I'm actively looking to expand my relationships with vendors who make gear worth talking about. Here's who reads SeaBits, what a partnership looks like, and what to expect from me.
The SeaBits Audience
SeaBits readers are serious boaters — liveaboards, long-distance cruisers, and experienced weekend sailors who make real purchasing decisions about expensive gear. The newsletter reaches over 3,000 subscribers, and the site draws readers who are actively researching before they buy.
This is not a lifestyle audience. These are people who want to understand how something actually works, what the limitations are, and whether it's worth the money. They trust SeaBits specifically because I don't sugarcoat things.
The primary context is trawlers and passagemaking powerboats, with meaningful reach into the sailboat community. My operational area is the Pacific Northwest and Salish Sea — one of the most technically demanding coastal cruising environments in North America.
What I Cover
My focus areas are:
- Power systems — LiFePO4 batteries, alternators, inverter/chargers, solar, shore power
- Marine electronics — chartplotters, AIS, radar, autopilots, instrumentation
- Onboard connectivity — cellular routers, Starlink, signal boosting, network infrastructure
- Monitoring and automation — boat monitoring systems, Home Assistant, NMEA 2000 integrations
- General marine technology — anything a serious trawler or cruising sailboat operator would care about
If your product doesn't fit this context, I'll tell you upfront rather than waste both our time.
What You Can Expect From Me
Real testing. Your gear goes aboard M/V Aruna, a 50ft working steel trawler in active use, and gets used the way a real customer would — including under conditions that stress-test it. I interact with your support team as a normal customer would.
Rigorous methodology. I've been described by vendors and clients as one of the most thorough testers they've worked with. I establish a baseline before touching anything, make one change at a time, and document every step. I don't surface a problem until I've eliminated my own setup and configuration as potential causes — so when I do report an issue, I can prove it.
The practical result: I regularly find firmware bugs, edge-case failures, and integration problems that vendors weren't aware of. Not because I get lucky, but because I test the way an engineer would — deliberately, incrementally, and with everything written down. If your product has a real problem, I'll find it. If it doesn't, that's worth saying loudly.
Actionable feedback. If I find issues during testing, you'll get a detailed bug report — data logs, reproduction steps, configuration details — more useful than most of what your support team typically sees. Many vendors have told me my testing uncovered problems they hadn't encountered internally.
An honest review. I publish complete, accurate assessments: what works, what doesn't, what I'd improve, and whether I'd recommend it. I don't write puff pieces, and I don't soften findings to preserve relationships.
Direct communication. If I find significant problems, I'll contact you before publishing to give you a chance to respond, clarify, or address a potential defect. That conversation may be reflected in the review — I won't pretend it didn't happen, but I will give you a fair hearing.
Disclosure. Every article clearly states how equipment was obtained and whether affiliate links are present. Your readers and mine both deserve that transparency.
What I Don't Do
- No guaranteed reviews. I test what I can, when I can. Some products make it to a published review; some don't. I won't commit to a timeline or a publication date.
- No approval rights. You don't see the review before it publishes. You don't get to request changes.
- No paid placements. I don't accept payment for coverage, favorable or otherwise.
- No advertorials. If it reads like an ad, it won't appear on SeaBits.
Gear Arrangements
For most products, I'm happy to work with a loan — I test it, return it when the review is done.
For products requiring permanent installation (wiring into the electrical system, through-hull fittings, significant structural mounting), I'll ask for the equipment to be donated to the review. Removing and repairing a permanent install is expensive and disruptive; that cost shouldn't fall on me for doing you the favor of an honest review.
If you have a different arrangement in mind, let's talk about it.
Affiliate Programs
If you run an affiliate program, I'm interested. Affiliate links are disclosed in every article where they appear, and they have no influence on my editorial conclusions. An affiliate relationship is not a guarantee of coverage or a guarantee of favorable coverage — it's just a way to make the economics of independent reviewing sustainable for both of us.
Get In Touch
If you have gear you think is a good fit for SeaBits and the cruising trawler market, I'd like to hear about it. Tell me what the product is, why you think it's relevant to my audience, and what kind of arrangement you have in mind.