Yearly Archive: 2024

15

Max Marine Electronics, used gear with confidence

I first learned about Max Marine Electronics when Max himself served with me on an awards judging panel at the National Marine Electronics Association’s annual meeting a few years ago. Since hearing about his operations, I’ve been planning to visit the facility and see how they refurbish and sell used marine electronics. It took a while, but I recently made my way to Pompano Beach and spent the day with Max at his eponymous company.

5

Garmin GPSMap 9000 series, high resolution and big power

Garmin’s GPSMap 9000 series is a tour de force in many ways. At 27 inches, the largest member of the line is the largest main stream MFD out there. With 4K resolution it’s the highest resolution MFD on the market. It has ample processing power, myriad interfaces for integration, and ample screen real estate.

6

Seakeeper 1: installed, on the water, and stable

In the last year, Panbo(at) has had both Seakeeper Ride and now a Seakeeper 1 gyro installed. I know it may seem like it, but Panbo(at) didn’t have a stability problem before both products were installed. In fact, the boat’s ride impressed me even without any aids. But, now that it has these two systems keeping the boat’s movements in check, I can’t help but marvel at how much better the boat rides. Seakeeper’s systems have taken a boat with good manners and made it dramatically better. That’s quite the accomplishment.

1

MIBS 2024: Dockmate DPS

Dynamic positioning systems (DPS) have been around for over a decade. But, until now, DPS has been a feature of joystick control systems tightly coupled with propulsion packages. So, a boater interested in adding DPS to their boat couldn’t unless their existing engine and control package offered it. Typically, that means pods or recent outboards. That propulsion integration means if you own a boat with traditional inboards, shafts, and props, there very likely isn’t a viable DPS option. Until now! Dockmate now offers DPS as an add-on to any twin-engine boat fitted with their remote control.

1

ePropulsion Sustainably Mobilizes Hundreds Of Sightseeing Bamboo Rafts On The Guilin Li River

 ePropulsion, the global leader in marine electric propulsion systems and services, announced today the latest in the company’s continued efforts toward promoting sustainability and environmental preservation with their development of a customized electric propulsion solution for sightseeing bamboo rafts on the Li River…

5

MIBS 2024: Simrad NSX ULTRAWIDE

Shortly before the 2024 Miami International Boat Show, Simrad announced the NSX ULTRAWIDE multi-function device. My first reaction when I saw it was that Simrad was joining other ultrawide displays already in the market. But, when I stopped to think about it, I realized they are the first to introduce an ultrawide MFD to the marine marketplace. It seemed like such a logical next step that I thought someone must have done it already. So, I believe Simrad deserves credit for being the first and keeping pace with broader trends.

5

MIBS 2024: Skyhawk Oversea, a fresh look at monitoring

Boat monitoring isn’t a new concept or product category. Heck, it’s been 17 years since Ben E. wrote up the first monitors on Panbo. So, you may be wondering what could be so new that my fellow judges and I awarded SkyHawk Oversea at MIBS this year. The short answer is a lot. The longer answer is Skyhawk took a fresh look at most of what we know about boat monitoring and came up with something very different. Will it work? Honestly, I don’t know. But I sure do love the paradigm-pushing approach they took.

15

PredictWind introduces Over the Horizon AIS, a world-first

We are excited to release the all new Over the Horizon AIS (OHA) feature on the DataHub. View AIS data out to 300nm, directly on your chart-plotter and nav apps, so you can sail safer. Over the Horizon AIS (OHA) increases your AIS range from as low as 5nm to 300nm! If you are sailing at 10 kt using regular AIS and a container ship is…