Monthly Archive: April 2011

I’ve already written about the debut of Simrad NSS “touch sensible” MFDs, as well as some of what I learned about Navico in Spain, and today I’ll discuss some of what I saw during the on-water demos.  I was especially curious as to how the NSS replaces the NSE’s super fast direct access keys. Actually, I don’t think it’s possible to swap screens faster, or easier, than those NSE dedicated Chart, Echo, Radar, etc. buttons, which get you last-layout-used with a quick press and a list of available layouts with long press. But the NSS comes fairly close…  

Twenty-three days on a Russian ice breaker following Roald Amundsen’s 1903 route through the Northwest Passage? Hell, yes, especially with David Burch — navigator extraordinare, and founder of Starpath — riding along as tutor and guide to the vessel’s bridge. If I had the money and the time (heck, it took Amundsen three years), I’d seriously consider this opportunity. For one thing, the venerable Kapitan Khlebnikov is going back into government service, and this may be her last Passage passage. And for another, the high latitudes — where compasses, celestial navigation, and even many forms of modern communications all get dicey — are what nav-obsessed gents like Burch live for…