Handheld GPS

[davidbains]

I need one with NMEA output (do they all have this?).
Must connect to serial cable to laptop running Maxsea.
Anyone care to recommend a reliable suitable make/model.

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[Sunny_Jim]

Our little Garmin 12 - bought factory reconditioned special offer in 2000 - has taken us to St Petersburg and back in 2000 and from Chichester to Alicante via Bay of Biscay & Straits of Gibraltar in 2001 & 2002. We also have a old Garmin 50 which we keep on Lat & Long to log and plot (on paper!) positions on the hour or on course change.

The Garmin 12 is NMEA-connected to the Autohelm with connection to the boat's 12V supply.and steers better than I can. Never had a problem, except one foggy night up the Ems estuary and the Garmin 50 didn't work either and we reckoned that there was a military installation on the German Frontier or maybe a satellite hiccup that blew them both out for a little while. It survived (as did we) a fierce electrical storm in the Baltic with force 10 winds.

We take it below to plot waypoints and find it easy to do so. However we also double check the plots as it is possible to get things wrong... We have a 240 or 12 volt power packs when doing this to save the batteries.

Presumeably you will use the PC software to do the plots. Sorry I can't help you with experience in this quarter. Each year we think of PC Plotters at the Boat Show but always decide to stay with paper & pencil. One of the benefits of belonging to the CRUISING ASSOCIATION is the cheap chart exchange. I buy Admiralty Charts for £5 corrected to now minus 1 year typically.

We haven't used the "ALARM" feature but will experiment with this later this year when we are using anchorages in the Balearics and further.

It is very helpful to see when your ETA will be when you are radioing/telephoning ahead for marina berths.

In pre-MED times we enjoyed watching the tides turn (comparing the underwater LOG speed/distance run with the GPS figure). There is a feeling of joy when you notice that you are beginning to get an advantage from a previously foul tide.

My induction to the Garmin 12 (or any GPS) came on a trip on a friends boat from St Helier to St Peter's Port. He hasd bought a Garmin 12 but couldn't get the hang of using it. I took it out and using the manual plotted a few waypoints for the course to give us a good rhumb line. The upshot was a record time between the two ports which was just as well as we only just had time to get in over the sill.

He immediately became a convert and so did I! Our only whinge would be that the screen is small and some of our crews have had difficulty steering to the Rolling Road.

Good luck and may you always have a handsbreadth under your keel!!

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