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Technically speaking, I didn’t even glaze over

Editors Note

Nov 10, 2022

What a nice surprise. When we talk boat tech lately, it has typically meant foiling or electric motors and batteries. This week’s issue made me realize there’s a LOT more than that going on.

Yes, Plugboats does an electric engine update, but Ask Andrew took me behind the panels for a look at NMEA 2000 backbone, which you might be a topic that would cure insomnia, but no, it is not only very interesting and, yes, understandable (thanks, Andrew.)

Hi. An owner asks “Do you have any idea which one if for what?” He gets ten answers. Amazing!

And take a good look at the Yamaha Drive X video. Whether or not this is your kind of boat, the capability of the system is mind blowing. The controls and paddles let you easily do things that only a super skilled boat handler could manage. Yet, the presenter demonstrates the whole thing as if it’s as simple turning on the household dishwasher. Consider how far this has come and how we take it for granted.

Now, a whole other angle – this week I joined the C&C owners’ facebook page. We take this completely for granted by now, but here’s a means that owners and others can share opinions and questions about the legendary C&C boats that continue fill our docks thanks entirely to the internet. On the site, I could see no funny cat videos, no meme jokes. Just questions, tips, ideas all pertaining to the single brand. This didn’t always exist, although it’s “ordinary” now. Thousands of boats all across the continent. Everyone’s in the loop.

Boats make a great platform for many sorts of tech. Being a boater means being a technologist these days.

John Morris
Online Editor
Canadian Yachting Magazine

 

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