BurgeeGear initiated a research survey amongst Yacht Club Officers and Administrators.  Over 500 Yacht Clubs were surveyed. This survey investigates the following operating drivers and this report presents the findings and data gathered:

• Does your Yacht Club buy items for inventory in your Ship’s Store?
• What types of burgee items do you currently sell in your Ship’s Store?
• In what volumes do you typically buy items for your Ship’s Store?
• How many times per year do you place orders for your Ship’s Store?
• How Many Suppliers do you order from?
• What time of year do Yacht Clubs buy items for their Ship’s Store?
• What are the most important considerations in determining what to buy?

It is planned that this will be an annual survey where data and trends will be tracked over time.  This survey is available for FREE download at www.burgeegear.com

• Protects important gear
• Easy to use
• Inexpensive
• All natural
• Gets all kinds of stuff unstuck
• Lasts forever!

Bees Knees is a product that belongs aboard every boat or in every sail bag. The used are many, the results are exceptional, and it’ll keep your expensive gear working like new. We go to great lengths as boaters to protect our stuff from the harsh marine environment. Finally there’s a cheap (just $6.95!), easy and natural product for the many zippers (and other stuff) aboard our boats.

Read the full Bees Knees Zipper Wax review

Ella Vickers makes a great line of sailcloth bags from recycled sail cloth.  There are quite a few makers of sailcloth bags but Ella Vickers bags stand out from the crowd for exceptional quality and great style.

The quality extends to the details of these bags including touches like brass rings and clips, webbing straps and even nautical flags stitched into many of their bags.  The bags also come standard with a number sewn onto the outside of the bag.

Sails are reclaimed from all over the world to create the Ella Vickers line of sailcloth bags and accessories.

You can actually sell your used sails to Ella Vickers who accepts White Dacron sails, Kevlar sails, spinnaker sails and even Tanbark sails. Rates are $.25/sq. ft. to $.95/sq. ft. You can make a little money or even better, money can even be donated to any charity of your choice.

With this in mind, here are recommendations for handheld floating VHF radios based upon the criteria of: Price, Size, Battery Life, Power, and overall Value.  You can also learn more about more than a dozen floating handheld VHF radios by checking out this handy handheld VHF comparison matrix.

PRICE:   Standard Horizon HX280 5w

If you are looking to buy a floating handheld VHF on price then the Standard Horizon hx280 5w is the one to check out.  This is the only floating handheld VHF under $100.

POWER:  Standard Horizon Hx751 6w

If you are looking for a lot of power in your handheld, check out the HX751 from Standard Horizon.  With 6w and 5w of transmit power, you’ll have better transmit power than in most handheld VHF radios.

COMPACT:   Icom IC M24 Handheld Vhf

If having a small and lightweight handheld VHF is important for you, the Icom IC m24 is a floating VHF worth checking out.  At only 9.2 ounces, this is the lightest one around!

BATTERY LIFE:   ICOM IC M72 Handheld VHF

VALUE:  Cobra MR HH330 FLT VHF

The Cobra MR HH330 Floating VHF costs just about $115 but gives you 6w of transmit power.  This

Mark Vertanen, one of Kuuma’s founders, will continue with Camco, working with the Kuuma brand and product development.

Kuuma, translated from Finnish as “hot,” is based in San Leandro, CA. Kuuma’s offices soon will move to Camco’s corporate headquarters in Greensboro, N.C.

“We are extremely excited to have Mark Vertanen and the Kuuma brand join our Camco family,” Camco vice president of sales Keith Cook said in a statement. “Camco is going to make these products more readily available and accessible to consumers who want the best. It will allow us to provide the marine market with the consistent quality, service and competitive pricing that has made us the largest RV accessories manufacturer in North America.”

MarineProductReviews.com recently checked out the latest Standard Horizon floating VHF handheld.  This is a handheld VHF review for the Standard Horizon Hx290 Floating Handheld Vhf Radio. The three things that stand out with this handheld VHF radio are 1) price 2) waterproof and 3) it floats.  Don’t underestimate this last point if you are in the market for a handheld VHF.  The Hx290 transmits at both 5w and 1w.  The 5w offers a great combo of range and battery efficiency.  With this floating handheld VHF, you are getting a quality hand held boat radio with the no-frills core feature set but with Standard Horizon quality and 3 year warranty at a price point just over $100.

Read the full Standard Horizon Hx290 floating VHF product review

Check out other Handheld VHF Reviews:

Icom IC-M88 Handheld VHF Marine Radio Review

Icom m34 Floating Handheld VHF Review

The Suunto Regatta Boating Computer Watch also has chronograph functions. The sailing timer is an asset to any racer when every second counts. You will be happy to know that the sailing timer has been created based on inputs and in collaboration with world renowned competitive seaman. So the Sunto Regatta Boating Computer Watch is designed by the best for the yacht club champs and the rest of us. It helps you make your move in time and exactly when you need to and stays with you until you end of the race with aplomb.

Check out the full product review of the Suunto Regatta Sailing Watch

Also, check out the review for the Gill Regatta Master II Watch…

Icom handheld VHF radios are renown as reliable hand held VHF radios that are essential safety devices and back up radios for any boater. Or for smaller day boats, the Icom IC m88 can be relied upon to be the primary VHF.

The IC m88 vhf radio is comes with many great features, including:

• easy-to-read backlit LCD display
• easy to use intuitive six-button keypad
• rugged waterproof housing that is submersible in 1 meter of water for up to 30 minutes
• The Icom IC m88 works with all 57 U.S., 61 Canadian, and 57 international channels
• Can receive 10 weather channels from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).
• The Icom IC m88 radio also offers 22 free channels (from 146 to 174 MHz) reserved for land mobile (commercial) use, making this an ideal unit for marine professionals who also work on the shore (requires FCC license).
• lithium-ion battery pack that delivers up to 15 hours of talk time per charge
• one touch access to channels 16 and 9
• a key lock function for when you are scrambling about
• The Icom IC m88 includes a drop-in battery charger, swivel belt clip, and hand strap/lanyard
• The IC-M88 radio measures 2.44” by 3.81” by 1.53” (W x H x D)
• The IC m88 comes with an Icom three-year warranty.

IC-M88 VHF radio comes with a lithium-ion battery pack, drop-in VHF charger, AC adapter, swivel belt clip, VHF hand strap, ic m88 antenna, ic m88 VHF user’s manual.

Checkout the full product review for the Icom IC-M88 Handheld VHF Marine Radio.

Crunchy numbers

In 2010, there were many new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 35 posts. There were many pictures uploaded.

The busiest day of the year was January 18th with 400,000 views. The most popular post that day was Sail Magazine Best Boats of 2010 Nominees.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were en.wordpress.com, healthfitnesstherapy.com, search.aol.com, google.com, and statistics.bestproceed.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for boat bbq reviews, marine bbq review, boat grill reviews, dufour 405 review, and marine bbq grill.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Sail Magazine Best Boats of 2010 Nominees November 2009

Stow N Go Marine BBQ Gas Grill Review February 2009
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Gill OS1 Jacket Preview – Coming January 2010! December 2009

Gill Announces 2010 Racing Collection January 2010

Gill Atlantic OS4 Foul Weather Jacket Review February 2009

Gill Atlantic OS4 Foul Weather Jacket Review

The Magma kettle BBQ grill is the original grill from Magma Products.  The Magma kettle grill is a time tested grilling classic.  The Magma kettle grill series includes both gas and charcoal BBQs. The kettle BBQ grill has a round shape, is light weight and easy to stow or transport.  No other boat grill can cook more food in less space than the Magma kettle grill.

• Magma Charcoal Kettle Grills (models A10-004 & A10-014)
• Magma Gas Kettle Grills (models A10-205 & A10-215)
• Magma Marine 2 Kettle Grills (models A10-007 & A10-017)