M/V Aruna is a 54 foot steel trawler. I live aboard full time and cruise the Salish Sea and the BC coast year round putting over 3000 nautical miles and 400 hours on her every year. She is a working boat, not a demo unit, so anything that comes aboard gets installed, used, and judged the way a customer would use it. Here is where gear can go.
The Big Boat
The Pilothouse
The pilothouse is the main helm and the home for the bigger gear. It has room for large displays, radios, and overhead or panel mounted equipment that stays in view on long passages. Gear here gets used for hours at a stretch, so menu layout, alarm behavior, and night dimming all get tested properly.
The Arch
The arch is where outdoor gear goes. It sits up high with a wide view, which suits antennas, cameras, lighting, and sensors. It also takes the full force of the weather, so seals, connectors, and brackets get a real test over a season.
The Flybridge
The flybridge is the outdoor helm. It suits control gear that gets handled while driving, such as remotes, handhelds, and displays. Sun glare, spray, and gloved hands show up quickly here, so readability and ease of use outdoors are easy to judge.
The Lounge Instrument Alcove
The lounge has an instrument alcove set up for NMEA 2000 equipment. It is a safe place to mount and test network devices, which suits gateways and sensors that need to be evaluated on the bus.
The Engine Room
The engine room is a large stand up space with room for electrical and mechanical products near the battery banks, main engine, generator, and watermaker. Heat, vibration, and noise are part of the environment, so gear gets tested against real working conditions.
The Tender
The tender is an 11.5 foot aluminum bottom Bullfrog with a center console. It is a small, wet, vibrating platform, which makes it a different test from the big boat, and it gets used daily year round going ashore on rocky beaches in the Pacific Northwest. The console suits a smaller chartplotter, handhelds, lighting, and compact electrical and power gear.
What Happens to Your Gear
Gear that comes aboard gets installed, photographed in place, and used through real conditions. Products that reach a published review get a written article on SeaBits and a companion video on the SeaBits YouTube channel, and may also appear in my columns for 48° North and Nautical Northwest.
Get In Touch
Tell me about your product and which space on Aruna you have in mind. How I test and how gear arrangements work are on the partner page.