Wind, Speed & Depth Instruments

MARINE INSURANCE REDUXI have been reading with much interest your articles about marine insurance this year (April and May 2006).

It was mid-July 1990 on the Caicos Banks, a stretch of shallow, gin-clear water extending for about 70 miles east to west in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Along with a dozen other cruisers whod chosen to thumb our noses at hurricane season (ah, those were simpler times), we were pausing in Providenciales before heading south. …

Davis Instruments usually sticks to good, simple nautical gear. With considerable justification, the company boasts that its no-nonsense Echomasters™ are "the world's best" radar...

Every four years, solo sailing luminaries assemble in France to race non-stop around the world in the Vende Globe, and the equipment aboard their boats deserves examination as a harbinger of what we may some day see aboard our own boats.

Here's a quick review of integrated instrument functions, a scan of what's on the market, and viewpoints from some installation pros.

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

Bow-and-beam bearings, running fixes, collision-course bearings, anchored position—the oft-ignored hand-bearing compass can provide all these and more.

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.

Marine radar is of two types: X-band and S-band. The former is the type commonly carried aboard small boats.

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.