The electronics nerds out there have been busy in the last year, inventing all kinds of new gadgets designed to make your life aboard ship easier and better.
We’ve scoured the catalogs and come up with the following selection of interesting new gadgets that we think most captains would love.
Pro-Techt Mantis Portable Bimini
Keeping your passengers in the shade is always a worthy project. They can gather in the helm cabin or go below to get out of the sun, but what about when they go forward to lounge on your lounge seats in the bow?
That’s when this ingenious portable bimini shade comes in handy. You can select one of 14 different mounting options (sold separately) for the lightweight aluminum frame and quickly open the aerodynamic nylon shade that provides shady coverage that’s 55 inches wide and 35 inches deep. Your bow loungers will have it made in the shade!
Quickly opens and shuts, is endlessly adjustable, stores compactly and won’t get in the way when you’re fishing. Priced at around $250, plus another $50 for the mounting hardware. Available at Amazon, Bass Pro Shops and other marine retailers.
Tapplock Fingerprint Padlock
This struck us as a great idea! Whenever you leave your boat, you probably want to lock something up…a locker with your gear in it, or the entrance to the cabin or anything else.
The Tapplock padlock is programmed to open to your fingerprint. No keys. No memorized combinations. Just place your finger over the reader screen and it’ll open up. Runs on rechargeable batteries and can be controlled by your smart phone.
The Tapplocks come in various shapes and sizes, starting at around $35. Find them on Amazon.
Yacht Sentinel 6 Security System
If a padlock isn’t enough to give you some piece of mind, maybe you should look into the Yacht Sentinel 6 security system. This intelligent boat monitoring system watches over your boat when you’re not there and lets you know if something is awry.
Easy to install, the YS6 system will monitor your boat’s position, battery levels, water levels in the bilge, door, window or hatchs, motion detection, electrical power connections, internal temperatures or any shock to the boat’s hull. And if anything happens, you get an instant message on your phone.
Yacht Sentinel has been in business for 12 years and offers initial two-year coverage. Prices for the system began at around $1,300. Visit www.yacht-sentinel.com for information.
Margaritaville Explorer
There’s nothing better than a nice margarita on a hot summer day. Especially on the deck of your boat!
The battery-operated, cordless Explorer model from Margaraitaville is perfect for every boat owner. It will shave ice and instantly blend up to sixty frozen drinks on each charge of its rechargeable battery. Use the pre-programmed recipe or do it manually…your drinks will come out beautifully blended and delicious.
You can find these machines at Bed, Bath & Beyond, Amazon and other housewares stores for around $200.
Bose Frames Tempo
These sports audio sunglasses are the perfect marriage between stylish eyewear and Bose-quality sound for listening to your favorite tunes on the boat.
The wraparound Polarized lenses are high-performance, and the soft silicone nose pads and adjustable temple grips make them super comfortable, even in hot, sweaty, sunny conditions.
The Bluetooth-enabled, Open-Ear enabled speakers provide top quality sound reproduction, so you can hear the music clearly, even in a gale. Listen to your favorite tunes or answer phone calls that come in crystal clear.
Priced at $219. Find them at Amazon.
Zayak Sea Sled
Everybody loves to snorkel, right? Except those who don’t like to put their face in the water. Like a lot of little kids. Or your Aunt Gizelda who wears glasses.
The Zayak Sea Sled is designed for people like that. The bright yellow plastic base floats on the water and the user puts his face in the vented neoprene facemask which works like a glass-bottom boat to provide a clear view of the world below the surface.
Experienced snorkelers can even use the Sea Sled to pick out spots that require closer looks with mask and snorkel.
It’s a great way to introduce the undersea world to young children, or to enable others to get a glimpse from the surface without putting on a mask.
Priced from around $325. Find it on Amazon or at boating supply stores, or visit www.zayakseasled.com/
