As you saw yesterday, I like Raymarine gear. I racked my brain trying to come up with a reason to not use Raymarine equipment again today on the more expensive setups. I am, and always have been, a fan of Furuno and Northstar products. Both have excellent reputations for high quality equipment and I have traveled from Alaska to Mexico using most of it. But even in this price range, I think Raymarine offers more bang for the buck.

These dream packages could be completely different in coming months because both Furuno, Northstar and Garmin are all introducing new stuff. If they lead with some innovative features, simplify the installation with generic common cables and make a strong effort to reinvent their user interfaces with novice boaters in mind (hint, hint), anyone could jump to the head of the pack.

But right now, for my dollar, the answer is Raymarine, specifically the E Series and more specifically the 120. This package will be an enhanced version of one outlined yesterday, which called for a Raymarine E-120 12-inch, daylight-viewable multi-function display. This was paired with a Raymarine Raystar 125 GPS antenna, a Raymarine DSM-300 Fish Finder Module, an SR100 Weather Module for satellite weather, a Speco engine camera and more (see table below).

I'm going to start today by simply adding another E-120. Having the ability to keep a second plotter or radar screen up at all times is valuable. It can be set and relied on for basic waypoint information or collision avoidance, while the other screen can be manipulated and tweaked without compromising your travels.FurunoThe Sirius BBWX1 weather module will overlay real-time weather graphics, sea temperature reports and emergency weather bulletins on Furuno's NavNet chart plotter.

One of the primary assets of Raymarine's E Series is that the displays are easily networked. All we need is another Network cable to interface the additional display, so we'll throw that in.

We have the budget and the boat to put the Raymarine 48-inch, 4 KW Open-Array Radar antenna into action. The increased antenna length offers a picture quality that is heads and tails about the dome antennas. You can never spend too much on radar, because the quality is always commensurate with the price.

I'm also going to add another camera and put it facing aft on the back deck. Now we'll be able to monitor the engine room and our aft deck. We can also angle it up a bit to see who may be coming up behind us, or watch the lures while trolling. With some creative wiring and cheap Radio Shack splitters, you will be able to watch either a camera, a DVD or satellite TV – on both E-120 displays.

We also have to upgrade our autopilot for the bigger boat. We'll stick with the ST6002-Plus Autopilot System, but a few of the components will have to be beefed up. The core pack, which consists of the fluxgate compass, rudder feedback and main junction box, will be a Type 3, with a type 2 hydraulic pump capable of driving a 14 to 21 cubic inch ram. Your 42-foot boat may or may not need this bigger pump. But if it's a full-displacement trawler, it may need even larger. I'm going middle of the road with what is likely the right sized system for this size and style of boat.

At 42 feet, and with the range that diesel affords, your kids may want to watch some TV during your three hour jaunt to the islands. While there, you may want to catch a game yourself. I'll upgrade from KVH's M2 stationary system to the fully stabilized M3-ST version. All the components and installation are exactly the same on both units, but the M3 will hold a DirecTV signal underway and in most sea conditions. We will also add another satellite receiver to your stateroom for some quality TV time to yourself.