We took the Icom IC-M35 with us on a trip across the Mediterranean, from Croatia to North Africa. Our aim was to test it under normal working conditions, but this one got more of a test than expected, as the masthead antenna on our main radio came adrift in a short but fierce storm, and there didn’t seem much point in interrupting the delivery trip to run a new masthead antenna and cable when we had the hand-held on board.

This is a seriously nice piece of kit. It comes with a 240 volt mains charger base, into which it slots for charging. The base even has a couple of screws so you can screw it onto some available wooden surface. It has a rechargeable battery pack, but also comes with a spare battery container which takes AA batteries.  It has a belt clip and a wrist strap, and comes with a ‘rubber duck’ antenna.

If you are looking for Ocean grade foul weather clothing, then you must consider Line 7.  We only reveiw kit we've test out ourselves under real seagoing conditions, and we tried out one of their Ocean smocks on a recent delivery trip and were highly impressed. The Line 7 Ocean Smock is made in New Zealand, and anyone who knows about Kiwi adventure clothing will tell you that it’s usually very high quality.  Line 7 is no exception.  The quality is superb.

And if anyone tells you that you don’t need foul weather gear in the Med, don’t believe them.  The wind can get up strongly at short notice, and the seas are short and steep, giving a very wet ride.  But because of the relative temperatures, you don’t want to be wearing something that’s heavily lined and designed for the arctic.

THERE was a time when no smart, self-respecting yottie would be seen in the club bar for Sunday lunch without a jauntily parked Breton cap topmark, crisp double-breasted reefer, cravat and pair of Javelin yellow wellies protecting the knife-creased legs of a pair of tan sailing trousers.

Not exactly a practical rig for sailing, but there are still those around today who stuff their bags into their boots, which provide a magnetic attraction for the first dollop of oggin to cream over the sidedeck.

It was probably too good to be true, but too good to miss.  Wiley’s offer of a free, online nautical almanac (click on the above logo) arrived in a rush of press release and screen shots shortly after 12.00 noon today.  The moment I clicked the ‘Install now’ button, I regretted doing so, and wondered why I hadn’t obeyed my strict rule of only installing software I didn’t know on a hard drive that didn’t matter.  Especially when the text immediately below the install button warned me that this was only a beta version.  But I needn’t have worried.  Wiley’s are a big, well known, nautical publisher, and their software works without causing problems. In fact, its a bit flash, with a series of revolving-door pages to select.