New Boating Gear: Keep The Good Times Rolling

Lounge Lizard

Just about everyone enjoys riding on a tow tube, but almost none of us would call it comfortable. Wow's new Beach Bubba takes tubing to the next level ... comfort. This is an inflatable with seatbacks and sides, allowing riders to kick back and relax as they hold onto the webbed foam handles. There are tow points both forward and aft so when you're feeling a bit more adventurous, you can kneel, face forward, and ride "chariot style." Two- and three-rider models are available. $389.99 to $499.99 | WowWatersports.com

Eye Candy

Costa Sunglasses has a new style for you sun worshipers — the Lido. Top features include vented nose pads (you read that right), top and side sun shields, sweat channels that drain drips away from your eyes, and spring hinges. The frames are also extra thin at the temples to allow for comfort when wearing a hat along with the sunglasses. Made from naturally sourced "bioresin" processed from castor plant seeds, they eliminate petroleum-based resin from the supply chain, according to the manufacturer. Lenses are Costa's 580 Glass, which are scratch-resistant and color-enhancing. $295 | CostaDelmar.com

Spinning Fish Tales

Spinners are one of the oldest — and still most effective — forms of fishing lures around and haven't changed much for decades. Enter new Dangle spinners. These American-made lures were developed by two angling high-school teachers who recognized that spinners could be more effective and fished in areas of strong current or deeper water if they weighed more without growing in size. They experimented with brass and nickel bodies, stainless-steel through-wires, Eagle Claw hooks, and natural finishes until they developed a line of Dangles that will cast farther, sink deeper, and flutter as they fall to trigger more strikes. Editors' note: We tested these spinners out and came away impressed. $4.99 to $6.25 | DangleLures.com

Watch The Watch

Garmin has announced its new quatix 7 watch line that includes three models (the 7, 7 Sapphire, and 7X Solar) designed with mariners in mind. These watches have one-touch control and can integrate with your MFD display, deliver weather and tide data, stream engine data, and display Garmin BlueChart and LakeVu g3 cartography. Battery life is 16 to 18 days; solar models can go for over a month between charges. $699.99 to $1,199.99 | Garmin.com

Trolling Thunder

If you're searching for the latest in level-winders, check out the Shimano Tekota 800. Since giving the Tekota series a redesign (including improved corrosion protection, shielded bearings, a cross-carbon drag, and improved gears), Shimano has upped the ante with this new, larger size level-wind reel. It's available in standard and line counter models, and can hold a whopping 750 yards of 80-pound Power Pro braid. Maximum drag sets at 35 pounds of pressure. $299 | Fish.Shimano.com

Surf's Up!

Have you ever wished your boat made a wake shaped better for surfing? If so, the latest "wake shaper," the Wakesurf Creator Slim H3X Plus, from Swell Wakesurf, should do the trick. Featuring what Swell calls an "H3X" pattern to increase water velocity across its surface, turbulence is reduced for a denser wave with more push. The extendable face can be set in nine positions, and the shaper attaches to the hullsides via super-strong suction cups. (It does float in case of detachment.) The Slim H3X is designed to fit between the hull lines of numerous boats and work with stepped hulls as well. $359 | Swellwake.com

Beneath The Boat

Another new launch from Garmin this year is the ECHOMAP UHD2 keyed chartplotter series. Designed for folks who like to have buttons at hand, models come with 5- and 7-inch displays. Other important attributes include a high-contrast, sunlight-viewable screen and an IPX7 waterproof rating. They feature integrated Wi-Fi connectivity, preloaded BlueChart g3 or LakeVu g3 cartography plus support for Navionics+, and options for GT20-TM or GT24UHD-TM (ultra-high definition) transducers. $399.99 to $649.99 | Garmin.com

Head Games

What's the least glamorous part of your boat? The head, of course. But it's also among the most critical systems aboard. And in space-constrained small boats, most of us are still making do (or is it doo?) with those old, self-contained, portable MSDs that you have to lift out, carry to a toilet, and (ugh!) empty manually. Dometic aims to ease the chore while expanding the head's abilities with the new Gravity Series. These heads (available with two bowl styles and sizes) sit atop their own holding tank, eliminating the need for plumbing and remote tanks. They hold 6.5 gallons (about 260% more than the normal portable MSD), feature a steel flush lever, and can be easily plumbed to deck fittings for pumpout and venting. Starting at $1,149 | Dometic.com

Proof Positive

Tablets are great sailing tools ... right up until the moment the bow hits a wave and they get soaked with spray. That's why you need a marinized tablet, and Sailproof now has a 10-inch Android, the SP10AS, among its offerings. Getting a 2-inch screen size boost from the previously existing SP08, this larger tablet also packs in more memory (6+128 GB), internal GPS, a wet- and glove-touchable IPS touchscreen, and an unusually potent 10,000 mah lithium-ion battery. Inside it packs Android 11, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, and a MTK Octacore 64-bit MT-6771 2.0 GHz CPU. All of the above is then wrapped into an IP67 and Mil-STD 810G waterproof and drop-tested casing with third-gen Gorilla Glass. $945.65 | SailProof.shop

Deep In Thought

Anglers who want to see the bottom, the structure, and fish on it in über-deep water will be interested in Furuno's new DFF3-UHD TruEcho CHIRP network fishfinder, which can punch through the depths to a rather shocking 15,000 feet. Sending out 25- to 242-kHz frequencies with 2- to 3kW of power then interpreting the returns with digital signal processing, both target resolution and depth capability get a serious boost. The DFF3-UHD TruEcho CHIRP is compatible with NavNet TZtouch3 and NavNet TZtouch2 TZT2BB systems. $2,400 | Furunousa.com