Thursday, March 28

Browsing: Gear

Seakeeper is on a roll. Well, that’s a terrible misstatement. Actually, Seakeeper reduces rolling on recreational boats by 80 to 90 percent. It makes boating fun again for many, many people who don’t want to roll from side to side while underway or at anchor. It’s the Seakeeper company that’s on a roll. Indeed, Seakeeper is a modern success story, finding new owners across many diverse boat lines and making more and more gyro stabilizers each year. In fact, Seakeeper is going to increase its capacity so it can produce 6,000 new gyros in its factory in Mohnton, PA this…

If you’re thinking about a new water toy to put on your dock next to your cruising boat, take a look at the innovative (and relaxing) Ceclo from France. You won’t want to take this out in 10-foot seas, but for a quiet afternoon or evening around your harbor or lagoon, the Ceclo offers something new and fun. And you probably won’t see too many others like it. Made in France, the Ceclo is an electric-powered pedal boat, meaning you can pedal all day if you want, or if you want to take it easy, turn on the electric motor…

Besenzoni, the large Italian marine accessories company, just won a prestigious DAME Design Award at the METSTRADE show in Amsterdam for its new, futuristic helm chair two months ago. Now, it’s introducing three versions of the chair, that seem to do everything except actually drive the boat, at the huge Boot Dusseldorf show opening this weekend. The Besenzoni chair, called the P400 Matrix, is being shown in Prestige, Comfort and Offshore versions, with various levels of luxury, comfort and movement. The innovative Matrix comes with an adjustable headrest, armrests and automatic support for your back. You can raise or lower…

This doesn’t really bring up visions of Joshua Slocum or bashing ‘round the Horn, but it could add a bit of spice to your local raft-up next summer. It’s the Aqua Beach Wave Floating Party Mat, and it could bring some fun after you tie up in the calm waters of a quiet cove. The Floating Party Mat is different. It’s made with soft, durable cross-link foam so it won’t tear, and it has four cup holders (need we say more). It has mooring lines and hook-and-loop straps to keep you floating in one spot, and it has Velcro straps…

Even with all our electronics, sextants – dating to 1759 – are making a comeback. The Navy, for example, has reinstituted its celestial navigation and sextant training because of fears about jammed GPS satellite signals. Whether you’re on a warship or a 65-foot blue-water cruiser, if you lose your electronics, for whatever reason, in the middle of the ocean, it certainly would help to have at least a working knowledge of celestial and a sextant. As Davis Instruments points out, with a wristwatch, a copy of The Nautical Almanac and a chart, you could find your way back home using…

Regardless of the size or quality of your boat, or the number of nautical miles you have under your belt, you’re not going anywhere if your battery is dead. A good battery charger can make sure your battery is charged and healthy and is ready to go. This is particularly an issue if you’re not using the boat frequently. But which battery charger do you need, and then where do you install it on your vessel? Here’s a great story to answer those questions from Boating World. First off, make sure the charger has enough options and features to insure…

If you have a new or inexperienced crew, picking up your mooring at the end of the day can cause enough angst to cast a pall over even the best day on the water. And if the water’s choppy or there’s a strong wind or current, the mooring process can produce some extra tension that nobody needs. Now, there’s a new, simple and low-cost system to make this much easier, no matter who’s on board. The new system is called Ezibuoy, and it basically involves a small float with a magnet on top that’s tethered to your main mooring buoy,…

Nothing is more vital to the integrity of your boat than its seacocks. Have a problem with one of them, and you literally could be sunk. Depending on the size and type of your boat, you could have a few, or quite a few, down in your bilge, but you’ll certainly have them for your engine(s), genset, head(s) and other equipment. It’s also a good idea to have a mallet and tapered plugs, sized to fit, ready to go in case one of them totally fails. Here’s a good story from Sea about how to care for seacocks and how…

Here’s a best-of-the-year list that’s fun, and that can give you some ideas about what to put under the tree in a few weeks or to add to your boat for the next cruising system. It’s a list of the best water toys of the year from New Atlas, and it covers some “toys” that we’ve already written about (the Aston-Martin/Triton personal submarine, for example) and many that are brand new: Take a look at the Scubalec wearable jet drive that you strap to your wrist, pictured above left, to give some extra boost to your next underwater experience. The…

This is a hoot. Not exactly a cruising boat, but maybe something to give you a little exercise – or even take you ashore – when you anchor out. The 44-pound Manta5 is a hydrofoil water bike that lets you ride on the water. The two carbon fiber hydrofoils create lift (think of the America’s Cup boats in Bermuda), while a 400-watt motor provides enough power to reach a top speed of 12-mph. The battery lasts for about an hour, or you can just keep pedaling manually forever. The whole thing folds up to fit in a car trunk, or…

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