4. Practice, Practice, Practice
Thinking ahead to the ways you’re boating will change and grow—and how you want it to improve—is a good mindset to use when approaching a refit. The system you need is the one that will serve you well now, yet grow with you in capability. Many peripheral upgrades now involve plugging into the multifunction display or black box at a helm system’s core, and then downloading a software upgrade. The good installers know the systems and what directions in which they expand, and can help you envision the future you want to inhabit. You may be getting tired of hearing how easy electronics are to use today. And they are more intuitive than they used to be (but that’s not a very high bar, since you may recall the old systems were as opaque as hieroglyphics).“The new stuff, putting in waypoints, routes, it’s almost like point and click,” Favre says. “It’s so easy to do this stuff where the old stuff was a lot harder and many more steps. I do a lot of the sea trials educating the customers, and it is so much more of a simple process than on the older generation of equipment. Instead of going into different submenus now, it’s really point and click where you want to go, tap the screen and you’re going right to it.” The user interfaces on all these systems have seen a heavy influence from the smartphone and tablet market—and after all, that’s made a big difference in getting everyone hooked on constant connectivity.
“The older generation, guys who still have a flip phone, don’t understand it quite as well,” Favre continues. “I have a trick, I always ask, ‘Can you have your son or your grandson come along?’ I teach them at the same time because they pick it up ten times faster, then they can teach their father or grandfather. The younger generation is pretty much born with a cell phone in their hand now, so they pick it up a lot faster. It’s a lot easier to teach them.” And often the generations spend time on the boat together, so it’s like a built-in help desk.
“We’re seeing guys spend less and less time using their boats, so they’re trying to make the most of it when they are on the boat,” says Favre. “So any device that will get them on the fish, be safer, or make their time on the water more enjoyable definitely is a bonus.”
The most important thing for boaters to keep in mind as they set out to refit their electronics is this: Only you know how your boat is really used. When you’re at the helm alone, making a long passage in low visibility, or even just wrapping up a delightful day on the water with family, it’s just you and that helm. And if the data you want isn’t there in any situation you may encounter, that can be a problem. After all, you’re in charge. It’s your boat.
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