XM Weather, brought to you by the XM radio folks, ought to get some kind of award for most ubiquitous marketing at the show. I saw an XM WX demonstration in nearly every electronics booth. The product is interesting, even compelling, though not without some wrinkles. A small black box hooks up to either a computer or the latest Garmin multifunction displays, and downloads a stream of weather data that’s keyed to your location. The data includes wind speeds, wave heights, sea temperatures, buoy reports, NEXRAD radar, hurricane tracks, not to mention all kinds of forecasts. In fact, the menu of weather data is staggering. However, there’s room for improvement in the software which displays the data—the child-like colors and unrefined user interface design turned me off a bit.
One limitation is that the range of the XM satellites is not worldwide. Basically covering North America, it extends somewhat into Mexico and the Caribbean. The other, is that it’s a bit expensive. While XM radio service is some $13/month for the 120 or so channels, the cheapest WX plan is $30/month, going up to $50! I have to admire the chutzpah of taking information, much of which is produced by the government, and distributing it at such a price point. It must be more profitable for them than music, which they’ve got to pay royalties on. Oh, and if you want to receive music, that costs extra.
I thought I saw Nobeltec charting software demonstrating weather overlays from XM WX, but going back to my notes from the show, it was actually the SkyMate’s weather data. More on the Skymate later. -Ed.
Perhaps this is the breakthrough year for LEDs. Not that they are totally replacing incandescents and fluorescents, but they have they hit the mainstream as nav lights and interior lighting is coming of age as well. IMTRA in particular, now features LED illumination interspersed through much of it’s lighting catalog. At the Miami International Boatshow I was particularly struck by the F4 series task lights. An array of white LEDs surrounds a red one, which also serves as an on/off button. The red LED either glows gently as an aid to locating the lamp, or more brightly as a night vision preserving night light. A photo sensor even lights the night light mode when it’s dark. Mounted on a flexible stock, they are widely positionable, and were used to great effect as reading lights on the African Cats FastCat 435 I went aboard. I’d love a couple of these for Sweet Destiny, but at $230—well let’s just say, that buys of lot of headlamps.
Choosing a refrigeration system for a boat is one of those areas that seems ponderously complex. Do you want a holding plate or a condenser? AC, DC, or engine driven? Water or air cooled? Oh, and how long would you like to run your engine every day just to keep your beer cold? The tradeoffs among these systems can be rather frustrating, and installations tend to be complex. So, it’s good to see new products that promise simplicity and improved efficiency, namely the Stirling cycle powered TropiKool refrigerators. 
It’ll shoot half a liter of water fifty feet; it’s a boat hook; and it’s a handy bailer—what could be more perfect? As a boat hook, the Bridgenorth Bailer is better than average, with a positive locking mechanism, and solid construction. Release the lock, and the handle serves as a plunger for sucking up water from hard to reach spots, or blasting it back out a nozzle in the hook. Sure, you could do a quick deck washdown, but wouldn’t it be more fun to douse the boat next door?
One of the most satisfying things about going to a big boat show is discovering a less-than-mainstream product that does one thing beautifully. That’s how I feel about these navigation light LED indicators. Installed in place of the usual “this circuit is on” LEDs on an electrical panel, they make little colorful reminders of which lights you have on (or forgot to turn off). Not only that, if a bulb is burned out, the indicator will blink—a thoughtful touch. You can get the LED indicators and current sensors to add to your own electrical panel, or buy a range of preconfigured light control panels, with a nice little boat schematic next to the controls. In my book, this is the kind of targeted, innovative product that deserves to succeed.
These beautiful LED navigation lights by Lopolight, are very impressive. Housed in extremely rugged and attractive, disc-shaped aluminum enclosures, they include models for all-around, masthead, tricolor, anchor, side, bow, stern—in fact just about any navigation configuration. There is even an interior/exterior light that mixes white and amber LEDs, making a more pleasant and balanced color spectrum than the usual bluish/white glow. It even has a red night vision mode. And at full blast, it only pulls 230 milliamps (at 12 volts). Actually, all of their lights will run on any voltage between 10 and 30 volts, making selecting the right model for 12 or 24 volt usage a non-issue. On top of that, the cases are resin-filled and waterproof to 30 feet. Contact 
This is such a sensible, smart product, I’m surprised not to have seen it before. Indel Marine, mostly known for Isotemp refrigeration and Isotherm hot water heaters, also has boat-worthy safes in two sizes. They have electronic combination keypads as well as a backup key lock, and look quite robust. The inside is lined with velvet, and would make a great little security locker for your laptop and other valuables. Curiously it’s not in Indel’s website product pages, but here’s the link anyway: 
At risk of becoming the all-Raymarine-all-the-time blog, I was tickled to see the new wireless autopilot remotes they just brought out. Add a small interface box, and these will work with any Raymarine autopilot (even older ones). The simpler, smaller, 
Raymarine is a force to be reckoned with these days—the newly introduced E-series Multifunction Navigation Displays were everywhere at the show. As the follow-on to last year’s well-received C-series standalone stations, these 8.4" and 12.1" units can be networked for multi-station setups, and have a mind-boggling array of features and options. Besides the now de rigueur integrated chartplotter/radar/fishfinder, video inputs and outputs enable some fairly interesting scenarios. A DVD player, VCR, video camera, or other video source connected to the input can be shown either full-screen or in a window. Additionally, a video output can be hooked to a TV or computer monitor for viewing the multifunction display’s contents in other locations. An external screen and 