Boat Refit - Rami & Enni Get Arctic Ready

Describe your vessel. What equipment did you have before the Raymarine boat refit?

Our boat "Yasmila" is a self-built 38ft Van De Stadt sailing yacht. Crafted by a former sea captain Jukka Salokaarto in Rauma, Finland, in 2009. As someone who had spent his whole career out on the seas, he knew what a seaworthy vessel would need to be safe and sound, and also what would be unnecessary. One of the biggest things for us when looking for a proper boat for our project was the safety and how the boat would handle the conditions we were heading into in the far north of Norway.

Jukka had installed all the crucial navigation tools at the time of the build and added something later on, all being Raymarine. The most recent instrument she carried was the Raymarine Quantum radar and the AIS 650 with an AIS splitter. The radar was accompanied with A98 chartplotter, VHS Ray 55 and autopilot SPX10. On top of these there was a Navtex receiver.

What boat upgrades were you hoping to achieve with the new navigation system and equipment? How would this enhance your boating experience?

After sailing for two summers on "Yasmila", there were two key things that we were eager to change before starting the voyage from Finland to Norway. The original system only had one chartplotter, which was placed under the sprayhood, quite far away from the helm; so a dedicated chartplotter for the helm was going to be a huge upgrade. The person at the helm can have the settings and view of their choice, and the navigator can have the setup of their preference. Or you can run the chart on one and radar on the other display.

The second thing we often missed was the wind transducer. Jukka, who had spent all his life out on the seas didn't find it necessary, he would go by the experience; but we found ourselves quite often asking ourselves what the wind speed was. In our case, data was knowledge. 

We were looking for some other small upgrades as well, to make the sailing more pleasant and in some cases safer too. Digging deeper into the Raymarine product line we ended up replacing everything except the depth transducer and the autopilot work unit.

A chartplotter is recognised to be the heart of a marine electronics system. What Raymarine chartplotter have you fitted, and how did you choose the best Raymarine chartplotter for your vessel?

We installed the Axiom 2 Pro S 12" at the helm. This gave lots more screen space compared to our previous chartplotter; allowing for bigger charts, or to do a split screen between Lighthouse charts and the Quantum 2 Radar. In January the average daylight at the Arctic Circle is just over four hours per day, so having the two views visible and in good size is a great benefit when sailing in these Northern waters.

Given the Arctic weather, we wanted to have the HybridTouch on the Axiom 2 Pro - the touchscreen and the physical keypad allows you to operate the chartplotter even with thick gloves on. In early January, as we were driving back to our boat, the temperatures were down to -32'C just before the coast; these kind of temperatures combined with strong winds can be brutal on your fingers.

The second chartplotter, which is more sheltered under the sprayhood, is an Axiom+ 12". We decided we did not  need the keypad here, and the slender size fitted better between the halyards and the windscreen.

The best thing about both of these Axiom chartplotters is the way they can be customised to your preference. The Lighthouse UI is exactly the same and synchronised: if I change a setting on one, it will automatically update the other. There are so many functions and datapoints that can be monitored on these chartplotters, it's unbelievable.

The image below demonstrates what the Axiom chartplotter showed us versus the view from the bow of the boat... here you can understand why this is such an invaluable piece of equipment.

Have you equipped your boat with radar? How did you select the best model for your boat?

We upgraded our legacy Raymarine Quantum radar to the newer Raymarine Quantum 2 radar. We wanted to benefit from the new features on the Quantum 2, such as the Doddler technology - highlighting and colour coding moving targets, and the target tracking mode (MARPA). As we are sailing under the dark Arctic skies, we thought the better visibility would lead to better safety.

The installation of the new radar could not have been easier; we just unplugged the old and plugged in the new - there was no need to pull through any new cables.

What instrumentation have you chosen for your vessel, and how did you position it for the best view of metrics when underway?

One thing we didn't know we wanted as we were getting into the refit process was the Raymarine Alpha displays. Now, having had them for some time, I wouldn't go out without them; and we are actually thinking of getting a third one of these.

These little displays (we have the 7" models) are packed with crucial information. There are virtually endless configuration possibilities for tailoring the displays to your preference. Some information we have on the displays is vital, some is just nice to have; we've divided the view so that one display has all the wind data and other has speed and trip. All the information is showed in detail, and with just a swipe the view can be changed to the next page and more information. The data on the screen can also be coloured to your preference, and is very intuitive to use.

We've placed the Alpha displays just above the companionway, and the P70s autopilot control head is placed on the same dashboard. We also added an USB-plug for charging any additional gear like phones or torches here.

What product has made the most difference to your safety and enjoyment on the water? 

It is hard to say which product has made the most difference. I think the combination of the new chartplotter at the helm, the RSW wind transducer and the Alpha Performance Displays take the sailing experience to the next level; now we have much more data to base our decisions on, which helps a lot on the safety side of things as well.

To have a dedicated chartplotter with touchscreen and keypad (Axiom 2 Pro S) for the helmsman was a huge upgrade to the ease of navigation, particularly when shorthanded sailing. The Axiom 2 Pro is definitely the best chartplotter for sailing. The user interface, the responsiveness and the ability to have all the info at your fingertips (gloved or not!) is unbeatable.

The wind transducer (RSW SmartWind Transducer) also helps so much in trying to learn how the winds work in the challenging conditions and katabatic winds in the fjords. Having the possibility to gather all this information (and so much more) on the Alpha displays is just pure fun.

What advice would you offer to someone upgrading their sailing yacht? What are the key steps in a boat refit?

I think the most important thing when stepping into the refit process is to realise your needs. 

We found it so much easier to upgrade all at once rather than doing it piece by piece. This way we dedicated the enough time to it, and it was done at once. 

I think the work itself was surprisingly straightforward. I have no experience of marine electronics installation work, so we had a good friend helping us with that; then we just needed some hard concentration and a bit of time. The best part of the refit process with the Raymarine navigation systems was actually that we learned so much more about the instruments, the cabling, and the boat. This knowledge is priceless in the pursuit of being able to fix things underway, a vital skill.