Raymarine and FLIR’s Gordon explains how thermal cameras, Axiom displays and smart electronics help new boaters feel safe and confident.
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Seeing heat, not lightBuilt for the weekend boaterAdvice for your first boatLearn moreThe Next Boat Journey airs Thursday at 5 PM on Dock Side Live Radio, with encore presentations Saturday and Sunday at 5 PM.
Gordon's love of saltwater fishing started with a rough morning. He was 14, on a family trip to Zihuatanejo, Mexico, and seasick in the back of a sportfishing boat. The only time he felt fine was when it was his turn on the rod. That turn ended with his first sailfish.
"This is fighting a fish," he remembers thinking. "This is what it's all about."
Gordon grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he still lives. His early time on the water was river fishing and setting trotlines from a 10-foot jon boat.
Today his work with Raymarine takes him to Florida, the East Coast and the Gulf Coast, and he still fishes salt whenever he can. He likes to quote a charter captain friend: "Out here, the biggest thing wins, and you never know what you're gonna catch."
On this episode of The Next Boat Journey, Gordon joins Dock Side Live Radio to talk about how modern marine electronics can make boating safer, simpler and more fun, especially for new owners
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Two brands, one sensor-driven future
Raymarine and FLIR are part of Teledyne, based in Thousand Oaks, California. The brands are now known as Teledyne Raymarine and Teledyne FLIR Marine. Gordon says the change reflects where the industry is headed.
"Teledyne is really known for its sensor technology," he explains. "We see the future for marine electronics to be in the development of sensors." Sonar, radar and cameras bring more information to the boater. The display's job is to make that information easy to use.
Seeing heat, not light
Many people know FLIR from the night vision gear soldiers wear. Fewer know the same technology is available for boats. Teledyne FLIR offers cameras that combine low light and thermal imaging in a single unit, which Gordon says no one else offers.
Thermal imaging reads heat instead of light, and that matters most when things go wrong. "If you're at night and you have a man overboard, the ability to be able to see heat and not light can mean the difference between saving a man's life and not," Gordon says. A person in the water shows up "as an orange blob, bright as day."
The same camera picks out buoys, other boats and floating hazards like a large sunfish near the surface. "It just makes daytime out of nighttime," he says.
The Axiom display: your command center
Raymarine's Axiom multifunction displays come in sizes from 9 to 24 inches. Gordon calls the Axiom the brains of the boat.
One screen at the helm can show:
• Chartplotting, with built-in maps worldwide and optional enhanced charts on a card
• Sonar to see below the boat, and side scanning to mark fish off to the sides
• Radar to track the ships around you and avoid collisions
• Autopilot control, so you are not holding the wheel for hours on long runs
• FLIR thermal and night vision video, when a camera is installed
All of it runs on Raymarine's LightHouse operating system. Gordon says ease of use is where the engineers put their focus.
Built for the weekend boater
Touch screens changed everything, Gordon says. They work like the iPad or iPhone already in your pocket. But Raymarine also designs around how most people really use their boats.
"People are not on their boats every day," he says. "They come back maybe two weeks or one week later, and they go, 'Oh, I forgot how to do this.'" Raymarine draws on consumer research to keep menus simple enough to pick right back up.
Around the Great Loop with Captain Red
Raymarine and FLIR equipped DARK:30 Velocity, the boat Captain Red ran in the Great Loop Challenge powered by Honda Marine. The run raised money for the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation.
The work began in July 2025. "He told us that his number one concern was safety," Gordon says. "That's where we felt we could help the most."
Red would be running day and night, often reaching port late. The FLIR camera fed thermal video to his Axiom display so he could come in safely in the dark. Raymarine also set up fuel management for his 200 gallons of gas. Red could see his fuel "down to a coffee cup" and plan each leg from port to port without watching gauges.
With 20-hour running days, the autopilot carried much of the load. "It gave him the confidence that he could make the 20-day trip all the way around the Great Loop," Gordon says. "We were proud to be able to make him feel safe."
Advice for your first boat
Gordon's first piece of advice is simple: have fun. "In order to have fun, that starts with confidence," he says. "If you're worrying about stuff, you can't have fun. And that starts with safety."
You don't need every bell and whistle, he adds. But a few basics go a long way:
1. A chartplotter, so you always know where you are and where you're going.
2. A display with a sounder. For fishing, Gordon calls it an absolute must.
3. Learn to mark waypoints, so you can return to the wreck or spot where you found fish.
4. Get the transducer right. Tell a qualified salesperson how deep you plan to fish. Then ask to see the transducer before it's installed. If you say 1,000 feet, "they bring this big transducer," and you want to know what is going on your boat.
Learn more
Visit raymarine.com for Axiom displays and system-building tools, and marine.flir.com for FLIR marine cameras. Both sites have a form to request help from a sales representative. "I guarantee you, I will make sure that a sales representative gets ahold of you," Gordon says. "That's my job."
Hear the full conversation on The Next Boat Journey, Thursday at 5 PM, with encores Saturday and Sunday at 5 PM, on Dock Side Live Radio. Listen free at DockSideLive.com or on the DSL Radio app.
The Next Boat Journey is made possible by our partners: Big Bumper Company, SOS Boat Screens, Sirius Signal, Dockmate, Ocean Vault, Let's Go Boating TV, and Florida Mariner. Thank you for helping new boaters get on the water with confidence.
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