Our navigation equipment setup, and how I resonate about it.

This article is the first one of an ongoing series of that I, Ryan, am writing about the systems on our boat, Polar Seal, a Beneteau Oceanis 40 from 2007. 

A series of articles about our sailboat

When we decided to get into sailing and go cruise full time, I (Ryan) had no prior experience of boats or sailing. At that time, I felt the sailing world was a giant black hole!  Everywhere I turned, there were words I did not even know existed, such as Spinnaker, code 0, halyard, bulkhead, NMEA 1083, NMEA 2000, seacock, you name it.The more I would explore these terms, the more I realized how little of an idea I had what about I was getting myself into.  It took me three years to finally feel like I’m getting a handle on all these terms. Although I realize that as time goes on, I’ll find more and more topics I don’t know about.We get many questions from our views and readers about our boat Polar Seal, and the systems we use onboard. We get asked what navigation system we have, our solar panels setup, what we like, what we don’t like and what we would do differently.That is why I have decided to start a series of articles about different aspects of our sailboat, a Beneteau Oceanis 40 from 2017, and hopefully, start a discussion with our little community about this aspect of our cruising project. 

Full disclosure:

back in 2015, neither Sophie of I had experience of sailing. I have done an extensive amount of research but in the end, everyone has they own views, opinions, wants and needs. Something that works for me might not work for you, and that’s okay! If you think we could do something different or better, feel free to let us know in the comment section below, or send us an e-mail (We see you Andy).And now I present to you our…. Electronics!  More specifically our Navigation equipment: what we currently have, and how I would prioritize our navigation equipment if I were to do it all over again. 

Our navigation equipment/electronics: what we currently have.

When we received Polar Seal, our Beneteau Oceanis 40 from 2007, she was kitted out very well. She came with:

• 2 Raymarine E80 Chartplotters (one at the Chartplotter station and one between the helms)
• a Raymarine AIS250 receiver
• an analog radar Raymarine RD218 .(at the time of writing this, we are about to switch to a digital radar)
• a 2x station VHF in the cockpit and in the cabin.
• a Fish Finder
• a Raymarine tri data display connected to a log and depth sounder
• a windex with two 60s displays
• Oh, and a Furuno Navex.

It all works nicely for us!

I was excited to have all this equipment on board. I felt it all had a use, although being ten years old, I was skeptical as to how long it would all work.However after three years of use myself I can honestly say that most of this ‘classic’ Raymarine equipment is holding up well. With the exception of our Radar, which I believe we could actually have repaired, and the fish finder (which never worked correctly), the navigation equipment is doing its jobs jo nicely. The only other thing which is failing is the cable on one of the handheld units of the VHF.

… but finding replacement parts is hard.

The only issue I have personally had with Raymarine has been their lack of replacement parts for this equipment. I understand you can’t produce replacement parts forever, and you want the public to buy your new stuff but this equipment is installed literally on thousands of boats and will be for the next 10 years. Not being able to get replacement parts after 10 years is very disappointing and I feel it points to the consumerist world we live in. Navigating in the heavily trafficked and swelly waters of the North Sea, good navigation instruments were very appreciated.

My equipment "priority-list", and how I resonate. 

Now, to answer the question ‘what would you suggest to have on board?’.  Some of us to have the resources to buy a used boat, throw away all the navigation when they get old, and start over. We do not, but I have spent a significant amount of time thinking about the possibilities, and my ideal setup, which I may line up in an upcoming article.This is how I would prioritize the acquisition of marine electronics when it comes to navigation equipment, and how I resonate around it. 

1: Good depth, wind, and log instruments available at all time.

Cause you basically always want to know how much water you have under your keel, how the wind is blowing and how fast you are going. 

2: Navigation / Chart plotter: available both in the cockpit and in the cabin.

Having two plotters has been wonderful.  A person can keep an eye on things on deck or below.  That said, with technology advancements, a person really does not need two chart plotters these days. Having a single chart plotter in combination with WIFI or a multiplex and displaying the information on a tablet would work as good for us.We know some sailors have no chart plotter, but instead, connect all their equipment to a laptop running Open CPN. I personally prefer having one system onboard whose sole function is navigation and communication.Redundancy: We carry a backup set of Navionics digital charts on one of our phones which I like and use a lot. 

3: Communications: VHF

Polar Seal came with a unique VHF setup: one VHF station in the cockpit and one at the navigation table, both with external speakers. I love this setup, and if I were to do it again I would do it the exact same. The off watch person can set the volume in the cabin below to hear what is going on, while the person on watch in the cockpit can set the volume on deck independently: a great solution.Further to this we are able to connect a Shakespeare hailer to the VHF which allow for automatic foghorn sounds. That is a tool we have used coming in the straight of Gibraltar and we quite enjoyed having it.Redundancy: We also have a handheld VHF which we typically keep in the ditch bag. Now and then, I take it out if I am wandering around the boat and want to be able to hear what is going on. 

4: Surveillance: Radar first, AIS (transponder) second

After navigating this season through some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world in Northern Europe as well as in the thick fog of Western Spain and Portugal, I feel like I have a good handle on what works and what does not for us.My personal opinion is that the best tool a sailor has is their eyes, followed by a good set of binoculars and a hand-bearing compass.The first next thing I ensure I have is a radar. A radar allows us to see everything around us, regardless of the equipment another boat has or not. Furthermore, today's digital, doppler and 4G radars use so little power that a person can potentially leave it on as long as they would like.The third piece of equipment I do really enjoy we have is an AIS transponder (we just upgraded our AIS receiver to an AIS transponder). In today's marine world, a lot of boats (from large ships who are required to have time, to fishing boats, to yachts) have AIS transponders. Those help a person get a picture of the traffic going on around them.In addition, having access to a ships MMSI, name and Call signs helps with general communication in the event a potential collision course needs to be worked out.However, the AIS system relies on others boats to have equipment on board (a transponder) in order for us to see them. To conclude, I will say this: there are many other tools and gadgets that we could set up on our boat. I resonate from the standpoint of a conservative budget. At some point this year, we were considering doing a major upgrade of our chart plotter and radar system, which gave me the opportunity to study the latest technologies in the field and think through what my ideal setup would be for our marine electronic onboard.This, with all the specifics of brands and models, will be the topic of an upcoming article! This article is part of an ongoing serie of article that I, Ryan, am writing about the systems on our boat, Polar Seal, a Beneteau Oceanis 40 from 2007.