Hand-Bearing Compasses
Bow-and-beam bearings, running fixes, collision-course bearings, anchored position—the oft-ignored hand-bearing compass can provide all these and more.
Navigation Software Update
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.
Handheld Weather Stations
It doesn't take a weatherman to know which way the wind blows, but one of these gizmos can tell you how hard it's blowing, atmospheric pressure, and more.
Night Vision
ITT still leads the pack in our book, but there are other viable and less costly units for night ops.
Communications Options
Alongshore, you're good to go with a VHF plus Net-ready cell phone. Offshore, keep the SSB, and for heavier use include an Inmarsat system or sat phone.
The Yeoman Alternative
Looking for a way to stick with the simplicity and reliability of charts, but still get the rewards of GPS and automatic trigonometry? Consider ye olde Yeoman.
Handheld VHF Radios: Standard Horizon, Icom Dominate
The Icom IC-M1V takes top performance honors. Standard Horizon's HX350S is a Best Buy, and there are several honorable mentions.
Choose Your Own Seductions
Here's a letter and response we were going to run in Mailport this month, but we'll run it in this space instead: ----------As I...
To See and Be Seen
In the course of running the scientific evaluation of the Tri-Lens radar reflector featured in Practical Sailor's August 15, 2001 issue, Dick Honey, former senior principal scientist at SRI, sent us the following thoughts on the nature of radar reflection and detection at sea.
Family Radios
The Motorola TalkAbout takes the top spot among seven sets of these close-range alternatives to VHF radios and cell phones.
Should We Rescue This Free Sailboat??
A friend is giving away an old sailboat for free, and now we have to answer the dangerous question every sailor secretly loves: is...
Latest Sailboat Review
Bob Perry’s Salty Tayana 37-Footer: Boat Review
With several hundred boats sailing the seas of the world, the Tayana 37 has been one of the most successful products of the U.S.s Taiwan-built boat invasion that began in the early 1970s. Its shapely Baltic stern, scribed plank seams molded into the glass hull, and lavish use of teak above and belowdecks have come to epitomize the image associated with Oriental boats.