Article by Capt. Steve Katz
Rolling into Fall & Winter
Another Mid-Atlantic summer season is ending, though it seems the fish do not know that yet. Hopefully, we get a few more weeks of fishing before the end of the season.
For many anglers and boat owners, the dates on the calendar are meaningless, our seasons are dictated by fishing and weather. When the fall weather turns colder and fishing slows down, many anglers turn to other activities, such as hunting. Meanwhile, before the Mid-Atlantic winter sets in, many boat owners and crew use this time to accomplish scheduled boat projects. Some of these projects, take just a weekend or two and some take this non-fishing time to get started on major projects, such as re-powering, painting, or other large-scale projects. One look at the boatyard at Sunset Marina and you can see the numerous boats already on-land for service and repairs. Many of these projects need to be finished by Thanksgiving, when many boats head south for the winter, or even travel on a ship to far-flung destinations, such as Costa Rica.
An additional benefit of keeping a boat in the Mid-Atlantic area through November is to avoid the added insurance cost and storm requirements of being farther south during the traditional Atlantic Hurricane Season that runs from June 1-November 30. In the Atlantic, the hurricane belt falls between 12° N and 30° N latitude from June 1 to December 1. Of course, there can be hurricane-force storms anywhere and at any time of year, but statistics show that they are more likely to occur in this area during this period than at other times.
This off-season is also a great time of the year for traditional preventive maintenance projects. It is a good idea to get started on these things now, since sometimes a little issue is bigger or more time-consuming than you thought. If you have an outboard engine, changing the engine oil and the lower unit oil in the fall is a recommended practice, so it sits with clean lubricants during the off-season. Just the opposite when it comes to batteries, if you think your batteries are at the end of their life, or have a problem, it is best to wait until spring to buy new batteries so that way you don’t have new batteries sitting in storage during the cold winter.
The changing of the season marks the start of the Fall and Winter boat shows and the associated new product introductions, for boats, fishing gear and my favorite, marine electronics. Many consumers, anglers, boat owners and hopeful boat owners visit these shows to learn about the latest and greatest offerings.
There are boat show events for everyone this fall and winter, some are local, and some offer an opportunity to get away to warmer weather:
The Annapolis Powerboat Show, October 3-6, 2024
Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show October 30- Nov 3, 2024
Miami Boat Show February 12-16, 2025
Our local Ocean City Seaside Boat show February 14-17, 2025
Palm Beach International Boat Show March 19-23, 2025
And many more regional shows, The National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) has a great list of boat shows on their website, nmma.org.
For those who work in the marine trade, there are two upcoming popular shows. In early October is the annual International Boatbuilders Exhibition & Conference (IBEX). This annual trade only event is the largest technical marine event in North America and the three most valuable days of the year for all marine professionals. This event includes over 700 exhibitors, 70 technical sessions and numerous opportunities to meet and learn from industry professionals. This week is the National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) annual conference where many new products are introduced and product awards are presented, along with training and technical sessions for marine electronic professionals.
What is on the horizon in marine electronics from the major manufacturers:
Garmin
Recently introduced a 9000 series black box chart plotter that includes the new Garmin BlueNet™ network, all-new Garmin GC 245 and GC 255 marine cameras built for Garmin chartplotters can provide distance markers and guidance lines to enhance situational awareness when docking in tight quarters, Garmin Spectra™ LED control module—a compact lighting controller that makes it easy to control onboard LED lights from a compatible Garmin chartplotter or the ActiveCaptain® app on a compatible smartphone.
Furuno
The newest Furuno multifunction display, TZtouchXL have begun shipping, ranging in size from 10” to 24” these screens are a completely new build, incorporating many features and offerings requested by Furuno users. This is the first time the professional grade TimeZero marine charts have been built-in on a multifunction display. One of the most groundbreaking aspects of TZ MAPS is called BathyVision, providing amazingly detailed bathymetric data that can be configured to an incredible resolution of a mere 3 inches between contours! That's 3 times better than any other bathymetric chart currently on the market. BathyVision data, along with custom depth shading, can easily be overlaid on TZ MAPS navigation charts to create the ultimate "Fishing Charts"
Simrad
Earlier this year, Simrad introduced a unique GPS chartplotter combo screen, the NSX Ultrawide. It offers the same active area as two smaller displays, but in terms of functionality it offers so much more. The screen is 14.5” diagonal but only 7” high, which can allow it to fit into the helm of smaller boats.
There are other new products and offerings of marine electronics in the works by manufacturers, keep an eye out for announcements during the upcoming show season for new product introductions.
The upcoming second season is a great time to catch up on projects on your boat, prepare for winter fishing in warmer climates or explore new boats and products at the fall and winter boat shows. §
