diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 7c43a4fe..ea543828 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -50,4 +50,5 @@ package-lock.json
 .DS_Store
 *.db
 
-.vscode
\ No newline at end of file
+.vscode
+custom-sentence-plugin/package-lock.json
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 6c7e73a6..38ee567e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -44,9 +44,18 @@
 - [ZDA - UTC day, month, and year, and local time zone offset](https://gpsd.gitlab.io/gpsd/NMEA.html#_zda_time_amp_date_utc_day_month_year_and_local_time_zone)
 - [XTE - Cross-track Error](https://www.tronico.fi/OH6NT/docs/NMEA0183.pdf)
 - [ZDA - UTC day, month, and year, and local time zone offset](http://www.trimble.com/oem_receiverhelp/v4.44/en/NMEA-0183messages_ZDA.html)
+- [Custom Sentences](#custom-sentences)
 
 **Note:** *at this time, unknown sentences will be silently discarded.*
 
+### Custom Sentences
+
+You can add custom sentence parsers via the [Signal K Server plugin mechanism](https://github.com/SignalK/signalk-server/blob/master/SERVERPLUGINS.md). A plugin can register custom parsers by emitting `` PropertyValues with a value that has the properties
+- sentence: the three letter id of the sentence
+- parser: a function with the signature `({ id, sentence, parts, tags }, session) => delta`
+
+See [custom-sentence-plugin](./custom-sentence-plugin) for an example.
+
 ## Usage
 
 ### JavaScript API
diff --git a/bin/nmea0183-signalk b/bin/nmea0183-signalk
index efd80751..8fc3d0d9 100755
--- a/bin/nmea0183-signalk
+++ b/bin/nmea0183-signalk
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env node
 
 const Parser = require('../lib/index.js')
-const parser = new Parser()
+const parser = new Parser({
+  validateChecksum: false
+})
 
 process.stdin.resume()
 process.stdin.setEncoding('utf8')
diff --git a/custom-sentence-plugin/index.js b/custom-sentence-plugin/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ac2548ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/custom-sentence-plugin/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/**
+ * To test the plugin
+ * - install the plugin (for example with npm link)
+ * - activate the plugin
+ * - add an UDP NMEA0183 connection to the server
+ * - send data via udp
+ *     echo '$IIXXX,1,2,3,foobar,D*17' | nc -u -w 0 127.0.0.1 7777
+ */
+
+module.exports = function (app) {
+  const plugin = {}
+  plugin.id = plugin.name = plugin.description = 'signalk-nmea0183-custom-sentence-plugin'
+
+  plugin.start = function () {
+    app.emitPropertyValue('nmea0183sentenceParser', {
+      sentence: 'XXX',
+      parser: ({ id, sentence, parts, tags }, session) => {
+        return {
+          updates: [
+            {
+              values: [
+                { path: 'navigation.speedOverGround', value: Number(parts[0]) }
+              ]
+            }
+          ]
+        }
+      }
+    })
+  }
+
+  plugin.stop = function () { }
+  plugin.schema = {}
+  return plugin
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/custom-sentence-plugin/package.json b/custom-sentence-plugin/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..73b124ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/custom-sentence-plugin/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+{
+  "name": "signalk-nmea0183-custom-sentence-plugin",
+  "version": "1.0.0",
+  "description": "Example of a plugin for Signal K Server that adds a custom sentence to the NMEA0183 parser",
+  "main": "index.js",
+  "scripts": {
+    "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1"
+  },
+  "keywords": [
+    "signalk-node-server-plugin"
+  ],
+  "author": "teppo.kurki@iki.fi",
+  "license": "Apache-2.0"
+}
diff --git a/lib/index.js b/lib/index.js
index f609c998..547a6dea 100644
--- a/lib/index.js
+++ b/lib/index.js
@@ -19,11 +19,15 @@
 const getTagBlock = require('./getTagBlock')
 const transformSource = require('./transformSource')
 const utils = require('@signalk/nmea0183-utilities')
-const hooks = require('../hooks')
+const defaultHooks = require('../hooks')
 const pkg = require('../package.json')
+const debug = require('debug')('signalk-parser-nmea0183')
 
 class Parser {
-  constructor (opts) {
+  constructor(opts = {
+    emitPropertyValue: () => undefined,
+    onPropertyValues: () => undefined
+  }) {
     this.options = (typeof opts === 'object' && opts !== null) ? opts : {}
     if (!Object.keys(this.options).includes('validateChecksum')) {
       this.options.validateChecksum = true
@@ -34,9 +38,22 @@ class Parser {
     this.version = pkg.version
     this.author = pkg.author
     this.license = pkg.license
+    this.hooks = { ...defaultHooks }
+
+    opts.onPropertyValues && opts.onPropertyValues('nmea0183sentenceParser', propertyValues_ => {
+      if (propertyValues_ === undefined) {
+        return
+      }
+      const propValues = propertyValues_.filter(v => v)
+        .map(propValue => propValue.value)
+        .filter(isValidSentenceParserEntry)
+        .map(({ sentence, parser }) => {
+          debug(`setting custom parser ${sentence}`)
+          this.hooks[sentence] = parser })
+    })
   }
 
-  parse (sentence) {
+  parse(sentence) {
     let tags = getTagBlock(sentence)
 
     if (tags !== false) {
@@ -51,7 +68,7 @@ class Parser {
     }
 
     let valid = utils.valid(sentence, this.options.validateChecksum)
-    
+
     if (valid === false) {
       throw new Error(`Sentence "${sentence.trim()}" is invalid`)
     }
@@ -84,8 +101,8 @@ class Parser {
       tags.source = `${tags.source}:${id}`
     }
 
-    if (typeof hooks[internalId] === 'function') {
-      const result = hooks[internalId]({
+    if (typeof this.hooks[internalId] === 'function') {
+      const result = this.hooks[internalId]({
         id,
         sentence,
         parts: split,
@@ -98,4 +115,12 @@ class Parser {
   }
 }
 
+function isValidSentenceParserEntry(entry) {
+  const isValid = typeof entry.sentence === 'string' && typeof entry.parser === 'function'
+  if (!isValid) {
+    console.error(`Invalid sentence parser entry:${JSON.stringify(entry)}`)
+  }
+  return isValid
+}
+
 module.exports = Parser
diff --git a/test/customSentenceParser.js b/test/customSentenceParser.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7b415fe8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/customSentenceParser.js
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright 2021 Signal K and Teppo Kurki <teppo.kurki@iki.fi>
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+const Parser = require('../lib')
+const chai = require('chai')
+const { expect } = require('chai')
+const should = chai.Should()
+chai.use(require('chai-things'))
+
+
+describe('Custom Sentence Parser', () => {
+  it('works', () => {
+    const TEST_SENTENCE_PARTS = ['1', '2', '3', 'foobar', 'D']
+    const TEST_CUSTOM_SENTENCE = `$IIXXX,${TEST_SENTENCE_PARTS.join(',')}*17`
+    const DELTA = {
+      updates: [
+        {
+          values: [
+            { path: 'a.b.c', value: 3.14 }
+          ]
+        }
+      ]
+    }
+    let onPropValuesCallCount = 0
+    const options = {
+      onPropertyValues: (propertyName, cb) => {
+        onPropValuesCallCount++
+        cb(undefined)
+        cb([{
+          value: {
+            sentence: 'XXX',
+            parser: ({ id, sentence, parts, tags }, session) => {
+              id.should.equal('XXX')
+              sentence.should.equal(TEST_CUSTOM_SENTENCE)
+              parts.should.have.members(TEST_SENTENCE_PARTS)
+              expect(typeof session).to.equal('object')
+              return DELTA
+            }
+          }
+        }])
+      }
+    }
+    const parser = new Parser(options)
+    onPropValuesCallCount.should.equal(1)
+    const delta = parser.parse(TEST_CUSTOM_SENTENCE)
+    delta.should.deep.equal(DELTA)
+  })
+})