We mainly use a guidebook for general cruising information: Sea of Cortez: A Cruiser’s Guidebook, 4th Edition. This book was highly recommended by other cruisers. We find it to be very helpful for local information, general route-finding, undersea hazards, anchorages and recreational opportunities such as snorkeling, diving and hiking.
Nautical Charts: To compliment our paper charts we use a Sailproof tablet with Navionics downloaded onto the tablet. We use the Sailproof’s GPS signal along with the Navionics charts for ocean passages, ports and anchorages. We can use Navionics to set a route based on the wind speeds and other local factors.
Paper charts: Of course, we have all the paper charts we need on our boat. This would be imperative if we lost power to our GPS systems and needed to rely on non-digital methods to navigate. We both know how to use paper charts, along with a compass and sextant to navigate the old fashioned way if we need to.
Autopilot: Kite is equipped with a wheel drive autopilot system. Autopilot allows you to set a compass bearing (direction) and the boat will automatically hold the rudder/wheel and take you in a constant direction until you need to change the direction. Careful watch of wind direction and adjustments to the sails need to be happening along the way, even when on autopilot mode.
AIS (Automatic Identification system): This is a tracking system that uses transceivers on ships and helps to pinpoint the location on a screen of other ships. We recently purchased a new VHF radio with AIS.
Radar: Unfortunately our radar dome is not working and we need to do some electrical repairs to get it up and running.
Kite Cruising 