We will be moving Clifford to the Port of Edmonds marina for the winter in order to have a covered slip. It will also allow us to perform the annual maintenance and some other repairs more easily. The Edmonds marina has a 16' 10" clearance for their 32' covered slips. Clifford is 17' 10" from the waterline to the top of the tallest antenna fastened to the top of the radar mast. What to do? In September I lowered the radar mast to get a closer look as shown in the picture below. After some investigation I learned that this antenna is the cell phone booster antenna. This antenna sends the signal to a module behind the helm which boosts the signal and sends it to the cell phone cradle which is at the helm station. However it is obsolete, boosting only 2G and 3G signals. So I removed the antenna, leaving only the base attached to the mast. I found a PVC cap to screw onto the top of the base where the antenna was attached, leaving only the navigation light as the highest point of the boat. We are now at about 16', leaving enough room to easily clear the roof eaves of the slip in Edmonds.
We then took Clifford out to test all of the electronics after removing the antenna and unplugging the booster module behind the helm. Everything seems to be functioning normally. When testing the functionality of the fishfinder we saw a school of fish shown in the picture below. This was just outside the Shilshole marina.
