Bluewater Gear - Ocean Navigator

06 Feb

NMEA Launches Marine Data Initiative

Eric ColbyBluewater Gear, Boat & Gear News, Electrical Systems, Electronic charting, Marine Electronics, Marine Technology, Press release

The National Marine Electronics Association has launched the NMEA Cloud Initiative. The project is intended to aggregate existing marine data for safety, conservation and innovation. The NMEA assures participants that getting involved is voluntary and all shared data is anonymous. It will not be used for law enforcement or surveillance. The goal of the initiative is to 200 vessels actively contributing data by 2026. Peripheral data from NMEA 0183 and NMEA 2000 systems that are used on vessels worldwide will have consumer options that can be made anonymous and shared securely to improve navigation safety and conservation efforts. NMEA is…

04 Feb

Keep Inflatable PFDs up to Date

Eric ColbyBluewater Gear, Boat & Gear News, Offshore Safety, Seamanship & Navigation, Uncategorized

In its January issue, our sister publication, Professional Mariner, reported that a crew member on a pilot boat perishing after falling overboard. Canadian authorities found that the crew member was wearing an inflatable life jacket but it didn’t inflate. Since we haven’t covered the topic of inflatable life jacket maintenance in a few years in Ocean Navigator, it’s worth revisiting. An auto-inflating lifejacket malfunctioning can most often be blamed on one of two things: the actuator doesn’t work right, doesn’t fully engage the CO2 cartridge or the actuator is out of date. If you have an inflatable life jacket, an…

14 Jan

New HP Watermaker Introduced

Eric ColbyBluewater Gear, Boat & Gear News, Industry & Company News

HP Watermakers has pulled the sheet off a new model, the HP Genius. The manufacturer says it’s a lighter unit that can be installed more easily than previous models. The company is introducing the new model at the Boot Düsseldorf show in Germany Jan. 18 to 26. “The new HP Genius sets new standards in terms of low eight and ease of use, but it will not be our stand’s only attraction,” Gianni Zucco, co-founder of HP Watermakers, said in a press release. “We will also be displaying the new HP SCA Double 440 watermaker.” That model was introduced at…

19 Dec

Maretron and Raymarine Announce Collaboration

Eric ColbyBluewater Gear, Electronic charting, Industry & Company News, Marine Electronics, Marine Technology

Marine electronics maker Raymarine has partnered with Maretron to integrate the latter’s vessel monitoring systems into the former’s Axiom chartplotter displays. Maretron’s MConnect is a client-server technology that offers access to real-time data across hundreds of data points on a vessel. Integrating MConnect with Raymarine’s Axiom family of multifunction displays lets users monitor and control vessel components from Raymarine’s LightHouse interface. MConnect’s data visualization and customization tools are compatible with Raymarine’s MFDs. They let a user configure personalized interfaces and control vessel systems with ease. By combining MConnect’s graphics editor with Raymarine’s high-definition displays, users can create dashboards that consolidate…

14 Nov

Lifejacket Takes Top Honors in DAME Awards

Eric ColbyBluewater Gear, Ocean Voyaging, Offshore Safety, Offshore Sailing

Marine safety products manufacturer TeamO took the top honors at the 2024 DAME Design Awards for its 150N Hi-Lift Lifejacket & Harness. The announcement was made at the breakfast briefing at the METSTRADE marine trade show Nov. 19 in Amsterdam. The TeamO product won its category, Personal Equipment, and was then named the overall winner by the award program judges. The jury identified a total of eight category winners, nine special mentions and two environmental DAME Design Award winners. What sets apart the 150N Hi-Lift lifejacket is its twisted bladder design. It moves most of the wasted buoyancy above the…

02 Apr

Cruising sabbatical becomes a new lifestyle

Bill MorrisBluewater Gear, Home Page Hero, Ocean Voyager, Offshore Sailing

Corinne Gau-Tchekov and Michel Gau voyage aboard their Alliage 49 aluminum monohull, Ganesh. They left France in 2011 after Michel’s retirement and have been sailing around the world on a six-month-at-sea/six-month-on-land rhythm, leaving Ganesh in various boatyards along the way. Having crossed the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, then cruised for six years in Southeast Asia, they are currently in Malaysia, almost ready to cross the Indian Ocean. Corinne and Michel have been married for 37 years, and they started sailing in 1987, just after the birth of their first daughter, Marina. In 1990, they took a sabbatical year on their…

14 Apr

Story and photos by Craig SmithBluewater Gear

Originally from Scotland, David Irvine has lived and worked in the Netherlands, Dubai and Malaysia before transitioning to working remotely from his boat Ursa, a 1977 Valiant 40. [gtx_gallery] David has been inseparable from the outdoors since a very early age, discovering a love for hiking and mountains in his teens. He has since climbed in many of the great ranges, including the Himalaya, Andes, Rockies and Alaska. A relative newcomer to boating, he completed a number of sailing courses and boating vacations in the Mediterranean before going to Malaysia to experience the Andaman Sea and obtain his RYA Yachtmaster certification.…

14 Apr

Ocean NavigatorBluewater Gear

Rolls Battery Engineering rollsbattery.com Mastervolt mastervolt.com Victron Energy victronenergy.com Lithonics Battery lithonicsbattery.com ReLion relionbattery.com Lynx Battery lynxbattery.com Sterling Power sterling-power.com Roadpro roadpro.co.uk

14 Apr

Ocean NavigatorBluewater Gear

• Gels are priced slightly higher than AGMs, but both are roughly double the cost of flooded lead acid (FLA) units. • Gels can have as much as double the cycle life of AGMs and usually more than FLAs. • Gels have a flat high performance curve until depleted; AGMs and FLAs lose capacity gradually. • AGMs & Gels are less prone to sulfation than FLAs and are not usually equalized. • Gels do better at higher temperatures, AGMs and FLAs are better at low temperatures. • AGMs have up to five times faster charge rate than FLAs and are also better…

14 Apr

Ocean NavigatorBluewater Gear

If you are full-time cruisers like us, your electrical system, including batteries, is critical to your safety and comfort, so it has to be right. These days, you have multiple options when it comes to constructing your house bank. Some are better than others for a given cruising situation. All should be deep cycle capable, have a lengthy service life, and be part of a well-thought-out electrical system. It’s even better if they require little or no maintenance. And all must be understood and treated well or they will give you continual grief and drain your financial resources unnecessarily. Possibly…