Complete Newbie - GPS / Chartplotter Help

Take5

Take5

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Hello all,

I am just awaiting delivery of my first boat (1997 Rinker 266).

Will I need a chartplotter as well as a GPS device or are Charplotters also GPS devices? Im stumped on the whole thing.

Also, am I right in thinking a chartplotter doesn't actually come with the maps for my region?

Thanks in advance.
 
Chartplotter is a GPS with pictures, so one does both.

Some have integral GPS aerials, some need the aerial as an external.

Usually you have to stump up extra for a chart on a chip, but some vendors offer a 'free' chart as part of the purchase price.

Neither a plain vanilla GPS nor a plotter is essential - you can get by with old fashioned navigation (it was good enough for Nelson).
 
Many Thanks for that lightning reply.

With regards to not needing one, as im a complete newbie to boating I am taking in as much information as I can. I do intend to learn the art of "old fashioned navigation" but the techie in me would also like to have a "few gadgets".

Once again. THANKS for the info. It is greatly appreciated.

p.s Any recommendations as to a make/model (entry level) that I should be considering.
 
Hi and welcome,

There can be little doubt that at under 300 quid the Standard Horizon CP-180i chartplotter is everything you might want.

However. As Ken touched on, having a mastery of 'paper' navigation is very valuable. Trust me when I say that people have been put off boating for life by bad experiences early on, some have been put off life.

I can really reccomend some training, either formal or socialy. You can find loads of RYA sea schools around, but even easier than that is going out a few times with a salty old sea dog or two. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

The skills are not hard to learn, but they are hard to work out from scratch.

[/lecture] /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
Depends on where you will be sailing. Most navigation is 'pilotage' you navigate with reference to visible marks, coastal features etc and a plotter doesn't help that much. It seems to be most help when we are on passages and can only see one mark ahead or no marks at all. (Actually most of the time I follow the boat in front beacuse the area is new to me /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif)

We had a plain old GPS for a few years and it was really excellent. We never considered a plotter. A plain GPS teaches you a lot about navigation becuase you actually use the chart.

Then we started taking our young children on board I felt I needed a quick visual reference. Like most smal boat owners I went for the Lowrance set, though now I would opt for the internal ariel version. About £350 will get you the set and charts if you hunt for Nauticpath deals.

Unless you are constantly sailing in new waters go for the GPS and paper charts or even better a Yeoman. You'll learn tons about pilotage and navigation. The plotter has made us lazy and quite frankly journeys with it are somewhat boring. It's much more interesting to turn it off. We haven't used it for ages. But then the boat in front always seems like he's doing the right thing... /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
Thanks to both of you for the info.

The first thing we (me and the wife), intend doing is getting a 2 day "powerboat level 2" under our belt from the Conway RYA School.

If I knew someone else in the area that had a cruiser I would love to go out with them to pick up what I can as I find that is the best way to learn anything new.

Problem is I don't know anybody. (if there is anyone using this forum from the North West / North Wales area that fancies teaching me id be more than happy to pay for the fuel).

I have read a couple of books (RYA Motor Cruising, the other escapes me) but I have to admit the charplotting / Reading part I am having difficulty in getting to sink in.

Any "easy to follow / dummys guides" you could recommend would also be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the pointers on the GPS / Chartplottter units. I am googling them as we speak. Gotta love web.

THANKS
 
[ QUOTE ]
Forgot to ask. Will a chartplotter link to the DSC radio distress feature?

Thanks

[/ QUOTE ]
Yes it should do. You will need a ships radio licence for the VHF and a Short Range Certificate to actually use it. RYA Powerboat training is mostly about boat handling (I think they do some very basic chart reading) so you really need to do a Day Skipper course or something like that. I guess you may not be completely au fait with the International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea? That's pretty important too.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I guess you may not be completely au fait with the International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea? That's pretty important too.

[/ QUOTE ]

Im not, but again I have been trying to get as much information as I can for the past 2 months on anything and everything I need to learn.

I expect it is going to be a long drawn out affair, but hopefully, I will get there in the end and it will all have been worth it.

Thanks for the info/help of everyone above.
 
I partly agree with Malthouse here. However, if you start off basing your Nav (or pilotage) on the use of a chartplotter, you could get to feel totally disconcerted/at sea if that thing happened to fail on you one day...

I would suggest you get yourself a small handheld (Garmin or whatever - something with a long life on a couple of AA cells - it will *always* serve a useful purpose as an emergency fallback or grab-bag item...), and initially just use that to add some certainty/comfort/fallback to basic chart Nav.

If you take a RYA course - the chart Nav is what they will teach you anyway... You can always get yourself the luxury of a flashy chartplotter later on, knowing that you will know what to do if it stops working...
 
During the winter, enrol yourself on a RYA dayskipper course, at an evening school, it'll teach you Colregs and navigation, and all sorts of other useful stuff, in time for the start of the season, before you come unstuck.

You will also meet like minded folk who could take you out a time or two for some hands on tuition.

Incidentally, I do not own a GPS or chartplotter, but all my sailing is coastal, in sight of land and i prefer to use a paper chart.
 
You can also use a laptop computer (if you already have one) as a chartplotter by connecting a GPS to the laptop. This can be done with a handheld GPS. But it will also need a navigation application as well as digital charts.

For a new boat, however, it is probably better to get the all-in-one marine chartplotter.
 
[ QUOTE ]
The first thing we (me and the wife), intend doing is getting a 2 day "powerboat level 2" under our belt from the Conway RYA School.

If I knew someone else in the area that had a cruiser I would love to go out with them to pick up what I can as I find that is the best way to learn anything new.

Problem is I don't know anybody.

[/ QUOTE ]

Where are you going to be based? There's quite a few 'forumites' in that general area - if you don't get any takers on here, I would suggest posting on the MoBo forum, asking if anyone is prepared to show you around the area. (Mention that you will have done the PB2, so they know you are able to handle the boat). If someone called 'Kawasaki' replies, be afraid.... very afraid.... (only kidding, OK? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif)

You do need a means of knowing where you are (GPS or plotter) in case of poor visibility, but I bet you will hardly look at it otherwise, especially if you are in Conwy, or the N end of the Staits. Far more important (IMHO) in that area is a good understanding of tide heights. A lot of the time you will be travelling over areas that turn into sand / mud banks as the tide goes out. You need to know when it is safe to do this. If the seagulls are standing up ahead, turn around - quick!.

I'm in Conwy, on the river - PM me if I can be any help, but there's no point asking me to show you round, I wouldn't know where to start with a PB!

Andy
 
Buy a chartplotter (Standard Horizon appr £440 with mega c maps) but also buy charts (approx £30) you must get used to relate coordinates on a big chart for planning ahead, long distances etc.
 
Five years ago a GPS would have been the minimum for 'due diligence' for going to sea. I believe that especially for a novice a chartplotter is essential - it is a 'due diligence' item. It allows you to navigate without becoming disoriented, and it will work in all visibility.

Quite properly, you are going to learn the traditional skills which you need in case the electronics fail and (maybe more important in these days of greater reliability,) you will get far more out of your boat with trad. skills.

As for which plotter? Firstly research the 'software' - i.e. the charts. What price to buy AND update? Do you like the look and feel of the charts? Then decide on the hardware. It is a buyer's market, pay cash and you are wearing the trousers. Delay until the Boat Show and you might get a really top class deal.
 
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