Torqeedo, which I’ve talked about a lot here on OceanLines, has launched the next generation of its tiller-controlled electric outboard motors. The company says the new Cruise 2.0T and 4.0T are “stronger, faster, more robust and more efficient. Torqeedo says the motors have a new, innovative display on the tiller, which shows information regarding battery [...]
Northport Systems announced that its newest marine navigation software, Fugawi Marine 5, will be available at the end of March for new purchase and upgrade from Fugawi Marine ENC. According to the company, Fugawi Marine 5 takes advantage of the latest Windows technology, including a touch-screen control optimized for use with Win 7 and 8 [...]
ActiveCaptain.com, the crowd-sourced database of local navigation and cruising knowledge, has been expanding its offerings over the last couple of months with some significant new capabilities. The two most important, in my view, involve route-sharing and an allied site devoted to captain reviews of boating-related services. Here’s a quick rundown on some of the new developments. [...]
Nobeltec said today it has released a free service pack update for users of the new (January 2011) version of Admiral and VNS. The service pack offers integration with Furuno’s popular Digital Fish Finder (DFF1) Sounder, as well as a number of NMEA 2000 integration improvements. While I don’t often simply reprint a press release, [...]
My fellow Write on The Water blogger, Christine Kling, has another fabulous tech piece on the blog today about a WiFi solution for her boat. Christine is a successful published author (I LOVE her Seychelle Sullivan mystery series), and she did a great piece for us here on using your iPad onboard the boat. Christine [...]
One of the more significant news items from the recent Miami Show was the announcement from KVH of its new mini-VSAT package, the TracPhone V3, which is the smallest Ku-band maritime VSAT antenna in the world at just 14.5″ (37 cm) in diameter. The company said today that it has shipped the first fully FCC-licensed units [...]
Simrad Yachting this week announced a significant upgrade to its “”broadband” radar capability with the “Broadband 3G Radar,” which increases the range of its not-so-old BR24 Broadband Radar. I wrote about the BR24 when it was demonstrated at the Miami show last year and decided it was the real deal for short-range, high-definition radar detection. [...]
Simrad Yachting last week announced a new series of touch-screen multifunction displays — the NSS Sport Series. Available in 7-inch, 8-inch, and 12-inch models, the NSS Sport units feature LED backlighting and allow the user to control the display with the touchscreen, keypad and/or the “Simrad Yachting-signature” rotary control knob. My friend Ben Ellison at [...]
Brian Chen, at Wired, has a piece today that suggests a clever way to avoid having to pay the extra money for a 3G version of the iPad 2 just to get GPS and phone data network capability. The solution basically involves using your current Smartphone as a wireless hotspot. Here’s an excerpt of his [...]
I know that’s a bold statement, but when I can have access to a library that will eventually likely hold many thousands of already planned (by me AND other boaters) routes, and then someday soon use those routes with more ActiveCaptain technology to tell me what’s up ahead, I will be in a different place [...]
I have seen the future of Nobeltec, and it has no. . . okay, okay, I couldn’t resist. But c’mon, let’s admit, that dongle was the only real thing we hated about Nobeltec navigation software. And yes, I know all the reasons they had for using it, but it really got in the way. And [...]
Fugawi announced today the availability of its new Avia Motor and Avia Sail instrument software. If you have NMEA 0183 or 2000 data streams, you can use this software to set up a nice monitor configuration that suits your preference. The software will read 0183 data via a standard serial port input, or using an [...]
Jeppesen, a Boeing company, said today it has launched a revamped website for its light marine business. The new look is clean and uncluttered and looks like it will be much easier to navigate. I’m a big fan of “white space” on websites. It allows your eye to quickly capture the most important information, and [...]
Fluid Motion, the company that builds Ranger Tugs and the new Cutwater fast pilothouse boats said this week it has a deal with Garmin to provide that company’s marine electronics as factory-installed packages on both lines of boats. Of course, if you don’t want Garmin gear, you can certainly order your boat without but I [...]
Nauticomp, the Ontario, Canada-based electronics manufacturer, is showing its new Genesis line of 15″ and 19″ sunlight-readable displays at the boat show circuit and if you’re in the market for new displays, they just might be the right solution. Marine display technology is gradually catching up to land-based consumer displays and these two Genesis units [...]
Apple has just approved the latest update of the Navimatics Charts & Tides app so that iPhone and iPad users can update ActiveCaptain data from their devices. The update allows markets to be edited and reviews and comments to be added. The single license works on both an iPHone and IPad at the same time, [...]
Raymarine, a division of FLIR Systems, said today it would offer a third year of warranty to owners who register their products online with the company. The standard two-year warranty otherwise applies. The third year is offered at no cost. The warranty upgrade is applicable to all new products purchased starting January 1, 2011. [...]
In a recent piece I did for Boats.com, I wrote that the new Greenline 33 cruiser is the real green deal. I saw and briefly tested the boat at the Annapolis Powerboat Show last fall and it truly impressed me. Here’s a quick rundown on the boat; for the full story, read the article at [...]
I’ve been pretty happy over the last couple of years with the quality of signal that I get on Verizon’s networks in the United States. I have not, however, been happy with their equipment — in particular their use of the term “GPS” to describe the cellular- and WiFi-derived position reporting. It is most [...]
SI-TEX and Jeppesen said today that attendees at key North American boat shows over the next several months who buy a new SI-TEX ColorMax or EC Series chartplotter and compatible C-Map by Jeppesen MAX electronic chart will receive a free Jeppesen PC-Planner home navigation planning tool (a $149 value). First, the show list: Fort Lauderdale [...]
Intellian said this week it is offering a rebate promotion through yearend on several of its satellite TV antennae and Fleet Broadband antennae. Between October 26 to December 31, 2010, customers who purchase an Intellian i2 or i3 satellite TV antenna can receive $100, and those who purchase the i4, i6, or an Intellian Fleet [...]
Northern Lights is basking in the southern sunshine this weekend at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (FLIBS) with a new skinny genny and a NMEA 2000-certified digital monitoring system called WaveNet. The newly shrunk generator, the M773LW3, is a 9kW model and is almost 30% smaller than its predecessor. “The overall size of smaller [...]
As I write this, I’m on my way back home from the “IBEX” international Boatbuilders Exhibition in Louisville, Kentucky, where I served as one of the judges in a panel that gave out a series of awards to recognize innovation in new products. IBEX is a unique, trade-only show where the people who make everything [...]
by Christine Kling (Editor’s Note — Chris Kling is a sailor with with more than 30 years of experience on the oceans of the world. She’s also an English professor at Broward College, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and the published author of the Seychelle Sullivan series of mysteries, including SURFACE TENSION (2002), CROSS [...]
If you could have the perfect outboard for your dinghy or tender, what would it be? A diesel perhaps, because you’re already carrying hundreds or thousands of gallons of that fuel and because looking for and storing gasoline is such a pain in the neck, not to mention dangerous? I’ve long thought, for example, that [...]
Actually, it brings ultrasonic weather data to your helm. Are we straight with that now? Okay. The basic ultrasonic instrument has been around for several years — the most recent version, still available, is the PB150, a NMEA 0183-compatible unit – but the WS200 is a significant upgrade, both in sensors and networking. It’s also a little [...]
Yeah, now you can use your Fugawi X-Traverse account to bring it all onboard your cool new iPad. Okay! Okay! I’ll buy an iPad already. . .
The 100-footer Maxi Speedbird beats all the other boats to Bermuda in the 2010 Newport Bermuda Race. We’ve got a nice video tour of Speedboat.
During a recent offshore delivery of a new Krogen 58′, I had the opportunity to check out Northport System Inc.’s Fugawi Marine ENC charting and navigation software. It loaded painlessly on a new Windows 7 laptop, ran flawlessly for 3 days nonstop, and had an easy learning curve. If you’re looking for something to run [...]
Comark Corporation announced that it has developed a new pilothouse computer with integrated 19″ display. The Comark Pilothouse Computer features Intel Core Two Duo processor options, conformal coatings for corrosion resistance and a host of other pilothouse-friendly features. Best of all perhaps, the price. Comark says the CPC is being offered at a starting price [...]
