Family Radios
The Motorola TalkAbout takes the top spot among seven sets of these close-range alternatives to VHF radios and cell phones.
Five GPS Handhelds
Yes, it's again time to look at handheld GPS receivers, which have now officially become a consumer commodity. Sales of receivers to hikers,...
Electric Propulsion: Solomon Technologies’ High-Wire Act
It's powerful, quiet, renewable, and sometimes even free. It doesn't pollute. How severe are the drawbacks? That depends on several of your thresholds.
Website Shopping at the Big Four
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.
Ozone Machine Update
Quantum's odor- and mildew-destroying machines get a fresh evaluation.
Fixed-Mount VHF Radios: Icom Dominates
Out of 11 models that went on the bench, Icom had three that shined. Standard also did well. Digitial Selective Calling still has a way to go.
Tri-Lens Radar Reflector
Marine radar is of two types: X-band and S-band. The former is the type commonly carried aboard small boats.
Steering Compasses: Show Me the Way to Go Home
For this review, Practical Sailor collected, from the hundreds available, 18 steering compasses. Included are binnacle, bulkhead and bracket models, plus several interesting ones shown only in photos. Except for the bronze Telltale compass shown on page 7, all have 12V lighting and gimbal systems.
Aqua Vigil Alarm Is Simple but Quirky
Nothing is scarier than seeing water coming into your boat. If you're not aboard to see the spectacle, you'll be safe — but it might be curtains for your boat.
Too Expensive To Bury
The test report in the March 1, 1997 issue of Practical Sailor called the KVH Datascope “the king of the hand-bearing compasses.” Although expensive,...
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.