BOATING GADGETS

Furuno NavNet Radar/Chartplotter

This is an expensive gadget for the serious boater. The 1943C is a combination radar/chartplotter with an extra-large 10.4'' color LCD display. It's a rugged, waterproof unit with lots of pro-level features.

The color radar system is just like the kind your local TV weather guy uses, with six levels of target density to track storms and other weather conditions. The powerful X-Band radar transmitter cuts through all types of weather, thanks in part to the 4-foot open array antenna. It has a range of 64 nautical miles, with a horizontal beamwidth of 1.85°, and can display target or echo trails with selectable time intervals.

The chartplotter lets you use either Furuno CDC or Navionics mini-chart cards and offers a variety of display modes: north-up, course-up, automatic course-up, plotter, nav data, steering director, highway, and so on. The unit can track 1,000 waypoints and up to 200 routes, at 35 waypoints apiece.

Even better, the 1943C can display radar and chartplotter images side-by-side, or overlay the radar targets on the current chart, to make things a little easier to understand. You also get onscreen display of vessel position, heading, and so on.

Suffice it to say, with the 1943C you'll have to try really hard to get lost or caught in a storm. If the Skipper had one of these puppies on the S.S. Minnow, we'd never have heard of Gilligan's Island!

Model: 1943C NavNet Manufacturer: Furuno (www.furuno.com) Display: 10.4'' color LCD Dimensions: 15.1'' (w) x 10.3'' (h) x 7.1'' (d) Price: $7,495

Lowrance LCX-111C HD GPS Mapper

The Lowrance LCX-111C HD combines sonar, GPS mapping, and a precision chartplotter. The display is a 800 x 600 pixel 10.4'' color LCD, with multiple full- and split-screen sonar and GPS display options. The 20GB hard drive holds tons of electronic charts and lets you record sonar graph and GPS details. The sonar's depth range extends to 3,000 feet; the GPS unit lets you track 100 routes with 100 waypoints per route.

Model: LCX-111C Manufacturer: Lowrance (www.lowrance.com) Price: $2,449

Navman Tracker 5500i GPS Chartplotter

Navman's Tracker 5500i combines a chartplotter with a GPS receiver (no sonar, sorry). On the chartplotter side, you get C-MAP NT cartography with tide and port services data; the 12-channel GPS receiver lets you track up to 25 routes with 50 waypoints per route. The 5'' color LCD display has 320 x 234 pixel resolution, with normal, night, and day viewing settings.

Model: Tracker 5500i Manufacturer: Navman (www.navman.com) Display: 5'' color LCD Dimensions: 6.5'' (w) x 6.5'' (h) x 3.5'' (d) Price: $679.95

Suunto M9 Sailing Watch

Not every boating gadget is big and bulky. Suunto's M9 sailing watch packs an electronic watch, compass, barometer, thermometer, altimeter, and GPS receiver (!) into one compact device. Thanks to the 12-channel GPS receiver (on the world's smallest GPS chip), the M9 can calculate line bias and distance to the starting line, detect changes in wind direction, suggest appropriate courses, and provide layline information. That's a lot of information to put on your wrist, but there you go.

Model: M9 Manufacturer: Suunto (www.suuntowatches.com) Dimensions: 2.2'' x 2.2'' x 0.67'' Weight: 3.6 oz. Price: $699

Lotus Designs Critter Life Vest

Okay, this one is a little low-tech, but it's still fun and practical. The Critter is a personal flotation device (aka "life vest") for dogs. Now you can take Fido on the boat with you and make sure he won't drown if he goes overboard. It even has a sturdy handle on the back so you can haul the soggy mutt out of the water, if necessary. Available in five sizes and two colors (yellow and orange).

Model: Critter Manufacturer: Lotus Designs (www.lotusdesigns.com) Sizes: XS, S, M, L, XL Price: $65