Navionics Nav Module

Fast, Fun and Easy to Use!

In addition to current route functionality, Nav Module provides route leg details such as ETA, distance to arrival, heading to waypoint, fuel consumption and more! In-route editing and real time navigation stats are also available!

Start using today! Update to latest version 3.2, open Navionics App, tap MENU, and tap UPGRADES & APPS for a one-time purchase of $1.99/1.59 on iPhone or $4.99/3.99 on iPad.

Using the latest technology – satellite imagery, airborne laser, sonar and official Notices to Mariners – plus hundreds of thousands of changes made by Navionics users through its award-winning Community Layer, Navionics has updated contouring, adjusted coastlines to full pool, and added boat ramps, hot spots, road beds, foundation, creek beds, brush piles, artificial reefs, and docks within its charting database. The fully updated cartography suite provides anglers an even higher level of detailed coverage and spot-on positional accuracy with enhanced awareness of structure and transitions that typically hold fish – allowing them to efficiently locate productive waters.

Available for compatible chart plotters through Freshest Data updates, and delivered in real time to mobile devices, Navionics provides customers access to regularly updated map data plus corrections made by the more than one million Navionics mobile and PC App users. New content such as buoy changes, sand bar shifts, and newly discovered rocks and bottom structure are instantly available for updating charts, greatly improving the accuracy of Navionics maps and enhancing navigation safety.

Freshest Data, improved chart updates and the Community Layer, is available free for a year with new HotMaps Premium and HotMaps Platinum chart cards. Continued unlimited updates for existing chart cards are available for 50% of chart card MSRP. For a complete, current list of lakes Navionics has updated, visit www.navionics.com/navionics-hd-lake-update. For more information on Navionics lake maps, or to learn more about Navionics and its entire product line, contact 800-848-5896 (toll-free) or visit www.navionics.com.

Mercury Marine Earns Three Customer Satisfaction Index Awards from NMMA

Mercury Marine has received 2012 Marine Industry Customer Satisfaction Index Awards in the outboard, sterndrive and inboard categories from the National Marine Manufacturers Association.

Mercury Marine is the only engine manufacturer to win awards in multiple categories.

The Marine Industry CSI Awards program honors manufacturers that actively measure customer satisfaction and emphasize continual improvement to better serve the customer. Mercury Marine, along with 40 other boat and engine manufacturers recognized, achieved and maintained a customer satisfaction score of 90 percent or higher, based on survey feedback provided by customers who purchased a new engine or boat in the past year. In order to be eligible, manufacturers must survey all new boat and engine buyers during the reporting period.

“Mercury Marine is honored to be recognized for customer satisfaction,” said Mark Schwabero, President of Mercury Marine. “Mercury Marine continually focuses on improving the boating experience for our customers by manufacturing innovative and reliable products, while providing personalized customer service.”

Mercury Marine will be acknowledged for the achievement next month during the annual Industry Breakfast at the 2012 International BoatBuilders’ Exhibition and Conference in Louisville, Ky.

Mercury Marine thanks its dealerships and boatbuilder partners for the integral role they played in helping Mercury Marine earn 2012 CSI awards.

Cold Waters Move In; Boaters Step Up Safety

Fall Fishing and Boating Safety Tips from BoatUS Foundation

It's hard being a boater in the fall. Most of your friends on the water are gone, the days shorter, the waters colder. However, the lack of crowds or better wind in the sails is still appealing to many boaters, anglers and sailors, but safety must be stepped up, says the BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water. What makes the risk go up and what can you do? Here's five ways you can easily get in trouble this time of the year.

• Sunshine isn't your friend: Don't let sunny days deceive you - while it may be T-shirt weather in the morning at the launch ramp or dock, weather can change quickly this time of year. Bring extra clothing to dress in layers and always bring foul weather gear.

• Float your plan: The fishing hole or raft-up spot crowds may be gone, but that also means your closest potential rescuers are also long gone. A simple sharing of your float plan with family members or friends letting them know where you're going and when you will be back could save valuable time in locating you if something happens.

• Murphy likes you: Does your boat have any lingering maintenance issues? This isn't the time of the year to find out. Ensure any problems - engine, fuel, charging systems, or safety issues such as navigation lights - are fixed before you go.
  
  
• I've fallen and I can't get up: A simple fall overboard can kill this time of year. Hypothermia is a real threat. By wearing your life jacket, if you do find yourself accidentally over the side you will float and have time to get back aboard, preferably with a knotted or looped rope attached to the gunnel or ladder that be reached from the water. If you'd like to see just how hard it is to get back in a boat, go to www.BoatUS.com/foundation/boardingladders.

• Don't leave without me: If you are alone and fall out, will the boat keep going? It won't run away if you had your engine cut-off lanyard attached to you or use another type of shutdown device.

Boaters Overstaying Their Welcome Could Find Themselves in Hot Water with the Tax Man

 States Go After Visiting Cruisers

Staying too long in one place can ruin a good thing. At least that's the case with boaters making lengthy journeys, who are finding themselves targets of cash-hungry states when they stay too long and are subject to various taxes. But how can boaters prevent overstaying their welcome? Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) has online state tax information at www.BoatUS.com/gov/states that will help keep them on the right side of the law and out of hot water with the taxman.

In most states, a privately-owned recreational boat must be registered in the state where it is principally used, and any sales and use taxes paid to that state. A problem arises when the boat leaves this principal-use state and enters a new one, for a long visit, extended cruise or lengthy repairs. This could include "Snowbirds" - boaters who head south each winter in search of warmer climates.

BoatUS says boaters may be subject to various sales, use, excise, or property taxes when they remain in one location for a consecutive number of days, or over-stay their visit for a certain number of aggregate days per year. This "grace period" is often 60 to 90 days but as little as 30 days in two states (CO, NH). Also, if the principal state's sales and use tax is not comparable to the tax in the state the boat is visiting, the second state can levy their own tax making the boat owner liable for the difference.

To help boaters understand this issue, BoatUS' online map at www.BoatUS.com/gov/states highlights state sales and property tax rates with links to state tax departments, as well as registration information and "grace periods".

In the past, BoatUS has heard about tax authorities walking the docks, inspecting marina records and aggressively enforcing tax codes. "We believe boaters should pay their fair share of taxes, and travel to other states with their eyes open about timelines and potential tax assessments," said BoatUS President Margaret Podlich. "Boaters should keep record keeping such as log entries, marina and fuel receipts or repair contracts while traveling. These documents are critical for boaters to keep, and are often the only way to fight an unjust tax bill," added Podlich.

Coast Guard Modernizing Patrol Boat Fleets in Baltimore/Yorktown

Coast Guard units at Baltimore, Md., and Yorktown, Va., have added new Response-Boat Small (RB-S II) platforms to their fleets. Built by Louisiana-based Metal Shark Boats, the vessels will be placed into service for patrol and rescue operations in Baltimore, and as part of the Boat Forces Training Center's operational fleet in Yorktown, where the Coast Guard trains all of its new coxswains. The nation's capitol will be the next area to receive the new RB-S II. The vessels are part of a $192 million, 470-boat contract designed to gradually replace the Defender-class RB-S as it reaches the end of its service life.

 

RB-S II's flexibility as a multi-function platform makes it ideal for use across the Coast Guard's full mission spectrum, including search and rescue, ports and waterways security, law enforcement, drug interdiction, and environmental response operations. Future deliveries will be assigned to various units including Marine Safety Units (MSU), Maritime Safety and Security Teams (MSST), and shore stations throughout the coastal United States and its territories.

 

To better manage the increase in manufacturing requirements, Metal Shark plans to expand its 65,000 square-foot Jeanerette, La., manufacturing facility while increasing its production team of skilled aluminum welders, riggers, electronics experts, and installation professionals by over 25 percent in the next six months.

Boaters Need to be Their Own Best Lifeguard

Seven Swimming Safety Tips

 

Boating and swimming go hand-in-hand, but unlike a public pool or beach, boaters can't count on a lifeguard to watch over them. As this summer's sweltering heat wave drives more boaters to dive into the deep blue, the BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety has these seven swimming tips:

1. Always ensure the engine is off. The best way to do this is to remove the key from the ignition, leaving it in plain view so everyone knows it won't start.

2. At marinas, stray electric current from poorly maintained boat electrical and shore power systems can kill swimmers. Three separate marina electrocution incidents over the July 4 holiday left four kids and one adult dead, and injured several others who had tried to come to their rescue.

3. Never dive in head first before confirming the water depth. Mistakenly diving into a shallow, mucky bottom may simply leave you bruised and looking more like the creature of black lagoon. However, diving head first into hard sandy bottom, rock or underwater obstruction could put you in a wheelchair. Deploy a boarding ladder first and ease yourself in to confirm water depth.

4. Never swim alone. If you're in the middle of the lake and swimming alone, there's no safety backstop in case you have a problem - which could be nearby boaters unaware of you.

5. It's always a good idea to have a life jacket or floating seat cushion close by (and tied to the boat) that swimmers can easily reach while in the water, or simply hang a dock line over the side. And even if you're a good swimmer, wearing a life jacket while in the water makes you nearly drown-proof.

6. Never swim under a boat's swim platform or near any boat with the engine running. You could strike the running gear or fall victim to carbon monoxide poisoning - it only takes a few whiffs of CO to leave swimmers incapacitated or unconscious. Also stay away from generator exhaust ports.

7. When boats and swimmers collide, boats always win. You're simply asking for trouble if you swim in navigation channels or marinas. Also never swim in area with strong river or tidal currents, which can swiftly sweep swimmers away from the boat.

For more information on boating safety programs from the BoatUS Foundation, such as the free Online Boating Safety Course or free Kid's Life Jacket Loaner Program, go to www.BoatUS.com/Foundation.

BoatUS Towing Services now has over 300 locations

The BoatUS Towing Services on-the-water towboat fleet has reached a milestone: there are now over 300 TowBoatUS and Vessel Assist locations across North America, making it the largest recreational boat towing operation in the world. “We’ve added 14 new locations this year alone, all ready to respond 24 hours a day,” said BoatUS Vice President of Towing Services Jerry Cardarelli. To find any location on a map, go to www.BoatUS.com/serviceslocator.

With half a million members, the on-the-water assistance service for recreational boaters has three times more locations than the closest competitor. On average, 65,000 requests are handled annually from boat owners seeking on-the-water help such as a battery jump-start, soft ungrounding, fuel drop off, or a tow home back to a marina or launch ramp. Business is booming: To date, BoatUS reports that 25 states are already up over 10% in towing dispatch volume over last year. “The free BoatUS Towing App for iPhone and Android have helped drive this increase, along with better weather year to date,” said Cardarelli.

Ten of the program’s 14 new locations this year are located on freshwater lakes and rivers, reflecting the Association’s growth of services for freshwater boaters. “The inland regions, particularly the South, Midwest and Great Lakes, have a lot of boaters who need round the clock service, which many marinas don’t offer. We’ve also had a great response, especially from anglers,” added Cardarelli.

The on-the-water towboat service, a program modeled after roadside assistance clubs for automobile owners, offers a choice of membership plans for recreational boaters and sailors to anglers with fishing boats. Annual towing plans now start at $58 a year for freshwaters and $149 for saltwaters and Florida. Both include a choice of either BoatUS or BoatUS Angler membership.

BoatUS also has a towing service plan for those who trailer their boats – something most roadside assistance clubs don’t include. For $14 additional annually, the Association’s “Trailer Assist” program provides roadside help for both boat trailers and tow vehicles (while towing), and will tow both up to 100 miles to a safe location, repair facility, or home. Ramp winching, fuel drop off and lock out services are also all included. Over 18,000 towing companies nationwide stand by ready to assist.

For more information on any of BoatUS’ towing services, go to BoatUS.com/towing. The towing service is a part of Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS), which began in 1966 and is the nation’s leading advocate for recreational boaters providing over half a million members with a wide array of consumer services, government representation and money-saving programs.