Sailing Guides

Card size, heel, mounting, lighting and deviation: choosing a magnetic compass for a sailboat.

Countdown controls, water resistance, readability and battery care: choosing a practical watch for racing and cruising.

Why 7x50 is the sailing standard, compass and stabilized binoculars, and our top picks at every budget.

How to choose a chartplotter for cruising — screen size, charts, networking, and top picks at each budget.

Raymarine, B&G, Garmin, Simrad and Pelagic autopilots compared — drives, sailing modes, and integration.

AIS transponders for cruising sailboats — Vesper Cortex, em-trak, integrated VHF options, and why SOTDMA matters.

Satellite comms for cruising sailboats — Starlink Mini, Iridium GO, Garmin inReach, and how to combine them.

Fixed-mount and handheld marine GPS units compared — screens, charts, power draw, and picks at every budget.

Fixed-mount and handheld VHF radios with DSC, GPS and AIS — how to choose, install, and register an MMSI.

Solid-state and magnetron radar domes for cruising sailboats — Doppler tracking, mounting, power draw and picks.

Combo chartplotter/sonar units for sailboats — transducer choices, CHIRP sonar, screen sizes and top picks.

How to plan and wire an NMEA 2000 backbone — terminators, LEN power budgets, gateways and troubleshooting.

Handheld GPS and satellite units as chartplotter backup — waterproofing, battery life, charts and ditch-bag picks.

Tiller, wheel, below-deck linear and hydraulic drives compared — how to size thrust and install one properly.

How wind, speed and depth instruments work together, what calibration matters, and how B&G, Raymarine and Garmin compare.

What radar, AIS and thermal cameras each see and miss at sea, and how to combine them for a real watchkeeping system.

How the three satellite networks differ at sea, what offshore coverage really costs, and how to layer broadband with a global backup.