5 Gadgets to Make Sailing Easier

sailingA new sailing season is about to start and it’s the perfect time to take inventory of all the essentials you might need. General cleaning, putting a good coat of wax and making sure all the drains are clear is just the beginning of the preparations. Lately, there are a lot of sailing related gadgets around. Some of these are just too flashy and basically a waste of money. Others, however, can actually be quite handy and once you get them, you won’t be able to remember how you managed without them.

GPS system

Being able to navigate is the most important part of any sailor’s job. What was once an expensive and hard to find equipment is now pretty widely available. However, don’t really on the GPS on your phone or a tablet device. This may be enough when you’re on land, but they’re not going to cut it on water. The batteries run out too quickly, it’s dependent on the signal coverage and even water itself can be damaging. Get a proper handheld GPS and you won’t have to worry about any of these.

Action-camera

What’s the point of all that sailing adventures if you can’t brag about them on social media? Getting a waterproof action-camera is a must. It should be helmet mounted and able to sustain a bit of impact. From technical standpoint, the most important feature for an average user is the ability to easily transfer the video from a micro SD card to the computer. On a more serious note – reviewing your sailing techniques can help prevent future accidents, as well; so it isn’t just a vanity purchase.

Bird control

Anyone who enjoys boating knows how annoying birds can be. Seagulls, cormorants, and pigeons, leave a mess, but they can also be much more dangerous than that. Depending on the type of vessel and its surface, bird control Australia offers different solutions. Visual decoys are the simplest way to fend the birds off. They could be just random bright color drawings or they can come in a shape of a predator such as hawks and owls. There are also bird spikes, which can be mounted on your boat or in the marina. And in the end, the most aggressive deterrent is a device which plays high pitch or ultrasounds and scares the birds away. None of the devices are harmful to the animals.

Anti-motion sickness glasses

If you’re an experienced seafarer you might not need these, but they will make life easier for beginners and guests at your boat. When the glasses are on, their lenses strobe, which creates a gap between what you’re seeing as the water tosses you around. This difference between perception and what is called “vestibular interpretation of movement” (also known as balance) is what causes motion sickness. Glasses can also be used in cars, planes or any other place that causes this feeling.

Fish finder

Fishing is the most civilized fight between man and nature there is. And there’s no reason for a man not to get some extra help from technology. The device is basically sonar which you throw into the water and wait for it to send back the information about the fish nearby. It can be sent to your phone or to a device specially designed for this. You can also save this information and create handy maps for later on. It has a range of 80 feet and can go 120 feet deep.

High tech can meet nature in the most exciting ways. These gadgets make sailing easier and more enjoyable and they can be used by both professionals and amateurs alike.

2 thoughts on “5 Gadgets to Make Sailing Easier”

Leave a Comment