Grrr. So my July 5th sail plan was to arrive at 10:06 A.M. Deception Pass slack water, then head for Watmough Bay. Woke to a nice warm day after a long and noisy evening of LaConner fire works. An 8:45 A.M. cast off plan, then a one hour sail to Deception Pass; all systems on, lines off and heading down the fairway to Swinomish channel. Looking at my 2005 Garmin 178C Sounder, no speed or direction appears. No problem, did a hard start, but no change. Reset the power and antenna connections, nope. Again, NOPE! Okay, back to the slip to figure things out.
Yes, I know that sailors have managed without GPS for centuries, so no big deal. However, our Garmin has always worked with spot on routing, but I'm not going anywhere without a working GPS. I hailed a passing boater and he said that both of his GPSs were working fine. Fiddled more with the Garmin while back in the slip, but no change. Time to head home to visit with the so called experts at Harbor Marine and West Marine. Both want to sell me a new system worth a few boat bucks. Very nice, but no thanks. West Marine Bob did a quick search on the problem and produced a 2014 Cruising Sailor forum dialogue that provided a possible solution, but no follow-up whether it worked. Stu Jackson replied, but was of no help.
Called Garmin for some assistance, but had to hold for two hours before talking to a live person. Sheesh! Was told they stopped supporting the manufacturer discontinued 178C Sounder several years ago, but recommended one of their new GPS Maps products. Thank you, but no thanks. Spent another hour searching the web for a replacement, then talked to West Marine Bob again about replacements.
Before I spend $650 on a new system, I need to make sure that our 178C Sounder can no longer acquire a GPS signal. Yesterday, I head to the boat with our old Sounder in tow to apply West Marine Bob's article instructions. It's warm, but I hook everything up, press and hold the page and power buttons until the machine lights up and the Agree button appears, which I do. The acquisition screen appears as before, but somethings different. A different blank bar appears, then another, and another, then the first one fills in green, then another fills and another. Whoohoo!!. Our old Garmin 178C Sounder has returned to the living. It delivers nine green GPS bars, which is a very good sign.
I left it on and returned home to attend to some home matters. Today, July 7th, I plan to head out on my original sail plan tomorrow morning, to catch a Deception Pass slack, then over to Watmough Bay for some water time. What a happy day.
Yes, I know that sailors have managed without GPS for centuries, so no big deal. However, our Garmin has always worked with spot on routing, but I'm not going anywhere without a working GPS. I hailed a passing boater and he said that both of his GPSs were working fine. Fiddled more with the Garmin while back in the slip, but no change. Time to head home to visit with the so called experts at Harbor Marine and West Marine. Both want to sell me a new system worth a few boat bucks. Very nice, but no thanks. West Marine Bob did a quick search on the problem and produced a 2014 Cruising Sailor forum dialogue that provided a possible solution, but no follow-up whether it worked. Stu Jackson replied, but was of no help.
Called Garmin for some assistance, but had to hold for two hours before talking to a live person. Sheesh! Was told they stopped supporting the manufacturer discontinued 178C Sounder several years ago, but recommended one of their new GPS Maps products. Thank you, but no thanks. Spent another hour searching the web for a replacement, then talked to West Marine Bob again about replacements.
Before I spend $650 on a new system, I need to make sure that our 178C Sounder can no longer acquire a GPS signal. Yesterday, I head to the boat with our old Sounder in tow to apply West Marine Bob's article instructions. It's warm, but I hook everything up, press and hold the page and power buttons until the machine lights up and the Agree button appears, which I do. The acquisition screen appears as before, but somethings different. A different blank bar appears, then another, and another, then the first one fills in green, then another fills and another. Whoohoo!!. Our old Garmin 178C Sounder has returned to the living. It delivers nine green GPS bars, which is a very good sign.
I left it on and returned home to attend to some home matters. Today, July 7th, I plan to head out on my original sail plan tomorrow morning, to catch a Deception Pass slack, then over to Watmough Bay for some water time. What a happy day.
