Apps and Computer Programs

We received a couple of letters this month from people who had trouble setting the tide functions on their Casio SPF-40 watches. One...

Fugawi does the job at an attractive price. RayTech Navigator 4 shines as a real-time navigating tool. Maptech's Offshore Navigator delivers a complete planning/navigation package.

Practical Sailor contributor and bluewater cruiser Joe Minick details the benefits of an onboard Wi-Fi computer network on a cruising boat, and explains the easy DIY setup that connects multiple electronics to the Internet via a client router. Beyond the usual benefits, one that is particularly useful to sailors is that an onboard network allows networked devices to share GPS, NMEA instrument information and other navigation data using software like GPSGate from Franson Technology and Handheld for Mariners. Minick used the Engenius EOC2610 from Keenan Systems and the D-Link DWL G700AP in his setup, which has served his crew well as they cruise the Med. The ethernet-based system is similar to the the Bullit2 systems PS tested from Bitstorm and Wave Wi-Fi.

West Marine's site has been carefully developed and tended for years, and it shows, across the board. The BoatU.S. site is also well-polished.

As it is with notebook computers, GPS receivers continue to evolve into faster, smaller and more powerful devices. Our latest crop of test models...

Our trip from Venezuela to Bonaire was the first real test of Bob, our Robertson AP 300CX autopilot. He passed with flying colors.Although I...

It wasnt very many years ago that the only tools a boater needed for navigation were a compass, some paper charts, a pair of...

The Simrad CP32 and Raytheon RayChart 520 have the best combination of features and displays of 10 gray scale units tested.

Our annual selection of outstanding equipment, headlined this year by the Spade anchor, Nexus instruments and the Isotemp water heater.

Our years of sailing in New England and the Caribbean, with their stable, predictable weather patterns, left us ill-prepared to deal with the vagaries...