Is the paper chart going the way of the dodo bird? NOAA is ready to scrap them. Costs too much they say. They no longer print them, although they do still create the necessary digital files. So, who is affected, and why? Electronic Navigational Charting (ENC) is king. ENC is ...read more
Our 1987 Pearson project boat came with an elderly but functioning Raymarine chartplotter, located belowdecks at the nav station. Since I usually sail solo or doublehanded, it was of little use down there—it needed to be near the helm. When I decided to update the plotter along ...read more
Be it for safety, navigation or competition, all sailors have a need for information about their boat’s performance and its environment. Many recent advances have been made by marine electronics manufacturers, which have increased the accuracy, quantity and accessibility of data ...read more
B&G Vulcan 5 Sailing Chartplotter The new Vulcan 5 from B&G is a 5in multi-touch chartplotter with pinch-to-zoom capabilities. The Vulcan 5 can be integrated with existing NMEA 2000 networks and a wind instrument to allow sailors to tap into B&G’s SailSteer functionality. The ...read more
When it comes to accurately keeping track of your whereabouts, modern chartplotters and multi-function displays (MFDs) are virtually indispensable. Provided they are properly networked to other onboard instrumentation (including AIS, GPS and radar), typically via a NMEA 0183 or ...read more
