I am moving up from years of inland lake daysailing to a Hinterhoeller HR28 we'll (daylight) sail in Casco Bay Maine. I am not a gadget-guy so want to outfit for safety but do not want all the bells-and-whistles. I plan to have:
- separate depth sounder or fishfinder w/ thru-hull transducer
- 5-inch chartplotter, tho I will rely primarily on paper charts
- hand-held GPS for backup
- fixed VHF w/ DSC
My questions involve chartplotters. I have spent at least 4 hours at Garmin and Lowrance websites, and primer-level information just does not exist... they tell you WHAT features a given unit has but not WHY you want/need that feature.
1. What would be the drawbacks to a total minimalist electronic approach? Like no chartplotter and simply a hand-held GPS? When visibility is good, I intend to rely on paper charts and triangulated position fixing if I need to know EXACTLY where I am. The hand-held GPS, capable of providing an exact real-time fix, would be relied on more for fog / low visibility situations.
2. Garmin & Lowrance (and Humminbird and Eagle) entry-level chartplotters come with US Coastal "BaseMaps" but then it seems they want more $$ for upgraded charts. Their sites are all very poor describing what one does and does not get with standard chart data and the upgrades. Basic question... do Basemaps provide enough info for safe coastal sailing in low visibility conditions, or are the chart upgrades necessary?
3. In addition to GPS (or maybe entry-level Chartplotter) I only plan to install a depth sounder. I've done enough small-boat sailing that I don't need / want speed or wind instruments (I can also get SOG from a GPS). Looking at the traditional sailing providers (Raymarine, et al) , depth sounder display / transducer combos go for $350 +/-. A Wal-Mart fishfinder with thru-hull transducer is $125. I do not care how deep the water is, I want to know how deep it ISN'T, and all units seem to have real-time depth displays and low-depth alarms. What am I missing here?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Well, I think minimal prudent navigation these days, especially in a complicated, fog-prone area like Casco Bay includes GPS plotting on an electronic chart. It's great to keep up with the old pencil and paper chart skills, but GPS plotting is less prone to error and gives you more time to keep your head out of the boat.
Chart plotting can be very minimal, though. It can be done on a handheld GPS with built-in charts, or a smart phone in a plastic bag (though there are definite issues with sunlight screen visibility). Finding a way to built routes at home and getting them on the handheld makes the little screens more useful.
Base maps are generally not detailed charts (though getting more so), but both Lowrance and Garmin, and others, sell 5" plotters with charts of the whole U.S. coast built in. They may cost a little more than a model with only base maps but usually not as much as buying a chart card even for a small region.
Another approach to minimalist depth sounder might be a 5" plotter/fishfinder. It may sound counter intuitive, but a quick look at Garmin.com suggests that you'd only pay roughly $150 for a "S" model with a thru-hull transducer. Then you'd have a depth number and shallow water alarm on your plotter, plus could look at depth trending if you wanted, or even fish. I'm pretty sure Lowrance and others work out similarly.
I have two catamarans; one is loaded with every conceivable gadget. The newer, bigger cat has Radar, a 5" Garmin chartplotter, and AIS. We moved her,in stages, from Thomaston, ME to George Town in the Bahamas. It took me a while to resign myself to her limited data, but that also gave me the motivation to really learn and use much of the capabilities of what we had.
Assuming radar is just not an option for you, I would urge you to consider a 4 or 5" fixed mount Garmin chartplotter with sounder, Standard Horizon's Matrix AIS VHF radio, and a subscription to Satellite Weather. Acquire a handheld combo VHF/GPS radio, and keep it in a Farraday container* for lightning protection.
Here are the benefits:
A Garmin Chartplotter with preloaded charts will show you where you are, where you are headed, and how long it will take you. You can zoom in for minute details and out for the big picture. If you buy the optional Vision card (which you don't really need otherwise) it can calculate and project a safe route to a destination that keeps you in deep-enough water and under high-enough bridges. It works. Connect four little wires to the Matrix AIS and you will see ships on your plotter, with good information about them just a click away. This is live data; the Garmin will tell you if any of them are going to get close, and when. More and more ships, commercial vessels and private yachts are equipped with AIS each day. Good to know. This will also give you full DSC, so when someone presses (and HOLDS) the little red button on the radio, the Coast Guard will know exactly where you are, and start talking to you. This is essential.
This last feature sounds like an extravagance, but it has saved me from serious trouble on 7 occasions so far: It is satellite weather, in my case from XM Audio. This is near realtime weather depicted on the chartplotter, in your choice of flavors. In some respects its better than radar because it shows what's over the horizon but coming your way.
Nota Bene: AIS is not a substitute for installing and knowing how to read radar.
Installing this stuff is, except for the depth transducer, easy. Drill a few holes, lead and connect a few wires, baddabing baddaboom. You can get a bigger screen for a bigger bank roll, and will probably think the 4" screen is too small, but if its mounted close enough to push the buttons, you will be able to use it. Unlike the toy-solutions of cell phones, i-gadgets, or laptops, this stuff will stand up to more nasty weather than I can.
* Farraday container: Microwave oven, paint can, or just a few layers of aluminum foil will route the EMP pulse that comes near a lightning strike around whatever is inside. I like to isolate the contents from the container with insulatiion like foam rubber or just bubble wrap.
For many years we cruised extensively with a Garmin 75 at the helm using Go To Waypoint and XTE to navigate, and plotted our position on a paper chart at regular intervals. It worked well and we traveled all over the Caribbean and US east coast. We did have a depth sounder and wind instruments, but none integrated. Today we have both a chartplotter with C-Map and a computer running software with charts. We certainly can cruise just with the hand held and charts, BUT, we feel more relaxed and more aware of our situation with the plotter or computer running and additional equipment providing us with information. I did sail from South Carolina to Bermuda and back to the Chesapeake with nothing more than a plastic Davis sextant, a VHF and a RDF, oh and a depth sounder. I made it with no problems. Would I have liked to have the equipment I have today? You bet, but each of us must decide our own comfort level. I have determined my equipment needs over many years of cruising and not all in the first year. Chuck
Have a look at Garmin GpsMap 541s which is 5", preloaded US Coastal charts, and built in sonar for depth and fish finding, and all for a keen cost.
Thanks all... It sounds like a 5 inch plotter with coastal charts makes most sense. I am considering an inexpensive and separate depth sounder (Hawkeye or similar), preferring to devote the entire (already small) plotter screen to just the chart info.
Am I missing any perticular benefits of integrated plotter and depth... seems to me two displays are better than one.
Thanks again.
It's a personal choice thing, but if your looking for a minimal setup than plotter/sounder is neat and lowest cost. Eggs all in one basket, but modern kit is very reliable. Easier install with one only unit needing 12/24v power. Chart plotter can display depth overlaid as a data box, or screen can be split if you want bottom profile recorded. Garmin 541s is a neat package. Just add the type of transducer that suits your vessel.
Re: separate cheap sounder
Redundancy is a good concept with one disclaimer; modern marine electronics are so reliable that the effort does not deliver a positive reward, especially on a sailboat, where the possibility of near or off shore trips begs for a ditch bag with portable radio and gps, epirb, flares, water, etc, stored in a manner to prevent damage from lightning-generated EMP. Putting a very sharp pencil to the question, A $69 depth transducer, plus the added cost of The S model of whatever chartplotter you end up with, minus the labor and hassle of mounting another small display and running wires to and from it, is a positive return.