iPhone/Touch nav, yet more news
I don’t usually write about rebates and sales, but 90% off!?! Navionics not only launched version 2.0 of its Mobile app yesterday, it’s slashing prices. Here’s the press release, and note above how the...
Yearly Archive: 2009
Skipper (FB) 150, & a Panbot gets into the biz
Some of us got confused last week when Inmarsat introduced its tiny but fast Fleet Broadband 150 Internet & voice service in Miami. While Inmarsat boasted about “sub $5,000” terminal hardware, KVH said it...
Lyman Morse big cat, almost done
How about these command and navigation stations? Thursday evening turned out pretty horrid for a boat launching, but Lyman Morse pulled one off with its normal panache. The Hunt-designed 54′ jet express Whistler (just visible beyond the catamaran’s bow) is another stunner for its power boat portfolio, especially if she zips by you at her expected 30 knot cruise. While it was neat to check out Whistler’s interior at the same time many of the local craftsmen involved were showing off details to their families, I particularly enjoyed some alone time on the 60′ Morrelli & Melvin sailing cat Mala Conducta, which Lyman Morse launched just last month…
Fleet Broadband 150, the Miami intro
I’m in a gang now, sort of, and I like it. Above is my Yachting magazine colleague Jason Wood calling me via FB150 sat phone from the Inmarsat demo boat on Biscayne Bay Monday,...
Iridium 9555 hands-on, & OpenPort/FB150 news
These are big times in the small world of global satellite communications for medium size boats! Yesterday Inmarsat demoed Fleet Broadband 150 hardware and service in Miami (my people were there, and even called...
Ode to Garmin updating, especially MarineNet 5.0
Lucky me, I have an amazingly bright and progressive plumber who is also a seriously addicted boater, and sometimes we barter our respective skills. Which is how I found myself tuning up and updating his old GPSMap 276C last week. I was amazed to discover that Garmin’s latest update for it was just released on March 19; it’s a minor update, to be sure, but this unit has been around since 2004 (when I gave it a prize). And so I planned an entry complimenting Garmin on its perfectionistic persistence…but that was before I saw the just-released 5.0 software for the networkable 4- and 5000 series. Wow…
Cool tools: Rhino 101 & Triplett Fox/Hound Jr.
There are numerous cable labelling devices and styles, as folks have commented about in the Gizmo schematics entry and the systems forensics saltwater pathogens entry (;-). I even have a low-end, but decent Dymo LetraTag Plus whose tape labels can be made work okay on cables. But last week I noticed, and bought, this newish Dymo Rhino 101, which can be used with self laminating cable labels. I like it; it’s simple, light, and fast, and no batteries are required.
Lowrance HDS-10 hands-on #1, hello NOS
I plan to thoroughly check out the sample Lowrance HDS-10 I recently received, and will probably write about it a lot too. It marks not only a major MFD refresh for Lowrance, but also,...
Thermal imaging, coming to your boat eventually?
This graph is a thermal sensor manufacturer’s dream — and was, in fact, created by the marketing department at FLIR — but, hey, that’s us way over to the right. I’d love to see...
NKE Regatta processor, wicked fast
I have no idea why Bob Congdon, former U.S. Sales Manager for B&G, is now working for Euro Marine Trading, the U.S. distributor for NKE…and I question the ravings at Sailing Anarchy on the...
