I need a GPS - Bimini in mind.

[Sbrown]

For the record, I don't think you need a $1000 plus chartplotter to get to bimini, much less a $10,000 one. But spending $300-$600 on a decent one is a wise investment, IMHO. The key here is connection, cellular vs satellite, not necessarily cubic dollars spent.

 

[Betik]

I am certain that your phone is better than mine, especially when it is not catching fire or frozen. I know it is sounds sarcastic, but I do not meant it that way at all. I just simply feel that we are pushing our luck by taking a class D boat offshore. And that is where I am would like to stop cutting corners. People could try crossing with an astrolabe, but I am rather pay $500.


Remember all the Note 7 fires? Well now the Galaxy Note 8 has a freezing problem

 

[Jgorm]

Use what makes you feel safe. I have hundreds of hours recording tracks and waypoints with the gps in my phone in areas without cell service. I'll be bringing only my phone on our mt Whitney backpacking trip. I have over 60gb of offline satellite maps with street view resolution. Never had a singled issue. I just wanted to throw it out there that you can get full download charts on your phone for 15 bucks and it works great without or without service. I pulled it out on a cruise ship to see we were doing 20 knots and we're 70 mi if the coast.

 

[AJack]

I think that's the misnomer, you don't need cellular service. I download the maps on my cell with the Navionics app and use the cell's GPS (not cellular service) to track position. Albeit, I do have a Garmin chartplotter installed as well. I was watching a sailing video, and it was stating that tablets are becoming the norm, over chartplotters, for sailors traveling across the oceans due to enhanced GUI each operating system provides over an antiquated chartplotter.

For the record, I don't think you need a $1000 plus chartplotter to get to bimini, much less a $10,000 one. But spending $300-$600 on a decent one is a wise investment, IMHO. The key here is connection, cellular vs satellite, not necessarily cubic dollars spent.

 

[Speedling]

I think that's the misnomer, you don't need cellular service. I download the maps on my cell with the Navionics app and use the cell's GPS (not cellular service) to track position. Albeit, I do have a Garmin chartplotter installed as well. I was watching a sailing video, and it was stating that tablets are becoming the norm, over chartplotters, for sailors traveling across the oceans due to enhanced GUI each operating system provides over an antiquated chartplotter.

I tested my phone a good bit on Lake Michigan in "airplane mode". Navionics is good if you set destination before you leave but i found hard to use under way. Especially when the screen doesn't act right due to being wet from the spray.

 

[swatski]

I think that's the misnomer, you don't need cellular service. I download the maps on my cell with the Navionics app and use the cell's GPS (not cellular service) to track position. Albeit, I do have a Garmin chartplotter installed as well. I was watching a sailing video, and it was stating that tablets are becoming the norm, over chartplotters, for sailors traveling across the oceans due to enhanced GUI each operating system provides over an antiquated chartplotter.

It’s a little different though, guys sailing around the world do not pound the waves like our little yamies do.

I have a very simple inexpensive chart plotter and I also have a large iPhone mounted inside a very sturdy, short, stubby, well mounted phone mount. I’ve been out many times with the iPhone (works fine with cellular turned off if Nav maps we preloaded) mounted in parallel to the chart plotter, with similar screen sizes and distance from my face.

Results: I never look at the phone screen - even though those maps are easier to scale, adjust, are more updated, whatever.

The chart plotter is there and it always, always wins.
Of course YMMV.

—

 

[AJack]

Either way, I think anyone traveling offshore should have some kind of redundancy for everything - thus my primary is the phone but backup is the chartplotter. Being in the military, comms are always going to go down. We always have a PACE (Primary, Alternate, Contingency and Emergency) plan for each movement.

 

[Julian]

Either way, I think anyone traveling offshore should have some kind of redundancy for everything - thus my primary is the phone but backup is the chartplotter. Being in the military, comms are always going to go down. We always have a PACE (Primary, Alternate, Contingency and Emergency) plan for each movement.

Right on! For Bimini we have:

• Fixed mount Garmin GPSMap 541
• Two phones with Navonics. My new Samsung is water resistant to 3m with a huge battery.
• Fixed mount VHF with tower mounted 8' antenna with DSC, and an external speaker.
• 2 Handheld VHF and backup batteries in a ditch bag

 

[Speedling]

Just curious, do the newer boats have a compass on anything?
I actually found i watched my compass heading primarily when returning which was the rougher of the two crossings. I also used it to spot a cloud ahead so flying or dropping i had a heading. The navionics was essentially to remind me i was right

 

[Bajd98]

Redundancy redundancy redundancy. Here in Fort Myers, Florida, just a few weeks ago, it took the coast guard almost two days to find a boat that ran out of gas close to shore and drifted out to the gulf. Do not rely on just one piece of technology if you are not on a lake. Btw ....if you use a phone or tablet, a suggestion I have is to buy something like a Bad Elf GPS and link it to your devices. It is more accurate which is handy for me here in shallow waters off Sanibel. I can see my dot move room to room in my house....accurate to ten feet.

 

[Dixie Highway]

My 2018 FSH has a compass...another reason for you to take that FSH plunge @Speedling ! Let me know when you’re ready for a test ride, at some point this summer I’ll have her out on Lake Michigan. For what it’s worth, I use a Samsung tablet for primary with Nav+, I’d likely continue to use it even on a Bimini crossing. In reality, whether you use a tablet, a $200 used Garmin plotter, or a $10,000 Simrad setup with radar, you’re relying on a computer chip, an engineer, and a Chinese worker making $5 a day (if that) to all do their job properly.

 

[Jgorm]

Redundancy redundancy redundancy. Here in Fort Myers, Florida, just a few weeks ago, it took the coast guard almost two days to find a boat that ran out of gas close to shore and drifted out to the gulf. Do not rely on just one piece of technology if you are not on a lake. Btw ....if you use a phone or tablet, a suggestion I have is to buy something like a Bad Elf GPS and link it to your devices. It is more accurate which is handy for me here in shallow waters off Sanibel. I can see my dot move room to room in my house....accurate to ten feet.

Sounds like a 25w vhf would have been better than 3 gps. 2 vhf radios if your going to be in life threatening situations. Boaters used a compass and a map until the 1990s, unless you count the loran system that sometimes worked.

 

[Bajd98]

Sounds like a 25w vhf would have been better than 3 gps. 2 vhf radios if your going to be in life threatening situations. Boaters used a compass and a map until the 1990s, unless you count the loran system that sometimes worked.

Yes they should have had a radio. My point was that they do not find you right away so don’t rely on just one item. The gps part of my comment was just a random thought since so many folks seem to be relying on gps in phones and tablets.... it just improves accuracy for them

 

[swatski]

Boaters used a compass and a map until the 1990s,

Ahem...
how about... late 1990s...?
Lol


—

 

[Speedling]

My 2018 FSH has a compass...another reason for you to take that FSH plunge @Speedling ! Let me know when you’re ready for a test ride, at some point this summer I’ll have her out on Lake Michigan. For what it’s worth, I use a Samsung tablet for primary with Nav+, I’d likely continue to use it even on a Bimini crossing. In reality, whether you use a tablet, a $200 used Garmin plotter, or a $10,000 Simrad setup with radar, you’re relying on a computer chip, an engineer, and a Chinese worker making $5 a day (if that) to all do their job properly.

My wife really doesn't like the style of center consoles. She likes the sleeker looking lines of the other boats. All the more reason to get her on one for versatility. She grew up boating and fishing and i didn't so i figured she would like it!
I wonder if all the chartplotters have the same waterproof rating as the phones coming out now. It's unreal the world we live in and all the options we have and how good they really are!

 

[Speedling]

Sounds like a 25w vhf would have been better than 3 gps. 2 vhf radios if your going to be in life threatening situations. Boaters used a compass and a map until the 1990s, unless you count the loran system that sometimes worked.

Absolutely true! While i had 3 gps devices plus a compass i also had a built in 25w vhf and a handheld 5w which stayed with my wife 90% of the time.
I really don't understand why it is not a requirement for boats over 20'!

 

[Jgorm]

Absolutely true! While i had 3 gps devices plus a compass i also had a built in 25w vhf and a handheld 5w which stayed with my wife 90% of the time.
I really don't understand why it is not a requirement for boats over 20'!

Most boats don't go more than a mile or 2 off the coast. If you regularly go 3+miles off the coast I'd go for 2 25w vhf. Most boats over 30' have 2. 5w is pretty much line of sight.

 

[swatski]

Can anyone with 25Watts VHF radio and E-series boat chime in on any radio interference issues, mostly when transmitting in high power (25W)?

I would strongly advice to thouroghly test radio equipment for potential interference before taking off to Bimini, or anywhere where the range of 25+ mile broadcast may be life saving.

In my 240 and 190 I have observed numerous issues with my electronics when blasting from VHF in 25W, so have learned to be using low power settings whenever practical, most of the time (1 or 5 Watts).

A 25W VHF radio can wreak havoc on all kinds of electronics (in transmission mode). If there is a radio playing, you definitely hear that strong hum that overwhelms any music playing. It can cause power supplies and other electronic equipment to go bezerk. Your cruise control (in E-boats) may go awry. This can be better or worse in closer proximity to a 25W antenna, or the VHF antenna cable close to the FM antenna cable or other wires.

Better test it before you set sail, don't want any surprises when you can no longer see dry land on the horizon, lol.

--

 

[Speedling]

Can anyone with 25Watts VHF radio and E-series boat chime in on any radio interference issues, mostly when transmitting in high power (25W)?

I would strongly advice to thouroghly test radio equipment for potential interference before taking off to Bimini, or anywhere where the range of 25+ mile broadcast may be life saving.

In my 240 and 190 I have observed numerous issues with my electronics when blasting from VHF in 25W, so have learned to be using low power settings whenever practical, most of the time (1 or 5 Watts).

A 25W VHF radio can wreak havoc on all kinds of electronics (in transmission mode). If there is a radio playing, you definitely hear that strong hum that overwhelms any music playing. It can cause power supplies and other electronic equipment to go bezerk. Your cruise control (in E-boats) may go awry. This can be better or worse in closer proximity to a 25W antenna, or the VHF antenna cable close to the FM antenna cable or other wires.

Better test it before you set sail, don't want any surprises when you can no longer see dry land on the horizon, lol.

--

You know what? that's a good point! I tested with my handheld talking to my built in, and I always had my built in on during my Lake Michigan trips, but in Bahamas run I seemed to have a really unclear speaker. Ended up I used the 25w for transmitting and my wife would tell me what @Betik would say through the handheld which was clearer. I wonder if I had interference issues with things while under way that I normally don't hear while anchored up and such?

 

[Dixie Highway]

I can tell you that while sitting parked in my driveway the weather stations I can pick up are clear as a bell, but once I start the engine I get a tiny hint of static. Not totally unexpected, as the high voltage plugs are firing, current is now being generated and sent to batteries. My only issue so far is I have no clue if I can transmit or not yet. I’m easily 50 miles from commercial traffic anywhere, so far channels 16 and 9 have yielded nothing. I guess the only way would be either find another marine radio I can play with or get a handheld and start driving away with someone in my boat at home listening? See how far I can get and still hear it?