Thinking of getting a GPS..which to buy

Ward H

Ward H

.
Nov 7, 2011
3,832
Catalina 30 Mk II Cedar Creek, Bayville NJ
David,
Since Garmin and others are really pushing the new fish finder features, I believe a lot of their comments are directed to the fish finder aspect of the units.

They say that about heeling because if your looking for fish and or structures underwater, heeling at 20 deg may mean your not looking directly under your boat as it would be in a power boat.
For us sailors, we are mostly interested in depth and 20 deg heel probably won't throw off depth readings in water shallow enough for us to care. And if in shallow water we probably won't be heeling that much.
I think that is why Garmin does not recommend mounting the new featured TM transducers as shoot through the hull. Guys buying for the fancy fish finder sonar features want the most detail at the most depths. They won't want the reduced efficiency caused by mounting inside. We don't really care. We just want depth.
Just my thoughts on it.
Interested in what you find when you do get to it. Hoping this weekend brings better weather.
 
C

Cruising Spirit

.
May 28, 2015
33
hunter 460 Stuart
Hi David, Two big reasons I prefer Garmin...one, the menus flow more intuitively. Second and biggest...their cartography. I know you don't want color but might as well have it as you are going to have more trouble finding a black and white.

My systems are larger than what you are looking for, so I looked at WM and saw they have a Garmin GPS for $299 that is also a sonar. You are probably going to have to buy a chart chip for it as well (the bigger the area on the chip...and more charts...the more expensive). But the problem is going to be the depth sounder transducer. I saw it is on a swivel and tilt mount...that means it is for transom mount...not good on a sail boat. You can glue these to the inside of the hull and loose some performance but I had good luck back in my trailer sailer days with doing this.

Or...don't put that money in a 22 Oday. Save it for a bigger boat. Go cheaper (I think) with a GPS program on an IPad. I think cheaper if you already operate in the Apple world and have a pad with cell phone connectivity for the GPS signal. The IPad GPS world has not been one I have gone into either but many friends of mine sailing the waters of Puerto Rico to Virgin Islands use this extensively with great results. You won't have a depth sounder with this (or you could go for a $150 or less depth stand alone and go IPad for GPS). I cannot say enough how much better the Garmin Cartography is. I have personally known two other captains that have hit rock due to unclear features on Cartography of another well known manufacturer. All the best, Tim and Cruising Spirit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Top Bottom