Article by Capt. Steve Katz
Second season now underway
While this may be the final Ship-to-Shore article for the 2020 season, there is still much more fishing and boating to be had throughout this fall and winter.
Thank you to all of our readers! I hope you enjoyed this column and if you have any ideas or requests for future topics, be sure to let the Editor know. A special thanks to Mr. Larry Budd – who took over the Coastal Fisherman publication during a period where everything was unknown and carried on the Coastal Fisherman tradition like nothing ever happened!
Thank you Sir.
With bountiful coastal waters and good weather, boats will be heading out for fall fishing for weeks to come, enjoying the less crowded seas. While this is a benefit to most it should also be noted that you may find yourself one of a few boats in an area just in case you are in need of assistance. The cooler weather and cooler water should be a reminder for boaters to check and recheck their safety gear along with the operating condition of the systems on their boat. Many hours put on the boat in the summer may have taken a toll on your systems, such as batteries, cooling systems, engine fluids, engine hoses and even exterior lighting. It is wise to take the time during one of this fall’s blow days to go over your boat and check and repair as needed any system that is not 100%. Fishing offshore or in a distant bay all alone is a lot of fun and often provides excellent fishing but be sure your boat is up to the task. Being stranded this time of year can be more critical than during peak summer season.
Enough of cautionary tales, what interesting gear and technology is ahead for 2020 and beyond?
This year has been one-of-a kind, with the Coronavirus restrictions, booming boat and accessory sales and a generally busy boating and fishing season here locally. Normally, the Fall and winter season are busy for boat and accessory manufactures preparing new models for the winter season. This year, it seems they are still trying to meet demand and are backlogged getting existing models out the door. Most new and updated products are traditionally touted at the numerous consumer boat shows and industry trade shows during the Fall and Winter. As expected, these events may be limited this year. As you may have heard, the traditional Annapolis Power Boat Show was canceled by the City of Annapolis, thankfully many local boat dealers are carrying on with their own “walk the docks” events as a substitute.
The next big show many boaters attend is the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. So far, the City of Ft Lauderdale has given the green light to hold this event, scheduled for October 28- November 1, 2020. At the moment, the Miami International Boat Show is still planned for February 11-15, 2021. One of my favorite events is the trade only NMEA annual conference & Expo (National Marine Electronic Association) and awards event. This year, the event is Virtual and the annual NMEA product awards will be presented virtually on September 26, 2020 – keep an eye out for the press releases highlighting the winners and runners up.
The travel restrictions and event cancellations have caused many boat builders, manufacturers and retailers in the marine industry to do a better job of presenting their products to a virtual audience, with more social media engagement, direct to consumer sales, and new ways they can interact with consumers without consumers having to travel to a store or an event. Stay tuned to social media to keep up to date.
When it comes to marine electronics and technology products, there have been a few new products introduced so far this year, though many of them have been or are still limited availability- here are few popular products:
Garmin recently announced two new products, OnDeck Remote Connectivity Solution – allows you to receive information about your boat’s system on your smart phone and a new open-array Fantom marine radar that offers 250W of pulse compression power, the highest-powered solid-state marine radar on the market.
Furuno announced the Furuno SCX20 Satellite compass last winter and has just recently become available, due to unprecedented demand. Furuno also announced and began shipping the TZT3 multifunction display, probably one of their easiest systems to operate. Simrad announced and is shipping the newest version of the popular NSS and NSO multifunction displays, the Evo3s.
Most manufactures have released numerous software updates to their multifunction marine displays, some of this software added much anticipated new features, like pin codes to lock the screen and some new software offered much anticipated fixes for nagging problems.
Seakeeper announced the Seakeeper 1, a 365lb unit - the smallest unit they ever produced, designed to stabilize boats up to 30’ for $14,900 (not including installation).
Thank you to all of our readers for another great season here in Ocean City, Maryland. Stay safe this winter and look for us in the Winter edition of The Coastal Fisherman and Spring 2021. §
