How to Save Money When Buying marine navigation equipment

Electronics technology is constantly improving, offering ever more impressive capabilities, writes Mike Reynolds.

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It is making navigation easier, quicker and more accurate, and useful information easier to access.

It's making recording and displaying historical data possible, supplementing the real-time (now) data we're used to.

It costs, but only if substantial replacement of hardware is necessary.

We decided we wanted the best of both worlds ' standard hardware with longevity, and software with the flexibility to take advantage of emerging trends.

We are electronics enthusiasts and configuring electronics isn't everyone's cup of tea.

But a little effort can deliver the very latest capabilities, tailored to your boat, for minimal additional cost.

For those not inclined to experiment, this article illustrates capabilities coming to future 'plug and play' systems.

Our boat Zen Again is a s 34ft 3/4 tonner which we purchased 10 years ago.

She is fitted with a robust cruising navigation and communications system, with built-in redundancy.

For some years we've used standard NMEA- sensors for position, speeds, depth and AIS.

The data is sent via WiFi to a laptop at the chart table and waterproof tablets on deck.

Recently we've added a NMEA- weather station which added wind, temperature, atmospheric pressure and 3D attitude.

This required new SignalK interface technology to replace the old NMEA- traditionally used over WiFi.

SignalK became a springboard into some really useful capabilities.

I will describe what we've done, and what it cost.

You can stop anywhere along the process but the further you go the better the capabilities, and the value of the investment!

Electronics: Gathering the Data

When contemplating upgrades we keep in mind our prioritised data list:

• Position (from GNSS systems ' GPS, Galileo, Glonass, collectively 'GPS')
• Water depth n Boat speed and heading
• Speed and course over ground (SoG and CoG)
• Autopilot n Communication (VHF plus SSB and/or Satphone)
• AIS transceiver
• Wind sensor (apparent wind)
• Environment sensor (atmospheric pressure, air temperature, attitude)
• Radar

The autopilot is important enough for us to have two fully installed and calibrated units.

Radar is last since AIS pushed it down the list.

We had radar but it failed years ago.

A replacement hasn't made the cut yet and we'll ignore it here.

We'll also ignore SSB and satphones.

Recognising that AIS transceivers integrate GPS we can translate the data list into a list of system elements:

• AIS (position, time, SoG, CoG, traffic)
• Thru-hull sensor (boat speed, water depth, water temperature, 3D attitude)
• Autopilot (heading, rudder angle, route-related data, 3D attitude)
• VHF (DSC messages)
• Wind sensor (apparent wind)
• Environment sensor (atmospheric pressure, air temperature, 3D attitude)

It's interesting that 3D attitude is appearing in so many sensors.

The technology is now very cheap and easy to integrate into products.

Our research revealed the availability of NMEA- weather stations.

These integrate high-speed GPS and measure apparent wind, ground wind, air temperature, atmospheric pressure, 3D attitude and more.

No moving parts. It gave us all the environmental data we wanted and addressed a desire for GPS redundancy.

So our list became:

• AIS transceiver (about £800)
• Thru-hull sensor (about £300)
• Autopilot (about £1,300 tiller, about £2,500 wheel)
• VHF transceiver (about £300)
• Weather station (about £1,500)

All of these system elements are readily available with NMEA- interfaces.

The total cost is under £5,000 for tiller and £6,000 for wheel auto-pilots including cabling and mounting gear.

To save £1,200 the weather station could be replaced with a wind sensor (about £300).

We valued GPS redundancy and environment data highly so installed the weather station.

Displaying the Data

Marine MFDs (Multi-Function Displays) and chartplotters are nice.

Many boats have two. But they're not cheap, and nor are charts for them.

We fitted a small one soon after purchasing Zen Again, and carried a spare.

As time passed one failed and the other was relegated to data display only.

Five years ago we started chartplotting and displaying data on laptops and tablets.

This change was enabled by the WiFi access point on our AIS transceiver.

This, together with the integrated GPS, makes the AIS the heart of the system.

Continues below'

It broadcasts its own data plus other data from the NMEA- network.

We've crossed three oceans and circumnavigated the UK using only laptops and tablets for chartplotting and data display.

They've survived storms and a lightning near-miss which destroyed a marine-standard interface unit and damaged one of our autopilots.

We carry fully configured spares.

With thunderstorms nearby we disconnect all their cables to minimise risk.

The apps we use are OpenCPN on the laptops and iNavX on the tablets.

OpenCPN is a free, open-source, full-featured chartplotter.

On OpenCPN we use ooSENC charts supplemented by satellite imagery.

iNavX is also an excellent chartplotter and uses Navionics charts.

We like the redundancy of multiple chart sources.

Both apps support display of real-time instrument data.

Most marine WiFi access points broadcast data as a NMEA- datastream.

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit marine navigation equipment.

This limits the data to that supported by NMEA-. This was a serious problem in our latest upgrade which added the weather station.

Much of the new data is unsupported by NMEA-.

More research suggested SignalK was the answer.

SignalK

SignalK is a free, open source marine data exchange format.

It provides a means of sharing marine data in a future-proof manner friendly to WiFi, mobile networks and the internet.

The heart of SignalK is a software server which inputs and outputs NMEA-, NMEA- and other data streams.

The software translates the data streams to and from SignalK format and makes the SignalK data available to client apps.

Clients can be on the same computer or on other connected computers.

Each client gets only the data it requests.

Client apps can be on phones, tablets or laptops, aboard or elsewhere.

The only additional hardware required is a NMEA- USB gateway for about £150. An example use of SignalK is the open source system OpenPlotter.

OpenPlotter uses a £50 Raspberry Pi computer to run SignalK and OpenCPN, providing a full onboard MFD solution, albeit not to 'marine standard'.

SignalK supports more than described below, including monitoring and controlling devices, and generating alarms.

On Zen Again we already had several BeagleBone computers aboard.

They're less capable computers than the latest Raspberry Pis but consume less power.

We decided to try SignalK on one of them.

We purchased an Actisense NGT-1 NMEA- USB gateway and set to work installing the SignalK software on the BeagleBone.

Installation wasn't simple but it's now documented on our blog.

OpenPlotter comes with the software pre-installed for a Raspberry Pi. Our experiment has worked out very well.

The Beaglebone now feeds SignalK over WiFi to OpenCPN on our laptops and to client apps iNavX and WilhelmSK on our laptop, tablets and phones.

It also transmits wired NMEA- to our old autopilots.

We also have all the software installed and configured on a spare BeagleBone.

Both hardware and software have proven to be very reliable after several months of 24/7 operation.

WilhelmSK is a £20 SignalK client app which runs on iOS and MacOS.

It supports user-designed pages to suit your data and also your current situation.

For example we have sailing, anchoring and weather pages.

Beyond SignalK

With SignalK proven aboard we looked at what more we could do with our data.

We like to record our passages, which previously amounted to written hourly logs and electronic GPX files of our tracks.

SignalK supports output to the free database software InfluxDB.

InfluxDB was simple to set up on the BeagleBone.

This records all of our NMEA- data, giving us a 'black box' recorder.

To view recorded data we installed the free graphing software Grafana on our navigation laptop.

The laptop accesses the BeagleBone's InfluxDB database over WiFi.

We created Grafana 'dashboards' to display our data.

While sailing we can view trends like speed, wind, current, atmospheric pressure and so on.

After passages we can capture summaries and highlights.

WilhelmSK can display web pages, including Grafana dashboards.

SignalK has given us a lot of information and enjoyment for the £200 hardware cost of a BeagleBone and an Actisense NGT-1.

Most of the software for these programmes is free.

Installing the software wasn't trivial but it put the future of marine electronics on our boat today.

Adding recorded data display to real-time data display is certainly a plus.

Electronics gear

Actisense NGT-1 NMEA- USB gateway

Buy it now on eBay (UK)

Buy it now on eBay (US)

www.actisense.com

Raspberry Pi 4 Model B 2GB Quad Core 64 Bit Cortex-A72 4x USB WiFi Bluetooth 5 (2GB)

Buy it now on Amazon (UK)

Buy it now on Amazon (US)

www.raspberrypi.org

BeagleBone Black

Buy it now on eBay (UK)

Buy it now on eBay (US)

www.beagleboard.org

Enjoyed reading How to get the latest boat electronics ' on a budget?

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Registered User
Join Date: Nov Location: North Germany Boat: 29 ft
Posts: 281 Re: Best ways to compromise on a boat to save money. Sometimes in autumn, you see adds stating that a boat is still on its mooring and the buyer needs to go through all the hassle of organizing winter storage, transport etc etc. Such boats tend to go cheaper than market as well, but again, the question is what you get for the money. So, if the former owner only recently can not look after the boat any more, there may be something worth the hassle. If it has been neglected a few years, there will be a lot of gremlins to sort out. Registered User
Join Date: Nov Location: North Germany Boat: 29 ft
Posts: 281 Re: Best ways to compromise on a boat to save money. Another point: Some places in the world are cheaper. It used to be, that Teneriffa was good value - people who took their boat there from Europe to go accross the Atlantic and then found, that sailing wasn't for them after all, were sometimes eager to sell.



Another point: Material: Steel boats can be good value for money if you are not into high speed. But they can also be worthless rust buckets. Registered User
Join Date: Feb Location: WY / Currently in Hayes VA on the Chesapeake Boat: Ocean Alexander, Ocean 44
Posts: 1,149 Re: Best ways to compromise on a boat to save money. Lots of good advice here. I will add that nothing makes more sense financially than paying off ALL debt before incurring any boat expenses. Put on the work harness, buckle down and get your income up and get rid of all debt while learning as much as you can by reading and perhaps crewing on other's boats. Registered User
Join Date: Aug Location: Skagit City, WA Posts: 25,791 Re: Best ways to compromise on a boat to save money. I think bad cosmetics are a good bang for the buck to save purchase money. Flaking varnish, dirt, mold etc. Sometimes different style interiors don't sell well, like the old fashioned galley along the side layout. That layout is actually great for living aboard.

Things to avoid that are expensive and take a ton of time even if you spend the money:
-Bad blisters on the bottom
-Extensive wet deck core, or hull core on a cored hull.
-Under floor tanks that are rusty, leaky.
-Sails are expensive

Even if you buy a boat you think has little wrong with it, it can be overwhelming once you get using and maintaining it. So buy the best you can find vs the largest you can afford.
A boat that has been on the market a long time can be a deal, especially with winter coming on. Don't be afraid to make low offers. __________________
"I spent most of my money on Booze, Broads and Boats. The rest I wasted" - Elmore Leonard


Registered User
Join Date: May Location: Fredericksburg, VA Boat: Nonsuch 354
Posts: 159 Images: 1 Re: Best ways to compromise on a boat to save money. Assuming the boat is structurally sound to begin with, I would think that opting for traditional navigation over electronics would probably be the most cost saving thing you could do. My electronics are 20 years old. I just priced a complete upgrade at the Annapolis Boat Show--about $8K plus for a 9" display. Display size is the driving cost so a 7" display is much, much less but still expensive. There is no reason why you can't do traditional navigation, at least for a little while, and it will make you a better sailor too. Registered User
Join Date: Dec Location: St Croix, heading to South Seas Boat: Hunter 37 Cheribini
Posts: 276 Re: Best ways to compromise on a boat to save money. Okay, here's what I'd do in your situation, ( I have many years experience and many boats behind me). Cheap Apt., cheap car, but both should be reliable and sound.

Join a sailing club to learn to sail & get to know a lot of different boats and hear EXPERIENCED sailors ideas & opinions of various boats. Try to think of an under 30 ft boat that is know to sail well, lots of them out there, often sell cheaply. My nephew was given a 21 ft trailer sailboat cause the owner knew it had little or no value if sold.
Trailer boats are not a bad way to start, but only if you can store with the mast up, that makes it more likely you'll go sailing every weekend.

Sail often and widely with as little equipment as possible, esp. electronics. I'd say in less than 2 yrs you'd know what it's all about & how you want to go about it.

I've met a couple that sailed a Coronado 25 to Tahiti & Hawaii, a very young man that sailed a Catalina 27 to Costa Rica, and another that sailed to Tahiti, several 30-32 footers sailing across the Pacific to Australia, working along the way to make ends meet, working for other yachties, not the local economy.

I just sailed down the East Coast from NJ to FL in my Hunter, great trip and lots to see & do all along the coast. You could job-hop easily with your skills while living aboard and cruising on weekends & holidays.

Give it a shot & I hope to see you in the Pacific someday,

Capt. Wayne