Written by David Schmidt on Feb 1, 2018 for Cruising World
Mazu’s in Touch
SkyMate’s mazu has been garnering attention and winning boat-show new-product awards with its new mSeries system (about $1,000 for hardware, plus monthly airtime fees that can be affordably “winterized”). The system allows cruisers to send and receive (relatively) small packets of information, such as email, weather (GRIB files and, when available, NOAA weather alerts and Nexrad graphic weather) and SMS communications, globally. Mazu’s mSeries system uses a proprietary compression algorithm to make these data packets as small as possible (read: cost effective) while still enabling sailors to send and receive mission-critical information. While mazu doesn’t provide internet access in the same sense of a high-speed land-based internet connection (you won’t be streaming Game of Thrones offshore), it allows cruisers to access specific pieces of information for significantly lower fees than VSAT or FleetBroadband satellite-communications systems. Rather than using a bulky gyrostabilized dome, mazu is a simple black-box system that connects to SkyMate’s servers via an Iridium satellite connection, which affords a global coverage footprint.
Users can download the free mazu marine app (available from Apple’s App Store), which can be installed on any iPad and used to connect to shore-based cellular and Wi-Fi networks to save money on data fees while coastal cruising. Alternatively, users can access and control the system using any Web browser. However, the app provides additional functionality. Mazu can also be used to send emergency SOS messages to the privately operated GEOS emergency-monitoring network. Buyers should understand that mazu systems are permanently installed (therefore nontransportable) and complement, but never replace, EPIRBs. Finally, users can also upgrade to SkyMate’s optional Sentry vessel-monitoring system, which keeps an unblinking electronic eye on the boat, around the clock.
