Of course, rebuilding a head would be more fun...

A rather good point, some interesting/scary stuff, and an idea whose time has come...

Not being a gearhead I seldom do the "Ooh, I want one of these" two-step where things for the boat are concerned...

I think it's just that, at least for boat stuff, I pretty much have zero in the want department and only wait till the little voice in my head tells me I really, really need something before I will grudgingly get out the catalogs.

Or, I'll put it this way... Shopping for boat gear for me is several steps below rebuilding marine toilets.

That said, since I have to make some changes to my dodger and the interior of "So It Goes" is getting some pretty major surgery (which I'm sure has Bill Lapworth spinning like a top) the fact that I have to make a decision about a new VHF cannot be put off anymore...

Truth is, I'd much rather be shopping for guitars!

Where the VHF is concerned, what I have been waiting for is for some clever company to come up with a handheld VHF that includes an AIS receiver but so far no one seems to have done one... I find that kind of surprising. The marriage of VHF and AIS seems natural. Factor in that one of the most important features of AIS is that it tells you who that big boat bearing down on you is and that allows you to call them by name...

Most folks answer you when you call them by name, not so much when you don't...

So anyway, right now I'm looking at the Lowrance Link-8 for a dodger mounted VHF. It's more affordable than the other options, doesn't take up too much space, and as things go it's affordable...

Daniel from Oddasea just pointed out that the Standard STD-GX2000-B might be a better and cheaper option as I already have an AIS receiver. I'm pretty sure he had me at the word "cheaper"!

Listening to Jesse & Joy

So it goes...