During a recent whirlwind trip to the Midwest, Senior Editor Kevin Koenig and I visited a whole bunch of marine manufacturers located in an assortment of heartland states including Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Of course, we had a few adventures and we learned a few things.
Iroquois is a 164-foot Feadship launched in 1998. She has appeared on the America’s Top 100 list of the largest American-owned yachts published by Power & Motoryacht until 2011.
Written by Ben Ellison on Jun 3, 2013 for Panbo, The Marine Electronics Hub
Written by Ben Ellison on May 23, 2013 for Panbo, The Marine Electronics Hub
Several years ago, for one reason or another, I had to hire a truck to move my Grand Banks trawler Betty Jane halfway across the
Written by Ben Ellison on Apr 18, 2013 for Panbo, The Marine Electronics Hub
Since leaving Myrtle Beach on April 1, I’ve spent a fairly ridiculous amount of time messing around with WiFi and cellular Internet connections, and not only is Gizmo quite well equipped in those categories but she’s stayed within a mostly first world country (just kidding, North Carolina). Admittedly my thirst for connectivity is high, but I might trade a small body part for a system that simply put me online 24/7/wherever. That’s the promise of KVH’s latest TracPhone mini-VSAT V3-IP, and ‘simply’ is the key word. KVH has for a while offered high-speed, ‘reasonably’ priced satellite Internet with a 17.6-inch high V3 dome antenna that can purportedly work on boats as small as 30-feet. What’s new here is the unified antenna controller and modem known as the CommBox (above), which not only looks simple but can even be installed out of sight because as the “ip” in the product name suggests, you can check into this system with most any browser on a PC or tablet connected to the CommBox by Ethernet or WiFi…
Metal Shark, the Jeanerette, Louisiana-based builder of military, law enforcement, and recreational boats, recently announced it is investing more than $1.5 million dollars to expand its shipyard and hire 88 new employees. What’s more, Louisiana Economic Development estimates that the investment will result in 134 indirect jobs, for a grand total of 222 new jobs created.
Reel Eats
Learn how to catch Golden Tilefish here ➤
Reward all that deep-drop reeling with a delightful repast of oven-roasted tilefish. You won’t be disappointed. Sportfishing columnist Gary Caputi has caught–and eaten–enough of them to know.
Have a (small) place of honor to fill on a saloon bulkhead? Mystic Seaport is selling art sized to fit on boats of virtually any LOA.
Written by Ben Ellison on Feb 14, 2013 for Panbo, The Marine Electronics Hub
Garmin isn’t messing around. The 8000 Series announced this morning includes three MFD sizes — 8-, 12-, and 15-inch — as well as the 8500 Black Box that can drive new Garmin monitors available in 15-, 17, and 19-inch sizes. Do click on that family photo above to not only see the whole range but also something called the GRID for Garmin Remote Input Device. I’ve wondered if Garmin would ever add a rotary knob or joystick to its touch screen interface and the answer is that now you can have both…
Written by Ben Ellison on Feb 13, 2013 for Panbo, The Marine Electronics Hub
Whether it’s called a Simrad GS50 or a B&G ZG100 or a Lowrance Point-1, it does not seem to be just another NMEA 2000 high-precision, high-refresh-rate GPS/Glonass sensor. Also integrated in is an “e-Compass/Gyro…heading sensor…that ensures access to stable and smooth vessel orientation” and “when used with a compatible” Navico display “greatly enhances navigational information by providing accurate course over ground (COG) data at any speed and enabling radar overlay on charts.” I’ve quoted the press releases heavily because I’m not yet sure that the sensor actually outputs Heading data, but the releases do say that whichever brand you buy, this souped-up overlay-enabling GPS is just $199 retail, and that sounds good…
Written by Ben Ellison on Feb 7, 2013 for Panbo, The Marine Electronics Hub
I did get to tour a couple of yachts during my Trawler Fest engagement and the one that got my attention was the Garcia GT54 hull #1, which was built in France and motored to the U.S. on her own bottom…during hurricane season! “Le Trawler” is both stylish and practical in numerous ways, and it’s also a good example of a full-on Furuno NavNet 3D system…
Last September saw a good boat show in Newport, Rhode Island—warm sunny days and cool evenings: pretty much a perfect New England fall weekend. It had been especially nice for me, as I’d moved out of this haven on the Atlantic a few months earlier—it was nice to be back. As Sunday afternoon approached, a group of Power & Motoryacht staff decided to take a little harbor cruise on the Cruisers 41 we had on loan from the manufacturer.
You see lots of Racor FG500 fuel-water separators kicking around the waterfront, both on new boats (mostly protecting gensets) and on older ones like my Betty Jane, where the trusty little device helps stop water and other contaminants from getting into the main engine.
During a recent whirlwind trip to the Midwest, Senior Editor Kevin Koenig and I visited a whole bunch of marine manufacturers located in an assortment of heartland states including Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Of course, we had a few adventures and we learned a few things.
Iroquois is a 164-foot Feadship launched in 1998. She has appeared on the America’s Top 100 list of the largest American-owned yachts published by Power & Motoryacht until 2011.
Written by Ben Ellison on Jun 3, 2013 for Panbo, The Marine Electronics Hub
Written by Ben Ellison on May 23, 2013 for Panbo, The Marine Electronics Hub
Several years ago, for one reason or another, I had to hire a truck to move my Grand Banks trawler Betty Jane halfway across the
Written by Ben Ellison on Apr 18, 2013 for Panbo, The Marine Electronics Hub
Since leaving Myrtle Beach on April 1, I’ve spent a fairly ridiculous amount of time messing around with WiFi and cellular Internet connections, and not only is Gizmo quite well equipped in those categories but she’s stayed within a mostly first world country (just kidding, North Carolina). Admittedly my thirst for connectivity is high, but I might trade a small body part for a system that simply put me online 24/7/wherever. That’s the promise of KVH’s latest TracPhone mini-VSAT V3-IP, and ‘simply’ is the key word. KVH has for a while offered high-speed, ‘reasonably’ priced satellite Internet with a 17.6-inch high V3 dome antenna that can purportedly work on boats as small as 30-feet. What’s new here is the unified antenna controller and modem known as the CommBox (above), which not only looks simple but can even be installed out of sight because as the “ip” in the product name suggests, you can check into this system with most any browser on a PC or tablet connected to the CommBox by Ethernet or WiFi…
Metal Shark, the Jeanerette, Louisiana-based builder of military, law enforcement, and recreational boats, recently announced it is investing more than $1.5 million dollars to expand its shipyard and hire 88 new employees. What’s more, Louisiana Economic Development estimates that the investment will result in 134 indirect jobs, for a grand total of 222 new jobs created.
Reel Eats
Learn how to catch Golden Tilefish here ➤
Reward all that deep-drop reeling with a delightful repast of oven-roasted tilefish. You won’t be disappointed. Sportfishing columnist Gary Caputi has caught–and eaten–enough of them to know.
Have a (small) place of honor to fill on a saloon bulkhead? Mystic Seaport is selling art sized to fit on boats of virtually any LOA.
Written by Ben Ellison on Feb 14, 2013 for Panbo, The Marine Electronics Hub
Garmin isn’t messing around. The 8000 Series announced this morning includes three MFD sizes — 8-, 12-, and 15-inch — as well as the 8500 Black Box that can drive new Garmin monitors available in 15-, 17, and 19-inch sizes. Do click on that family photo above to not only see the whole range but also something called the GRID for Garmin Remote Input Device. I’ve wondered if Garmin would ever add a rotary knob or joystick to its touch screen interface and the answer is that now you can have both…
Written by Ben Ellison on Feb 13, 2013 for Panbo, The Marine Electronics Hub
Whether it’s called a Simrad GS50 or a B&G ZG100 or a Lowrance Point-1, it does not seem to be just another NMEA 2000 high-precision, high-refresh-rate GPS/Glonass sensor. Also integrated in is an “e-Compass/Gyro…heading sensor…that ensures access to stable and smooth vessel orientation” and “when used with a compatible” Navico display “greatly enhances navigational information by providing accurate course over ground (COG) data at any speed and enabling radar overlay on charts.” I’ve quoted the press releases heavily because I’m not yet sure that the sensor actually outputs Heading data, but the releases do say that whichever brand you buy, this souped-up overlay-enabling GPS is just $199 retail, and that sounds good…
Written by Ben Ellison on Feb 7, 2013 for Panbo, The Marine Electronics Hub
I did get to tour a couple of yachts during my Trawler Fest engagement and the one that got my attention was the Garcia GT54 hull #1, which was built in France and motored to the U.S. on her own bottom…during hurricane season! “Le Trawler” is both stylish and practical in numerous ways, and it’s also a good example of a full-on Furuno NavNet 3D system…
Last September saw a good boat show in Newport, Rhode Island—warm sunny days and cool evenings: pretty much a perfect New England fall weekend. It had been especially nice for me, as I’d moved out of this haven on the Atlantic a few months earlier—it was nice to be back. As Sunday afternoon approached, a group of Power & Motoryacht staff decided to take a little harbor cruise on the Cruisers 41 we had on loan from the manufacturer.
You see lots of Racor FG500 fuel-water separators kicking around the waterfront, both on new boats (mostly protecting gensets) and on older ones like my Betty Jane, where the trusty little device helps stop water and other contaminants from getting into the main engine.
