Article by Capt. Steve Katz
Spring Forward
Welcome to the 2021 Coastal Fisherman! I am honored to continue the Ship-to-Shore column and working with the Coastal Fisherman crew!
Thank you to Coastal Fisherman Editor and Publisher, Larry Budd - who re-started the Coastal Fisherman during a time of economic uncertainty and succeeded with flying colors in his first year and the helm and continues to provide a fantastic publication free-of-charge to the local and beyond fishing community.
Last spring, our industry was off to a slow start with many unknowns, so much has changed for the good this year. We are off to a fast start this season, with lots of activity in the fishing and boating industry.
Just a few weeks ago I toured the Lindgren-Pitman manufacturing facility in Pompano Florida. Lindgren-Pitman (often referred to as L&P) is the premier deep sea fishing equipment manufacturer. They are busier than ever, working as fast as possible to fill orders; parts and people speeding throughout the factory. Shelves of electric reels waiting for final testing, Long Line fishing reels being packed up for air freight shipping to overseas destinations, miles of monofilament spooling up from the extruder.
This bustling scene is repeated at other marine manufacturers, whether boat builders, boat yards, marinas and service companies – demonstrate both a surge in demand and shortage of materials and often the workforce. Boaters around the country have embraced patience, or at least settled for long delays when getting work done on their boat or buying parts and supplies. Luckily, most of the major marine manufacturers have been accurate in projecting delays, allowing boaters to schedule appropriately. Many informed boaters and anglers saw this industry backorder landscape this winter and put their orders and service calls in earlier than ever. Just recently a customer ordered a new Garmin radar in March (knowing there was a backorder situation) was given a delivery date about a month later in April and to their credit, Garmin shipped the radar on the scheduled day!
What’s new and trending for Spring 2021
While the annual Miami boat show was canceled this winter along with other winter shows, there was a Fall Ft. Lauderdale boat show and most recently the Palm beach boat show in March. The exhibitors indicated that the Palm beach boat show was one of the best attended shows of all times. I was able to visit the show and found by mid-morning there were crowds of people at almost every exhibit in the tents and walkways.
Marine manufacturers often introduce new products during the winter boat shows and this year the announcements were spread out through the winter, but new and updated products still hit the market and often instantly created backorders!
KVH, the global leader in mobile connectivity announced two important items for the VSAT, voice and internet market. First, they announced that the data network for their oldest TracPhone® V/VIP series antenna systems will be discontinued on January 1, 2022 BUT they also announced they are offering major (up to 50% hardware discount plus labor) incentives to existing customers to upgrade to the newest VSAT systems. KVH also announced a new offering in the VSAT market with the TracPhone V30. This new antenna system is an ultra-compact, fast, and affordable digital VSAT system with new metered and unlimited use plans, worldwide coverage, and faster speeds that ever before -as fast as 6 Mbps/2 Mbps (down/up). Importantly for boaters who only need satellite internet and phone for a portion of the year, KVH now offers affordable month-to-month service plans, allowing you to sign up for service only when you need it and not paying when you don’t. This new V30 has a few additional features that make it great for smaller boats that once could not utilize a stabilized VSAT system - a single cable connection from dome to below deck equipment (previously a bundle of large cables interconnected these components) and the new below deck equipment is much smaller that the traditional 19” rack mounted hardware and is powered by 12v or 24V. These features make the V30 a perfect fit for larger center consoles and traditional sportfish that did not have space for wiring or equipment.
While software almost tops the list for spring tune-ups, this year is no different. This winter, both Furuno and Simrad released software that enables the SiriusXM fish mapping features on their modern multi-function. Many Furuno and Simrad customers already had the necessary hardware and were patiently waiting for this software. While there were many new features and fixes by both Simrad and Furuno, the SiriusXM fish mapping was the most desired feature customers were anticipating.
Garmin also released lots of new features in their winter software updates: Jack-plate position message currently utilized in Bob’s Jack Plate products, the Reactor™ 40 Steer-by-wire autopilot is now compatible with the Uflex Integra EPS System, heave PGN (127252) support on NMEA2000, added new fish species supported by the SiriusXM Fish Mapping service and many other features and fixes. Compatibility with the Mercury Marine Smart Craft engines is expected in the second quarter of 2021.
I could not start this Coastal Fisherman season without recognizing the passing of Franky Pettolina. He will be missed on the pages of the Coastal Fisherman but also amongst many of the Ocean City fishing community and beyond. I enjoyed Franky’s company, both personally and professionally over the years and express my sincere condolences to Franky’s family, friends and colleagues.
Until next time, stay grounded! §
