Safety & Seamanship

There are numerous portable marine electronics that can keep you connected while you get away from it all. But which device offers the most features-tracking, two-way communication, location sharing, etc.-at the best price? And which one can be counted on in an emergency? We began our look at these personal electronics with the January 2013 review of BriarTeks Cerberus Cerberlink and the SPOT Connect. This month, we evaluate the DeLorme inReach, another pocket-sized, satellite communication option for the cruising sailor, as well as the Iridium Extreme 9575 sat phone, which is capable of providing worldwide voice communication.

If its been more than five or six years since your life raft was inspected, theres a good chance that it wont deploy properly in an emergency, and survival items stowed inside may also be expired. The hassle and expense of inspecting a life raft-something youve likely never used or will use-often deter owners from having it repacked as often as it should be. To find out exactly what the process entails, Practical Sailor observed the inspection and repacking of a five-year-old, eight-person Viking recreational-grade life raft at a service center in Boston and toured a Winslow service facility in Florida.

The radio crackles with an emergency dispatch: A sailboat is sinking 50 miles east of Cape Hatteras. Theres no EPIRB signal, just a garbled mayday overheard by a commercial ship. The weather is snotty and getting worse. Within minutes, a Jayhawk helicopter and Falcon jet are airborne, roaring toward the search zone, where theyll meet up with two unmanned drones launched from a cutter on patrol. Sound far fetched? Not really. Early-generation unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) armed with lightweight cameras are already being deployed on limited search missions. Fitted with high-resolution cameras, infrared, and other sensors, the drones cover wide swaths of ocean forup to 20 hours without refueling.

Specializing in lighting for nautical and other outdoor activities, Norway-based Navisafe’s products include the U.S. Coast Guard-certified Navi light 360, Practical Sailor’s Recommended small-boat rail light (PS, May 2011), and now, the Navi light Mini.

Specializing in lighting for nautical and other outdoor activities, Norway-based Navisafe’s products include the U.S. Coast Guard-certified Navi light 360, Practical Sailor’s Recommended small-boat rail light (PS, May 2011), and now, the Navi light Mini.

Sailboat lifelines have jumped back into the spotlight thanks to a growing acceptance of-and some controversy over-high-modulus rope like Dyneema and Spectra being used as an alternative to stainless steel. These high molecular weight polyethylene (HMPE) ropes are as strong as stainless-steel wire of equal diameter, yet they weigh far less. To determine whether the synthetic lifelines are practical for cruising applications, Practical Sailor launched a longterm, in-depth set of seatrials (linked with lab testing at the U.S. Naval Academy) aboard an Ericson 41. The evaluation compares several options and their installation, durability, and cost.

During the time PS Technical Editor Ralph Naranjo worked as the Vanderstar Chair at the U.S. Naval Academy, he organized a research project that was carried out by first-class midshipmen (seniors) in the Mechanical Engineering Department. The goal was to design a steel box beam jig replicating the perimeter of a Navy 44.

One of the first things we research when designing a new product test are industry standards already in place. Frequently, there are none, or those that exist have little to do with the real world.

Always on the lookout for drug-free anti-seasickness options, Practical Sailor recently tested a new one designed to ease seasickness by activating acupressure points on the wrists. PsiBands are similar to other acupressure bands, including Davis Instruments’ Queaz-Away ($10, www.davisnet.com), which PS reviewed in the December 2009 issue. Acupressure bands are designed to stimulate specific nerves located at the inner wrists. Applying pressure at these points can provide relief from nausea.

Matt Rutherford recently completed a record-breaking, non-stop solo circumnavigation of the Americas, covering 27,000 in 309 days, aboard his 36-year-old, 27-foot Albin Vega to raise funds for the Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating (CRAB) nonprofit group. Rutherford’s success was founded in his ability to make a boat with modest design and modest structural attributes behave well in a wide range of conditions. The journey was a true test of the boat’s seaworthiness, the skipper’s seamanship, and his gear’s durability in harsh conditions. Practical Sailor takes a look at the Albin Vega, the gear Rutherford found to be essential—like his Monitor windvane, Origo stove, and Harken furler— and the products that let him down along the way—like multiple GPSs and a Kindle e-reader.