Nite Izes new LED bulb replaces original AA-battery Mini Mag-Lite bulbs and comes in four colors, including night-vision-preserving red; the white LED bulb is also available in an upgrade kit ($9.99) that creates push-button control. Nite Ize reports that its bulb increases battery life to 20 hours (up from 5 hours for the incandescent bulb); using LEDs with C- and D-cell Mag-Lites produces even
Light amusementPart of the fun of sailing at night is learning about the light combinations displayed by other vessels. Two whites one above the other, plus a green and a red, that meansaaarggh! The novice crew aboard will probably feel much more relaxed with a LIGHTrule in the cockpit. This $24.99 quick-reference tool shows 60 different light configurations as youll see them
SensiBulb The maker of the SensiBulb boast that it has the warm color, intensity, and beam width of a 10-watt halogenclose enough in my testingplus the cool operation, low draw, and long life of an LED. The basic $40 bulb fits as is into most dome lights, and accessories enable retrofitting to many reading lamps. Typical current usage of .14 amp can be reduced to .025 amp by
Wish for FishNothing tastes as good as a fish youve caught yourself. Trouble is, fishing from a sailboat can be a hit-or-miss affairin my case, usually miss. Lure maker Darrell Primrose says thats because sailboats typically dont go fast enough to make big lures work properly. He reckons his $59 Sailboaters Combo Rig, which includes some handy hints on techniques along with a
The maker of the SensiBulb boast that it has the warm color, intensity, and beam width of a 10-watt halogenclose enough in my testingplus the cool operation, low draw, and long life of an LED. The basic $40 bulb fits as is into most dome lights, and accessories enable retrofitting to many reading lamps. Typical current usage of .14 amp can be reduced to .025 amp by using the built-in dimmer
Port Networkss approach to maximized marine WiFi is to minimize coaxial loss by packing a high-powered radio and 5.5-dB antenna into a waterproof box for deployment on deck whenever youre docked or moored. Both power and signal run through a no-loss 25-foot Ethernet cable. While the $349 MWB-200 will usually find the best available WiFi signal automatically, complete control software is
This is one tough tiny camera. I dunked it into Boston Harbor, even photographed the muck, rinsed it under the tap, and its still snapping photos. Olympuss Stylus 720 SW is shockproof, has a 3X zoom lens, and takes digital photos as large as 7.1 megapixels. Moreover, it offers 28 shooting modes, ranging from standards like portrait to more-esoteric operations like shooting through glass.
Pocket Navigators latest 5.0 release can run on Smartphones cellphones using the Windows Mobile operating system. The test unit worked nicely with a Bluetooth wireless GPS, its 1-gigabyte memory card offered ample raster-chart storage, and the keypad-driven interface was good enough for backup plotting. But whats really impressive is how the Pocket Navigator easily fetches and overlays NOAA
Fear No FireThe one thing you shouldnt do with a fire in an enclosed spacelike an engine bay on a boatis to add more air. Smell something burning, open the engine compartment, and whoosh, say goodbye to your eyebrows, and maybe to your boat. Thats why I like this simple install-it-yourself Fire Port ($8.74). If you ever see flames through the transparent window, just puncture
Nothing tastes as good as a fish youve caught yourself. Trouble is, fishing from a sailboat can be a hit-or-miss affairin my case, usually miss. Lure maker Darrell Primrose says thats because sailboats typically dont go fast enough to make big lures work properly. He reckons his $59 Sailboaters Combo Rig, which includes some handy hints on techniques along with a Teaser Bird lure intended
During the pandemic, I was stuck aboard Guiding Light, a Lagoon 410, in St. Lucia for over a month. During that time, as I worked
Anacortes, Washington, is an unassuming sea-salty town near the San Juan Islands of Puget Sound, and the Betts Boats yard is easy for a passerby
The Xquisite X5 Plus is a major update of the boat that SAIL awarded Best Large Multihull and Best Systems titles in 2017. The changes
When I began preparing Minx, my 1987 Pearson 39-2, for extended Caribbean cruising, I had to balance my champagne wish list against my beer budget.
The decision to host the next America’s Cup in Barcelona ruffled the feathers of some fans, but the Defender is happy with how the venue
Elan’s first sporty “Grand Turismo” yacht, the 43ft GT5, launched in 2017, and was actually a bit of a mash-up. It combined an existing go-fast
The days of multihulls being the weirdos of the sea are gone. Nothing illustrated this better than the 2021 Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC), which
There is, of course, nothing new about bowsprits—sailing ships have been using them for centuries. That said, these days they are more popular than ever
For years, Nautitech Catamarans has been doing things differently from other production cat builders, and it seems to be paying off. When the French company
