Marine electronics on Shelter Island.
Chartplotters, radar, VHF, sounders and full helm rebuilds for boats kept in Dering Harbor, Coecles Harbor and West Neck — installed right where the boat sits.
Shelter Island is ferry-only, and that changes how a job gets done. LIME is an NMEA Certified marine electronics installer covering Suffolk County, and we treat the island as a planned trip: parts checked and loaded before we leave, the helm worked out in advance, the work finished in the visits we booked. When you call, you get the person doing the work.
What We Install
Marine electronics Shelter Island boats actually use.
The fleet here is mixed and the water is tight. Sailboats on moorings in Dering Harbor, cruisers and sportfish in Coecles, day boats and skiffs out of West Neck, plus the seasonal crowd that comes across on the ferry and expects the boat ready. What they have in common is that nothing should need a second visit — so we build helms that are serviceable, labelled and right the first time.
Chartplotters & Multifunction Displays
Garmin, Simrad, Raymarine and Furuno — one screen or a two- and three-display glass helm. Charts, sonar, radar and engine data on one network, laid out so the screen you need is the one in front of you when you are lining up the Dering Harbor entrance.
Radar & AIS
Shelter Island Sound carries ferry traffic on both ends of the island, and Gardiners Bay can fog in while you are still tying up. Dome and open-array radar mounted, aligned and tuned, with AIS so you can see the ferries and the ferries can see you.
VHF Radios & Hailers
Fixed-mount DSC VHF wired to a real GPS source, so a distress call carries your position instead of just your voice. Antennas, hailers and a second station on the tower or flybridge where the boat has one.
Sounders & Transducers
Coecles Harbor, West Neck Creek and the flats off Smith Cove are skinny water where a foot matters. Through-hull, in-hull and transom transducers chosen for your hull and placed where they read clean at speed rather than clouding over the moment you get on plane.
NMEA 2000 Networks
A proper backbone — right terminators, right drops, one clean power tap. It is what makes the plotter, the engine data, the autopilot and the sounder agree with each other, and it is behind most of the intermittent faults we get called out for on the East End.
Starlink & Satellite Internet
Cell coverage gets patchy once you are out in Gardiners Bay or around the back of Mashomack. Starlink mounted properly, powered off the DC side, and set up so the boat has real internet for weather, work and the kids.
Boating on Shelter Island
Dering Harbor, Coecles Harbor and West Neck.
Shelter Island sits between the two forks, and the boating splits neatly across it. Dering Harbor on the north side is the deep, protected front door — Dering Harbor Marina at the foot of the hill, the Shelter Island Yacht Club, and moorings that fill up the moment the weather turns nice. Coecles Harbor on the east side is quieter, tucked behind the entrance channel, with Coecles Harbor Marina and Boatyard doing full-service work on boats that stay put for the season. West Neck Harbor on the southwest side is the shallow, sheltered end, with the Island Boatyard and Marina and a fleet of smaller boats that never need to leave the bay to have a good day.
Step outside those harbors and the electronics start earning their keep. Shelter Island Sound runs current, the ferries cross on both ends of the island all day, and Gardiners Bay to the east will hand you fog, a short steep chop when wind opposes tide, and a long run before you see anything familiar. Peconic Bay to the west is friendlier but shoals in places that do not forgive a lazy sounder. Radar, AIS and a plotter you can read at a glance are not luxuries on this water — they are the difference between coming home relaxed and coming home tense.
We also service the ferry-side towns on both ends, so a Shelter Island trip pairs naturally with work in Sag Harbor or on the North Fork. If your boat lives on the island and your slip is across the water — or the other way round — say so when you call. Two jobs on one run is the cheapest way to buy our time.
How It Works
How a marine electronics Shelter Island visit works.
Six steps, no surprises, and one clear goal: cross once with everything the job needs on the truck.
1. You call or email
Tell us the boat, where it sits on the island, and what you want it to do. Photos of the helm and the model numbers of what is on there now are worth real money on a ferry job — they are the difference between one trip and two.
2. We scope it and price it
You get the scale of the job up front — time and materials, never a fixed price. $280 for the first hour, $140 per hour after in 15-minute steps, parts at cost plus markup, and the travel number for the run out and the crossing, stated before we book anything.
3. We bring everything with us
LIME supplies all the equipment we install. Gear is ordered, bench-checked and loaded before we leave Amityville, along with the connectors and mounts that always turn out to be the thing you need. “We will come back with that part” is not a plan when there is a ferry in the way.
4. We install at your boat
In the slip, on the mooring, on the lift or on the trailer. Wiring to ABYC standards, proper terminals and support, runs labelled so the next person who opens the console can follow what we did.
5. We commission and sea trial
Radar aligned, sounder tuned, network checked end to end, charts and software updated, screens set up the way you actually use them. Then we run the boat with you and show you how to drive it.
6. You are covered
60-day labor warranty on everything we do; equipment carries the manufacturer warranty. If something needs a second look, you are calling the same person who installed it, not a call centre.
Common Jobs
What Shelter Island owners call us for.
Some of it is planned refit work booked over the winter. Plenty of it is the thing that quit halfway across the Sound.
Helm Rebuilds
Cracked pods and tired dashes out, a new panel cut to fit the screens you are actually buying, wiring re-run behind it. The most common upgrade on boats that are ten to twenty years old and otherwise perfectly sound.
Electronics That Quit
Screen goes dark, sounder drops out at speed, plotter loses heading. Nine times out of ten it is power, a corroded connection or a network that was never terminated properly — we find the cause instead of throwing parts at it and billing you for the guesses.
Radar Added To An Existing Helm
A dome or open array on a hardtop, arch or mast, cable run cleanly, talking properly to a plotter that is already aboard. Popular with anyone who has been caught out in Gardiners Bay fog with the ferry schedule running in the background.
Corrosion & Wiring Repair
Salt air out here is patient and thorough. Green terminals, chafed runs, butt splices from a previous owner, a ground that was never really a ground. We replace what is tired rather than build on top of it.
Season Commissioning
Bought a boat, or want the island boat genuinely ready before the season starts? Plotter, radar, VHF, sounder, cameras and networking done in one planned visit, so your first weekend is spent on the water instead of inside the console.
Batteries, Charging & Power
A modern glass helm pulls real current, and island boats often sit on a mooring with no shore power. Lithium conversions, charging, bus work and DC distribution done off the house bank — we stay on the DC side and leave AC panel work to a licensed electrician.
Ready to talk? Or keep reading below.
Why LIME
The ferry, priced honestly.
There is no bridge to Shelter Island. Every tradesman who comes to your boat gets there on the North Ferry from Greenport or the South Ferry from North Haven, just outside Sag Harbor, and every one of them is paying for that in time. Some bury it in a padded quote and hope you do not notice. We would rather say it out loud: the first 30 minutes each way is already inside the $280 first hour, and time beyond that is $40 per half hour per man, timed door to door from our Amityville shop. Shelter Island is past that radius, so extra travel applies. You get the number before we book, never on the invoice afterwards.
What the crossing really buys you is discipline. An island job gets planned like a delivery: equipment ordered and bench-checked first, the helm layout settled in advance, spare connectors and mounts on board, and the day scheduled so we are not watching the clock for a boat back. There is no four-hour minimum, no trip fee, no separate setup line stacked on top of the first hour, and no fixed-price fiction. Everything is time and materials, and you pay for the time actually worked.
The practical advice is simple: batch it. If the plotter is tired, the VHF is older than the boat and you have been meaning to add radar, do them in one booking rather than three. And if you keep a second boat in Sag Harbor or on the North Fork, mention it — the same run east can cover both. NMEA Certified MEI, ABYC electrical standards, fully insured, Empire Wind NETP approved vendor, 60-day labor warranty. The phone number on this page is the installer’s.
ABYC Electrical Standards
Empire Wind NETP Approved Vendor
5-Star Google Reviews
Fully Insured
$280 First Hour · $140/hr After
60-Day Labor Warranty
Fair Pricing Up Front
Reviews
What customers say.
Verbatim Google reviews. We do not write our own.
★★★★★ Adam R.
“If you are looking to upgrade you current electronics then you should look no further. David came on to my Boat and offered me several options and always leaned towards trying to save me the most money. He approached the project by trying to give me the best possible upgrade with the most cost efficient measures. His work was impeccable and delivered everything he said in a timely manner. if he says he will meet you at your boat at 8:30 then he is there at 8:29. Simply put, he is extremely knowledgable about what is currently available and does very clean work in a timely manner. In the boating world it is tough to find reliable people. He is a breath of fresh air.”
★★★★★ Chavelli T.
“Dave and his team are professional, responsive and transparent. Couldn't ask for anything more. Working with them was great; the attention to detail and willingness to communicate and problem solve meant our project got done on time despite the short notice. I'd recommend Long Island Marine Electronics and would use them again.”
★★★★★ Tommy C.
“On time. Knowledgeable. Dependable. Reasonable.”
FAQ
Marine electronics Shelter Island — common questions.
Do you come out to Shelter Island?Yes. Shelter Island is inside our Suffolk County service area and we come to the boat — Dering Harbor, Coecles Harbor, West Neck, Smith Cove, a mooring in the Sound or a trailer in the driveway. Because the island is ferry-only, we book Shelter Island work as a planned trip rather than a squeeze-in, so tell us as early as you can and we will give you a date we can actually keep.
Yes. Shelter Island is inside our Suffolk County service area and we come to the boat — Dering Harbor, Coecles Harbor, West Neck, Smith Cove, a mooring in the Sound or a trailer in the driveway. Because the island is ferry-only, we book Shelter Island work as a planned trip rather than a squeeze-in, so tell us as early as you can and we will give you a date we can actually keep.
What does marine electronics installation cost on Shelter Island?
Everything is time and materials — we never promise a firm fixed price. Labor is $280 flat for the first hour (one man, travel up to 30 minutes each way and setup included), then $140 per hour billed in 15-minute steps. There is no four-hour minimum and no trip fee. Parts are billed at cost plus markup. You get fair pricing up front so you know the scale of the job before we start, and you pay for the time actually worked.
How does the ferry affect travel billing?
It is handled the same honest way as any other travel, just stated plainly: the first 30 minutes each way is already inside the $280 first hour, and time beyond that is $40 per half hour per man, timed door to door from our Amityville shop. Shelter Island is at the far end of Suffolk County plus a ferry crossing, so extra travel does apply and we tell you that number before we roll — never after the invoice. The way to keep it small is to give us one bigger visit instead of three small ones.
Which ferry do you take to reach my boat?
Whichever suits the day. The North Ferry runs between Greenport and Shelter Island Heights, and the South Ferry runs between North Haven, just outside Sag Harbor, and the south end of the island. We pick the crossing that fits the schedule and the traffic. From your side it makes no difference — the truck and the parts arrive together.
Can you work on the boat in the water at Dering or Coecles Harbor?
Almost always. Chartplotters, radar, VHF, sounders, cameras and NMEA 2000 work all happen where the boat sits — in a slip at Dering Harbor Marina, at Coecles Harbor Marina and Boatyard, at the Island Boatyard in West Neck, or on a mooring. Only a through-hull transducer or heavy dash fabrication is easier with the boat hauled or the panel on a bench, and we say so before the visit, not after we arrive.
Which brands do you install?
Garmin, Simrad, Raymarine, Furuno, Icom, Fusion and more. LIME supplies all the equipment we install — we do not fit gear bought elsewhere, because we cannot stand behind hardware we did not source.
How long does a Shelter Island job take?
A single chartplotter or VHF swap is normally one visit. A full helm with plotter, radar, sounder and an NMEA 2000 backbone is usually one to two days, and each day starts with its own first-hour rate. Because of the ferry we plan the work so it finishes in the visits we booked — you get a realistic timeline up front instead of a best case.
Are you certified and insured?
Yes — NMEA Certified MEI, working to ABYC electrical standards, fully insured, and an Empire Wind NETP approved vendor. Labor carries a 60-day warranty; equipment carries the manufacturer warranty. When you call, you get the person who does the work.
The Rest Of The East End
Boat on the other side of the water? Same run east.
Shelter Island sits between the forks, so a trip here lines up naturally with Sag Harbor on the South Ferry side and the rest of Suffolk County. If you keep more than one boat, book them together.
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Prefer email? info@longislandmarineelectronics.com
Boat on Shelter Island? Let’s get it sorted.
Call and you get the person doing the work. We come to the boat, look at what you have, and give you fair pricing up front — time and materials, never a padded fixed quote.