nose smells of fresh Black Cavendish pipe tobacco.  Some tasty notes of spices and black cherry permeate this beauty of bottle.  This wine stays true to its name; definitely a guilty pleasure. 

World news has dedicated cable network.  Golf has dedicated cable channels.  Outdoor activates has its own cable network.  Why does boating not have a dedicated channel? 

I want an over the air HDTV channel that, during the day, broadcasts real time boating information - marine weather reports, weather radar, real time fishing reports from around the region, and live coverage of boating related events (like fishing tournaments).  During the afternoons I want the day’s fishing reports, news coverage of boating events that occurred, and the marine weather forecast for the next several days.  During prime time, I want original hour long programming related to fishing, boating, and sailing - similar to Storm Stories on the weather channel but focused on boating.

This channel, if done right, would open the door to an entirely new line of marine electronics - waterproof HDTV.  Think about it… when you get to the boat early in the morning, what’s the first thing you do?  Turn on the VHF NOAA weather radio broadcast, right?  What if the first thing you did in the morning was to turn on your dashboard mounted HDTV and got the same weather forecast but with HDTV quality video including a weather radar image, a map forecast of wave height, a chart overlaid with the wind speed and direction, a fishing predictions forecast, and a commentator to point out these topics on a map.  That service would be worth the money for the device.

Critics of this idea might say that in an area like Maryland, there is only a 7 month season and the market is too seasonal.  However, many of us dedicated boaters go traveling in the winter and watching programming about the sailfish bite in the keys, the San Diego Long Range Fishing fleet, and/or the Wahoo bite in the Bahamas would be entertaining enough to keep me watching year round. 

If anyone out there is interested in seeing this idea come to fruition, email me and let’s see what we can get going…

Well, thats all of it.  All I have to do is sit back and wait for the Domain Names to resolve.  I just completed setting up versions 2.0 of www.MarinerNetwork.net, www.GotWines.net, and www.cutebooks.net.  I was using Joomla and found it less than ideal as blogging software goes.  I originally set the blogs up in Joomla thinking that it had been eCommerce tools (for future endevors) but quickly realized this was not the case.

As far as I can tell, Wordpress is AWESOME!  I love the automatic ping feature, the hundreds of freely available themes, the post by email feature, and the import from RSS feature.  Moving my content from Joomla was simple.  I simply hacked the RSS functions to give me ALL the content and then imported the RSS XML file into Wordpress. 

Well, I hope the readers like it.  I was a little worried as last month we received 7000 hits and I was thinking, “Why mess with a good thing.”  In the long run, Wordpress should pay off.

We have decided to move hosting services as well as transfer the site’s content to Wordpress.  The additional functionality of our new provider and our new blogging program will allow us to serve our readers better.  Check out how the new site is coming at http://s189522804.onlinehome.us/wordpress/ .  Eventually, when everything is setup, we will redirect the MarinerNetwork.net domain name to point to the new site.  The only patrons that should be affected are our RSS readers and I will make sure we supply the new RSS feed URL as soon as we have it functional.  Thanks for your patience during this transition.

This article will explain how you can stream VHF Marine radio to Internet listeners.  Once you have it set up, you will be able to publish the link on your business website or give the URL out to friends so they can listen to boaters conversing on the water.  This service, provided to your business customers, will increase traffic to your website and can improve your brand recognition.

Here are the basic steps for streaming VHF Marine radio audio to Internet listeners. 

1. Make sure you have an Internet connection.

Any basic connection will do.  Whether you have DSL, a cable modem, or a T1 line, you will be able to stream audio to the Internet.  The only people that should double think this approach are those that are still using a dial up internet connection.  But now-a-days, everyone has something faster than dial up.  The fact is, streaming audio over the internet requires very little bandwidth.  It’s not like we are streaming high quality video here.  A bandwidth of 35kbs will do fine for this application since the quality of VHF marine radio is not all that clear to begin with.  Streaming high quality video is on the order of 1500kbs which requires fast connections. 

2. Obtain a Windows Media Server.

SleepyEngineers.com is the service that MarinerNetwork.net uses.  For about $20/mo you can stream a 35kbs audio stream to over 3000 customers.  This should do nicely, don’t you think?  Can you imagine attracting 3000 listeners?  Let?s hope this happens!  I’m not going to lie to you… there are ways to stream audio to customers for free and it doesn’t even cost you $20/mo.  But you receive 3 very important things for your $20/mo and from SleepyEngineers.com. 

A.  Free solutions require a large amount of subject matter expertise in IT, web hosting, and audio streaming.  Unless you are in the IT field, don’t bother trying the cheap solution.  SleepyEngineers.com has made this setup process brainless.  They have easy to follow instructions for every step involved.

B.  This approach utilizes Windows Media Streaming technology.  Microsoft has developed extremely easy to use streaming software.  The $20/mo with SleepEngineers.com pays for the Windows Media Server but in step four of this article, you will download and setup Windows Media Encoder which is extremely easy to use and is FREE!  The $20/mo with SleepyEngineers.com saves you money in the long run.

C.  SleepEngineers.com’s tech support service is unmatched.  They are so easy to get a hold of and so proficient at answering your questions, I am amazed every time. 

So… long story short.  Don’t skimp on your customers.  Pay the $20/mo and keep your sanity.  Click here…  SleepyEngineers.com Stream Hosting.  In the long run, this service should bring in much more than $20/mo in additional revenue.

3. Hook up a VHF Marine Radio or a VHF Marine Radio scanner.

You will want to hook the VHF radio or scanner to the computer that has the internet connection.  This computer should does not necessarily need to be dedicated to this purpose but should be a computer that remains powered on for the majority of its lifespan and is consistently plugged into the network.  There will be very little load placed on this computer so I would recommend you use one of the servers in your office… like a POS server, domain controller, file server, etc.  It must have a sound card for this whole thing to work.  Radio Shack will sell you the connecting cable to connect the radio or scanner to the microphone jack on the computer.

4. Windows Media Encoder (free download).

So let?s summarize and make sure we are ready for the final step…. let?s make sure you have the essentials. In order to broadcast you should have the following components and/or software, all of which have been previously described above:

Operating System - Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, or XP 
Windows Media 9 Series Encoder - Download  
Access to a SleepyEngineers streaming server.   Click here for information. 
Internet Access - Although you can broadcast with a 56k internet connection, a DSL or Cable connection to the internet is recommended for optimal performance. 

STEP 1 - After installing and starting up the Windows Media Encoder, start a new session and choose “Broadcast a live event”.
STEP 2 - Next, select, the devices you wish to use to broadcast with.
STEP 3 - Select your broadcast method. (Push method).
STEP 4 - Enter your server address and publishing point. (Provided by SleepyEngineers). You will also be prompted for a user name and password.
STEP 5 - Select your desired encoding rates. (Use the rates you signed up for).
STEP 6 - Select whether or not you would like to record your broadcast to a file on your local machine. (Optional.)
STEP 7 - Choose if you would like to use additional files along with your broadcast devices.
STEP 8 - Enter your broadcast information. (Title, author, etc.).
STEP 9 - Click “Start Encoder” button.

CONGRATULATIONS! You are now broadcasting VHF Radio audio with Windows Media 9 Encoder! Make sure you send the URL to the stream to admin@marinernetwork.net and we will advertise your site on our blog!