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…

Say hello to Simrad’s new NSS Sport series of multifunction displays — the NSS7, NSS8, and NSS12 — which are making their global debut today. They seem to have all the capabilities of the NSE series (which they can network with) plus a built-in GPS and, in the case of 7- and 8-inch sizes, a built-in Broadband fishfinder as well, along with quite competitive price tags (suggested retail prices of $1,895, $2,845 and $3,995 respectively). But the key feature is an LED backlit touch screen that is nearly as bright (1200 nits) as the NSE’s (1500), and which Simrad has used to create a combination knob, button, and touch interface it’s calling “Touch Sensible”…