GPS Location.

Sep 24, 2016
93
Catalina C-22 San Pedro
Curious.

I use my iPad with the Navionics app as my GPS. I'm going to use a Ram mount to secure it.

Any suggestions as to the best place to locate the GPS?
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Below.

99% of the time, you should use your eyes and binocs to PILOT your boat near shore; using your knowledge of upcoming ATONS to guide you. Way too many new sailors try and rely on 100% access to electric charting, and are totally hosed when that does not work.

Plus it will stay safe and dry.
 
Sep 24, 2016
93
Catalina C-22 San Pedro
Agreed. Living in Belize when we sail south the distance from land to the reef is 20 plus miles. I want to use it to make tracks when sailing with more seasoned sailors so I can stay away from the sand banks and shallows. You can see them but you can miss seeing them too. A number of the small cayes are a great place to anchor for the night, but finding them is iffy.
 
Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
I say at the wheel/tiller where you can annotate what you see or create a waypoint. As long as you are not endangering yourself or your crew by taking 'your eye off the road'. Since you are using Navtronics, it is basically the same as having a paper chart with you at the helm. Only difference is one is allowed for navigation, the other not (for some unknown reason).
 
Nov 19, 2008
2,129
Catalina C-22 MK-II Parrish, FL
I have two mounting locations for my GPS chart plotter on our C-22. I have a Ram mount ball on the side of the sliding hatch and use a short Ram ball mount. I also have an additional Ram ball on the underside of the side deck and I use one of the bolts that secure the jib car track, and attach the Ram Mount to hold it in position on the portside cabin shelf.

Don
LABOR DAY 004.jpg

Photo taken heading out into the Pacific from Mission Bay, San Diego.
2016 ST CLAIR RIVER TRIP 010.JPG

Photo taken on St Clair River while cruising on the Great Lakes in 2016.
 

Ted

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Jan 26, 2005
1,254
C&C 110 Bay Shore, Long Island, NY
In my opinion, it should be mounted where you can see and control it from your normal helm position. Being that the iPad is not waterproof, you might want to place it on a swing out mount at the companionway entrance so that in the event of foul weather you can swing it into the shelter of the cabin or just want to get it out of the way when you don't need to use it.
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
I'm not an opponent of helm mounted electronic nav aids, I'm just a much bigger fan of people learning how to pilot the correct way. Old school.

Use your EYES. Look. Know what ATON mean. How to read bottoms. Know and understand what is happening around your boat. I know people that could not get out of their harbor on a clear days without a plotter in their face. Do't be that person.

Your example about using a breadcrumb trail to avoid sandbars is a really bad idea. Sandbars MOVE. You have to look for them. Get up on your foredeck and look. Get your face out of your ipad.
 
Sep 30, 2013
3,538
1988 Catalina 22 North Florida
This is our arrangement. It probably runs contrary to what Jackdaw espouses, but we are careful to keep our eyes on the road (so to speak) and not fixate on the video screen. But we often tiptoe our way through 2'-3' water, where detail is crucial. I do agree with Jackdaw 100% in principle.

But I don't know what ATON means. :(

I doubt this does you any good, but I have a RAM mount going up for sale soon if you go that route. Our problem with it is that in the worst of weather, the hatchboards go in, and now you have no visible GPS right when you need it most.

 
Nov 6, 2006
9,884
Hunter 34 Mandeville Louisiana
Here is a good example of why ya need eyes open. Very noticeable because we were in a bayou.. out on the water, you'd not know until.. OOPS. Note that the path of a day earlier was off by 40-50 feet, but the one pictured is 500 feet or so off.. Nope, the bayou did not move that much in a day!
 

Attachments

Jun 6, 2006
6,990
currently boatless wishing Harrington Harbor North, MD
Aids TO Navigation (ATON)
To emphasize the point racing boats take upwards of 6 GPS units when they go off shore. They usually burn through 5 and then hold the last one in reserve in a safe dry place. While a great convenience they are not what is termed "suable for safety of life"
 
Jul 27, 2011
4,988
Bavaria 38E Alamitos Bay
I'd go with below, such as where a paper chart would normally be. I don't know about Gumdrop or similar protection but if the device is not designed to be splashed with seawater and keep functioning, then you probably should not have it out there where sooner or later that will happen.:( In addition to my mounted watertight ST instrument displays and compass, I have in the cockpit a pair of 7 x 50 Polaris binoculars (Fujinon), and an old Garmin 76Csx GPSMAP. Paper charts are below. Sandbars and shoals are fairly easy to spot visually during daylight; after dark, however, can be quite treacherous. Then is when you'd need to know your ATON plus have a spot or strong torchlight handy to help see/read (after dark) what day markers might be there. I agree with what has been noted above; generally better to be looking at the water (w/good night vision if after dark) than at your cockpit display.
 
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Nov 7, 2012
678
1978 Catalina 30 Wilbur-by-the-Sea
Put ours plotter on the bulkhead like Genes, also have a nice bulkhead compass. I have had rain squalls when motoring on the narrow parts of ICW were we lost sight of the markers and kept our course by compass for 5 minutes or so at a time until the rain passed. Not that much fun but it works.
 
Mar 1, 2016
262
Oday 28 Tracy's Landing
What size Ipad? Will it too far from the helm for you to really be able to use it effectively? How will the battery hold out? I assume you'll plug it into the boat's power system but wonder how much juice it will drain vs a Raymarine or Garmin marine GPS?
 
Mar 1, 2016
262
Oday 28 Tracy's Landing
I bought a Raymarine A77 multifunction chart plotter, an EV-100 auto-pilot that works with the plotter to follow the way points and a depth sounding transducer. I am considering mounting options for my ODay 28.
Please share a link to the Ram mount. My boat has an Edson wheel and pedestal with an original 1" diameter x 45" height pedestal guard. Edson suggests I replace that with the 1 1/8" diameter X 58" tall bent pedestal guard that enables the system to be right in front of the helmsman. Positioning a 7" device much further away will not likely be useful to my glasses-assisted yet aging eyes. This setup sounds great but is costly. The pedestal guard and mount combined are almost $800 from Defender and require an estimated 20 hours of labor to install it. Another option is a mount that clamps onto the pedestal guard yet the device is less visible, more likely to be bumped and damaged in rough weather and I'm told the current pedestal guard is not large enough to route the wires inside it. I'm looking for advice from others who have been down this road before.
 

Sailm8

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Feb 21, 2008
1,746
Hunter 29.5 Punta Gorda
What size Ipad? Will it too far from the helm for you to really be able to use it effectively? How will the battery hold out? I assume you'll plug it into the boat's power system but wonder how much juice it will drain vs a Raymarine or Garmin marine GPS?
The ipad draws between 1 and 2.1 amps. Oddly enough, the length of the charging cord can determine how many amps. A 10ft cord gives about 1 amp and a 3 foot closer to 2. The Garmin site, echo map 52, shows it draws 7.1 watts. This works out to about .59 amps. All of these numbers were from the internet so caveat emptor.

As a practical example, We use an ipad at the helm and when fully charged and plugged in to 12v it will slowly discharge at about 1% per hour when in use for navigation. But I didn't know the length of the cord was a big deal. I used a 10ft but might switch to a 3ft.