THOUGHTS OF AN ELECTRIC SAILOR: Earth Day 2012

Since I converted to electric propulsion it's easy to enjoy Earth Day knowing there's not an ounce of diesel fuel left on board that could leak into a shiny sheen onto the waters. I also no longer carry antifreeze that was needed to top up the engine reservoir on occasion. I do still carry about five gallons of gas and a quart of oil for the Honda 2000 generator. But, all in all BIANKA is a lot greener and cleaner than she use to be. So I'm thinking what can I do in honor of Earth Day this year? The answer is RECYCLE! Here's an item on board that looks like the perfect item to recycle:

It's the King Electronics 8001 LORAN receiver. It was on board BIANKA when I bought her in 1995. Took me about two years (finally read the manual) before I finally figured out how useful it was. Then it it became obsolete when the Federal Government shutdown most of the LORAN transmitting stations in February 2010.  It's removal has been on my TODO list for over two years but, somehow I never got around to it until now.  While the electronics in the Kings unit are useless the case that holds them was built to withstand the rigours of the marine environment.  This is what I will recycle to hold some new instrumentation that will monitor my electric propulsion system. I knew there was a reason why I should not just throw it out.