I am an NMEA neophyte. I am trying to connect my Raymarine speedo,
depth, and wind indicator. They use SeaTalk. Apparently, SeaTalk is
not NMEA language. I thought the point of NMEA was to make multiple
manufactures equipment communicate, much like MIDI (musical instrument
digital interface) works for electric guitars, keyboarsd, and
synthesizers.

And much like MIDI, not everything works with everything else, especially
when combined. NMEA works well when there's not a lot of devices. There
are a number of multiplexing boxes available that can help manage multiple
talkers/listeners.

One point of SeaTalk was to get around the limits of NMEA.

Also, from what I hear, the issue of "daisy chaining" is somewhat
resolved by the new NMEA 2000 protocol. Easy connectors, simple
wiring.

The jury's still out on NMEA 2000 and it's actual standardization. It will
be a good thing when it does stabilize. Meanwhile, NMEA 0183 can be made to
work quite well.

Still, NMEA reminds me of DOS based computing. (it amazes me
that windows has DOS underlying it!)

Except it does, and hasn't since the days of NT and XP. Wake up.

I am sorry I bought my Ray Marine instruments that are not NMEA
compatible, if that's the word. Apparently, if I get a multiplexer, I
can make Sea Talk convert to NMEA.

Yep, you can gateway the signals to/from seatalk to NMEA.

I'm sure all this junk is in it's
infancy, and one day will be resolved by some very cool technology.

Meanwhile things like SeaTalk and NMEA 0183 get the job done pretty well.

It's already pretty cool, especially the Blue Tooth multiplexer made by
a company I don't know but recommended by someone on a google group.

Bluetooth, feh, I have no desire to leave my navigation data to the whims of
that crappy-ass protocol. I'll take a wired connection anyday, at least for
the important stuff.