It seems that the new ICOM M93D handheld VHF radio does just about everything but drive the boat for you. It has an integrated GPS to tell you where you are and where you’re heading, built-in DSC so you can check in with other boats (or sound a distress), a special feature that sounds a buzz while it drains water away from the speaker, and a red LED light that turns on automatically (even if the radio is off) if you drop it in the water. And if floats. By the way, it’s also a state-of-the-art VHF. Slender and easy…

There’s a debate on the America’s Great Loop Cruisers’ Association website about the value of AIS, particularly whether cruising boats need a transponder as well as a receiver. Several cruisers say they’ve had trouble with some AIS apps, particularly in rural or remote areas where cell service is sketchy, or nonexistent. But here’s a posting from Joe Pica, a veteran cruiser from Gulf Breeze, Florida, who recently found the full AIS system on his 37-foot trawler was a great advantage in New York’s crowded harbor. His posting: “Yesterday, we left Great Kills to run up the Hudson River to hide…

Garmin just introduced Quickdraw Community, free, user-generated map data software where you can share HD mapping content and download data. The new Quickdraw Community is based on Garmin’s Quickdraw Contours software, which lets users create personalized HD maps with one-foot contour lines on any body of water. “Garmin customers have been collecting Quickdraw Contours mapping and depth data on their devices since the free software feature became available earlier this year,” says Garmin VP Dan Bartel. “Now they have a way to easily share that data with others.” Bartel also says that Quickdraw Community, which uses sonar technology, is “the…