TESTED Boat Products

Living Aboard PNW Winters

Living Aboard PNW Winters

by Darren OBrien December 11, 2024

Lisa was always fond of saying there are three things she must have in order to comfortably live aboard during our Pacific NW winters: warm, dry heat; H2Out Space Dryers; and Kanberra Gel.

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Stainless Friday-Steel Monday ULTRA Anchor Sale!

Stainless Friday-Steel Monday ULTRA Anchor Sale!

by Darren OBrien November 28, 2024

We tested an ULTRA Anchor on a charter catamaran in Tahiti a few years ago, and were summarily impressed with the anchor's performance. In particular, it securely held one blustery night where quite a few of the other boats in our anchorage dragged overnight. Granted, the boat we were on was brand new and had many luxury conveniences (a working ice maker on the fridge!), but the anchor certainly proved to be much more than the proverbial pretty face.

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Vent-Tender (ex "NoSpill")

Vent-Tender (ex "NoSpill")

by Darren OBrien July 19, 2024

After seeing Mark demonstrate what the Vent-Tender did, we knew we wanted to help him get the word out. After all, something that inexpensively keeps fuel out of the water at fuel docks is a worthwhile exercise! <more>

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The Boat Geeks - New Boating Podcast

The Boat Geeks - New Boating Podcast

by Darren OBrien March 06, 2024

Two average guys - one a newbie, the other an old salt - who love boats, and talking all about boats. They are The Boat Geeks!

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ULTRA Anchors - Not just another pretty face!

ULTRA Anchors - Not just another pretty face!

by Darren OBrien January 17, 2024

We tested an ULTRA Anchor on a charter catamaran in Tahiti a few years ago, and were summarily impressed with the anchor's performance. In particular, it securely held one blustery night where quite a few of the other boats in our anchorage dragged overnight. Granted, the boat we were on was brand new and had many luxury conveniences (a working ice maker on the fridge!), but the anchor certainly proved to be much more than the proverbial pretty face.

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How to Keep Water Out of Your Fuel Tank

How to Keep Water Out of Your Fuel Tank

by Darren OBrien January 02, 2024

There is a common misconception among boaters in North America that because the gas and diesel we buy is essentially the cleanest in the world, we needn't worry about the dreaded "water-in-the-fuel" problem encountered in other countries. And though the fuels we buy in the U.S. and Canada are typically fine, once we have it in our tanks we still need to guard against water contamination and the subsequent problems those can manifest in our engines down the road.

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Kanberra 25% Off Holiday Sale

Kanberra 25% Off Holiday Sale

by Darren OBrien December 08, 2023

The thing that sold us was the "bagel demonstration". They had put pieces of a bagel in two identical, sealed jars for 30 days and documented the results. One had Kanberra Gel in it, the other had nothing. After an entire month the bagel with Kanberra Gel looked absolutely normal and edible. But the other bagel was completely covered in fuzzy, multi-colored mold! 

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FREE Shipping on Ultraline Flat Rope Reels

FREE Shipping on Ultraline Flat Rope Reels

by Darren OBrien December 06, 2023

If you've had a shiny, new Utraline Flat Rope Reel on your wish list, now is a great time to put one under your boat's Christmas tree! Between now and December 31 get free shipping on all U.S. orders for Ultraline Flat Rope Reels.

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Mooring Magic or Exceptional Engineering?

Mooring Magic or Exceptional Engineering?

by Darren OBrien April 06, 2020

I was, of course, slightly skeptical. A boat hook that magically grabs a mooring ring, threads your line through it and brings it back to you in one easy, continuous motion? She immediately brought one home. <more>

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Does your boat smell? Forget About It!

Does your boat smell? Forget About It!

by Darren OBrien March 30, 2020

While odor elimination is the primary "selling point" of Forget About It for Boats, we found the secondary benefit to be even more impressive. As liveaboards/workaboards with three people onboard full time, we have been pumping out regularly for more than seven and a half years... <more>

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Are You Happy with Your Marine Binoculars?

Are You Happy with Your Marine Binoculars?

by Darren O'Brien February 13, 2019

Our upfront disclaimer is we do not consider ourselves "binocular snobs". Or binocular experts. But after using our Weems & Plath Explorer binoculars for a few years now, we have definitely become proponents of good quality marine binoculars. <Read more to get $50 OFF any pair of Weems & Plath binoculars in our store.>

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Wireless radar? Fits our boat perfectly

Wireless radar? Fits our boat perfectly

by Darren O'Brien November 02, 2018

Technically, we don't even really need radar, let alone wireless radar. We could just stay put when it's foggy, only venturing out when it's clear, calm, and only during daylight hours. But we like to use our boat year 'round, and we don't want to wait for fog to lift in order to get somewhere. So we definitely want radar. But did we need it to be wireless? <Read more to get $250 OFF MSRP and FREE SHIPPING.>

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Dyneema® Improves Flat Rope Reel

Dyneema® Improves Flat Rope Reel

by Darren O'Brien April 26, 2017 1 Comment

Recently, the Ultraline Flat Rope Reel (formerly known as the Quickline Flat Rope & Reel) has been rebranded and improved, replacing the old polypropylene line with the far superior Dyneema® floating line.

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Are Carbon Foam Batteries Really Better?

Are Carbon Foam Batteries Really Better?

by Darren O'Brien January 04, 2017 4 Comments

Two years ago we started researching batteries, as we knew we would have to replace our aging battery bank. As we had an 800-mile trip to make that summer, we wanted the most amperage (bang) for the buck. We found the Oasis batteries and read as much as we could.

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