NVN Marine

09/03/2026

Electric vs manual windlass — which one actually belongs on your boat?

We've installed both, and we've pulled plenty of anchors the hard way before we wised up. The short version: if your boat is over ~26 feet, you anchor more than a few times a season, or you ever drop the hook past 25 feet, get an electric windlass. The convenience and safety gap is huge.

But manual isn't dead. On smaller boats, in shallow water, or when you want zero amp draw and a unit that works even in a total electrical blackout, a manual windlass is the smarter, cheaper buy — and it still beats hauling by hand thanks to the gypsy and ratchet.

We break down real amp draw, wiring needs, 2026 Lewmar pricing, and a 5-question sizing guide so you don't overbuy or underbuy.

Read it here 👉

Electric vs manual windlass — which fits your boat? Honest pros, cons, 2026 Lewmar pricing, and a sizing guide from boaters who've installed both. Shop now.

09/02/2026

Rigging a boat under 20 feet? Skip the 12-inch glass bridge. We rig a lot of small boats, and the unit that fits the console, draws power your single battery can spare, and reads clearly in the chop almost always wins over the bigger screen.

Our 2026 guide to the best chartplotters for small boats covers the real picks — Garmin ECHOMAP UHD2 7", Lowrance Elite FS 7, HOOK Reveal 7, Raymarine Element 7 HV, and Simrad GO7 XSR — with honest notes on console fit, power draw, mounting, and which ones are worth the extra money.

Read the full breakdown 👉

The best chartplotter for a small boat under 20 feet in 2026. We compare Garmin, Lowrance, Raymarine & Simrad 7-inch combos on price, fit & sonar. Shop now.

09/01/2026

"My new trim tabs don't do anything." We hear it constantly — and 9 times out of 10 the tabs work fine. They're just too small for the boat.

There's no magic to sizing them. Use at least 1 inch of trim tab span per foot of boat length, round up to the next size, and stick with a 9-inch chord unless your transom (twin outboards, brackets, a swim platform) won't let you go wide enough — then step up to a 12-inch chord to recover the lift.

A few real-shop adjustments: size up if you run heavy or just repowered to four-strokes (that's 150–250 lbs of new stern weight), and when you're between sizes, go bigger. The penalty for one size too big is minor. Too small means a boat that never trims right.

Full calculator, a sizing chart by boat length, and current 2026 Lenco & Bennett pricing here:

Trim tab size calculator made simple: use 1 inch of span per foot of boat, pick 9 vs 12 chord, and size right the first time. Shop Lenco & Bennett at NVN Marine.

08/31/2026

Thinking about adding a bow windlass this season? Here's the part most guides skip: the windlass itself is the easy part — the install is where it goes right or wrong.

After 10+ years installing these on customer boats, we wrote the guide we wish everyone had before they started drilling. Cable gauge sized to your real round-trip run (not straight-line distance), where to mount the breaker, why the backing plate isn't optional, and the deck-core sealing step that keeps your bow from rotting in five years.

Lewmar V700, V1, and Pro-Series covered, with realistic pricing and the questions to ask before you buy.

👉 Read the full electrical & mechanical guide: https://www.nvnmarine.com/blogs/news/how-to-install-a-bow-windlass

08/28/2026

New install guide is live: How to Install a Chartplotter on a Center Console Boat.

We've mounted these on everything from 19-foot bay boats to 32-foot offshore rigs, and the same four things make or break the job every time — a clean dash cutout, properly sized fused power, a NMEA 2000 backbone with exactly two terminators and one power node, and a real GPS antenna up top if you've got a hardtop.

This is a genuinely DIY-friendly weekend project if you plan it right. We walk through flush mount vs. bracket mount, wire and fuse sizing, the networking rules people always get wrong, and how the Raymarine Axiom, Garmin GPSMAP, Simrad NSS evo3S, and Lowrance HDS Pro compare for a center console helm.

Read the full step-by-step here 👉 https://www.nvnmarine.com/blogs/news/how-to-install-chartplotter-center-console-boat

08/27/2026

Ever stared at a radar target in the fog wondering if it's closing on you? MARPA (Mini Automatic Radar Plotting Aid) takes the guesswork out of it.

You tag a contact, and your radar automatically calculates its true course, speed, closest point of approach, and time to that closest pass — then alarms if it's a threat. It tracks the boats AIS can't see: that center console with no transponder, the buoy, the squall.

The one thing nobody tells you: MARPA only works if you've got a heading sensor feeding the network. We break down how it works, what you need, and how to set it up so it actually tracks reliably.

Read it here 👉

MARPA radar explained: how it tracks targets, calculates CPA/TCPA, and why it beats guessing in fog. Setup tips + the gear you need. Shop radar at NVN Marine.

08/26/2026

Icom M510 vs M605: which marine VHF actually belongs on your boat?

They share a lot on paper — 25W, Class D DSC, optional AIS receiver, NMEA 2000, active noise cancelling. But Icom keeps both in the lineup for a reason, and once you understand why, the choice is usually easy.

The M510 EVO is the modern single-helm radio: smartphone control over Wi-Fi, a shallow case that fits thin helm pods, and a couple hundred dollars less. The M605 is the flagship — bigger 4.3" screen, up to 3 control stations for flybridge or cockpit setups, and built-in GPS redundancy.

We've installed both on everything from bay boats to sportfishers. Our honest head-to-head — install notes, the AIS thing everyone gets wrong, and real 2026 pricing — is here:

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Icom M510 vs M605 compared: screen, stations, smartphone control, AIS and 2026 pricing. See which marine VHF fits your helm and shop both at NVN Marine.

08/25/2026

Thinking about a trolling motor for your bay boat or flats skiff? Here's the thing nobody tells you in the aisle: for inshore fishing, raw thrust matters less than anchor-lock quality, the right shaft length, and real saltwater corrosion engineering.

We rig these motors every week, so our 2026 guide is built on what actually holds up — not spec sheets. We break down the Minn Kota Riptide Terrova QUEST, Garmin Force Kraken, MotorGuide Xi5 and Xi3, and the no-nonsense Riptide SF 80, with real 2026 pricing and the failure modes we see firsthand.

Read the full guide 👉

The best saltwater trolling motors for inshore fishing in 2026, ranked by real-world testing. Spot-Lock, thrust & shaft tips. Shop authorized dealer pricing.

08/24/2026

If you've been marking fish at 40 or 60 feet and catching nothing on flat lines, this is the gear that fixes it.

A downrigger puts your spoon exactly where the fish are and keeps it there for the whole pass — but there's a real difference between bolting one to the gunwale and actually understanding how to read your graph, set your release tension, and run gear at the right depth and distance.

Our new guide walks through the whole thing the way we'd explain it on the dock: ball weight, lead distance, the thumb-pressure trick when you lower the ball, reading the thermocline, stacking a second rod, and choosing between a manual Easi-Troll and an electric Cannon MAG 10 STX.

Read it here 👉

Learn how to use a downrigger for salmon and trout: depth, lead distance, release tension, and gear that catches fish. Practical setup guide from NVN Marine.

08/21/2026

ActiveTarget 2 vs LiveScope Plus — we stopped reading spec sheets and actually rigged both.

Quick verdict: inside 40 feet, Lowrance ActiveTarget 2 wins on raw clarity. Garmin LiveScope Plus wins on Perspective Mode and a bigger display ecosystem. And honestly? The biggest deciding factor is which chartplotter is already on your bow — these are closed systems, so you're picking a brand, not just a transducer.

We break down range, resolution, the black-box question, and which deep-water transducer (ActiveTarget 2 XL vs Panoptix LiveScope XR) makes sense if you fish past 45 feet.

Read the full breakdown 👉

Lowrance ActiveTarget vs Garmin Livescope: we rigged both. Resolution, range, price & which live sonar wins for your boat. Read the face-off, then shop NVN Marine.