Good Morning, all! I just found the forums here, and thought I'd post a quick introduction, and a couple of silly questions: My wife and I- Merlyn and Caliann, are Texas natives just returning after a decade or so of being landlocked out west (Colorado, Nevada and Arizona). We are both in the construction industry (heavy equipment operators) and ex-IT geeks. We are both relatavely new to sailing. We just today bought a 1978 Dufour 31 foot with the intention of living aboard, since our jobs take us hither and yon on the gulf coast- We can sail to everywhere we are likely to work on a week to week basis. Mobile living is a godsend. I have a couple of fairly simple questions, if you folks have a moment for such: 1: Any opinions, love stories, or advice on the older Dufours? We take an inspection/shakedown run in 2 week on her, at which time we have to either finalize the deal or withdraw our offer, and I am curious as to what I should be looking for. 2: The boat is almost completely un-equipped in electronics, instruments ect. She has a simple compass, a depth finder that may or may not work and is old as the hills in any case, and a speed indicator in the same condition. I know I am going to need to get a VHF immediately, and possibly a new depth finder, but in looking on various websites at the electronic gadgets, gizmos and toys avaliable, I am faced with the fact that I have NO idea what I should be shopping for. We are not going to be doing much sailing other than simple shore-in-sight marina to marina runs until after we have taken some basic sailing/seamanship classes, so I doubt I need to run out and blow the savings on a chartplotter/GPS setup first thing, but I could be badly mistaken, too ::grin:: Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! Merlyn and Caliann
New sailer with a new (to me) boat
- Thread starter Merlyn
- Start date
- Status
You Have It
Ahoy Merlyn n' Caliann; You allready have what you need as long as their working. A compass and a depth sounder, and a good time piece. Now there are people that will tell you, Radar, EPIRB, Wind speed, autopilot, SSB radio, The list is almost endless. I would suggest a good VHF radio, and if you know nothing about navagation, three or four GPS units. The more gadgets you buy the more there is to break. There are people that wont leave the dock without all the bells and whistles and swear by them. Sooner or later they will swear at them. PS dont forget to get paper charts. Fair Winds Cap'n Dave
Ahoy Merlyn n' Caliann; You allready have what you need as long as their working. A compass and a depth sounder, and a good time piece. Now there are people that will tell you, Radar, EPIRB, Wind speed, autopilot, SSB radio, The list is almost endless. I would suggest a good VHF radio, and if you know nothing about navagation, three or four GPS units. The more gadgets you buy the more there is to break. There are people that wont leave the dock without all the bells and whistles and swear by them. Sooner or later they will swear at them. PS dont forget to get paper charts. Fair Winds Cap'n Dave
combo unit
Hello, Congrats on your new boat. I hope you love it. Regarding your gear question, I would suggest an inexpensive combination of GPS Chartplotter and Sounder (depthfinder). In the spring I bought a Lowrance unit (M68C Smap). It costs $399 and includes detailed high resolution maps of the US, color screen, fishfinder, etc. I have used it this year and I love it. Garmin, Standard Horizon, Eagle, Humminbird, etc. make similar units. If you are going to buy a new VHF decide if you want a fixed unit or a handheld. There isn't much price difference. The handhelds are great because you can use them in the cockpit, don't need to run an antenna wire, etc. The downside is they only have 5 watts power vs 25 watts on a fixed unit. Good luck, Barry
Hello, Congrats on your new boat. I hope you love it. Regarding your gear question, I would suggest an inexpensive combination of GPS Chartplotter and Sounder (depthfinder). In the spring I bought a Lowrance unit (M68C Smap). It costs $399 and includes detailed high resolution maps of the US, color screen, fishfinder, etc. I have used it this year and I love it. Garmin, Standard Horizon, Eagle, Humminbird, etc. make similar units. If you are going to buy a new VHF decide if you want a fixed unit or a handheld. There isn't much price difference. The handhelds are great because you can use them in the cockpit, don't need to run an antenna wire, etc. The downside is they only have 5 watts power vs 25 watts on a fixed unit. Good luck, Barry
- Status