Intangible Assets (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended							12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Jul. 31, 2011 Thermal Vision and Measurement Aerius Photonics LLC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Raymarine Tacktick Ltd And Belamarin OY [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Acquired identifiable intangibles	Dec. 31, 2011 Acquired identifiable intangibles	Dec. 31, 2012 Product technology Acquired identifiable intangibles Years	Dec. 31, 2011 Product technology Acquired identifiable intangibles	Dec. 31, 2012 Customer relationships Acquired identifiable intangibles Years	Dec. 31, 2011 Customer relationships Acquired identifiable intangibles	Dec. 31, 2012 Trademarks and tradename portfolios Acquired identifiable intangibles Years	Dec. 31, 2011 Trademarks and tradename portfolios Acquired identifiable intangibles	Dec. 31, 2012 Other Acquired identifiable intangibles Years	Dec. 31, 2011 Other Acquired identifiable intangibles	Dec. 31, 2012 Patents Nonacquired intangibles Years	Dec. 31, 2011 Patents Nonacquired intangibles	Dec. 31, 2012 Acquired in-place leases and other Nonacquired intangibles Years	Dec. 31, 2011 Acquired in-place leases and other Nonacquired intangibles
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross carrying amount								$ 89,818,000	$ 89,722,000	$ 64,083,000	$ 67,862,000	$ 7,160,000	$ 7,910,000	$ 20,380,000	$ 21,920,000	$ 4,464,000	$ 4,202,000	$ 12,971,000	$ 12,882,000
Gross carrying amount						32,076,000	32,076,000
Gross carrying amount						213,517,000	219,490,000
Less accumulated amortization						(78,328,000)	(62,490,000)									(3,960,000)	(3,478,000)	(8,043,000)	(6,166,000)
Net carrying amount	140,621,000	164,440,000				135,189,000	157,000,000
Net carrying amount																504,000	724,000	4,928,000	6,716,000
Weighted average estimated useful life								11		11		15		5
Weighted average estimated useful life																17		7
Acquired identifiable intangible assets from acquisitions				8,800,000	1,100,000
Aggregate amortization expense	24,400,000	33,200,000	25,800,000
2012	22,892,000
2013	18,055,000
2014	13,856,000
2015	9,094,000
2016	$ 8,355,000