IPad w/Navionics & Inavx & couple handheld GPS units - why anything else?

[USER888]

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[onesea]

Seriously.....maybe a 3rd GPS handheld kept somewhere safe and dry in case your Ipad fails, & you drop both GPS's overboard after one too many whisky shots - but what else really do you need? Even if sailing offshore.

They all aren't going to fail.....and should cost you not much more £1,000 max all up for the lot depending on the model of GPS handhelds you get.

Paper charts a thing of the past, & laptops, netbooks etc who needs them.

Anyone agree?

Just bought new laptop after trying a tablet (not just for navigation).

Hate the finger prints on the screen, a tablet is to big to go in pocket.

Charts are much better at giving an overview.

Built in gear means its on-board and not on the sideboard at home. Not checked but I suspect a good package will use allot less power than a Laptop.

I would have to be too careful with tablet in cockpit.

Laptop has bigger screen and better sound, good for watching movies.

I do thing before long some one will develop a 12v low power package where you just plug in VHF Ariel (2nd if you want back up)), Transducer for sounder, wirelessly link the wind gear and any other toys you need, radar scanner, WiFi tx Rx, 3G, Sat link etc...

All available one screen, or second or 3rd or 4th wirelessly linked if you want... Just pay extra to open the software depending what you add AIS GMDSS Navtex Grib forcasts email etc

 

[pcatterall]

Will the hand helds reffered too have ( good) mapping on? If not then you need at least a set of way points which will get you home on a safe course. The spare hand held is ideal for your grab bag ours has dry cell battery pack which is kept with spares in the bag. Mainly so we can report our position via the hand held vhf which (of course) we are 'trained' to grab as we jump into the liferaft!!

 

[xyachtdave]

Seriously.....maybe a 3rd GPS handheld kept somewhere safe and dry in case your Ipad fails, & you drop both GPS's overboard after one too many whisky shots - but what else really do you need? Even if sailing offshore.

They all aren't going to fail.....and should cost you not much more £1,000 max all up for the lot depending on the model of GPS handhelds you get.

Paper charts a thing of the past, & laptops, netbooks etc who needs them.

Anyone agree?

Yes but not the bit about paper charts.

I'm not into electronics at all and find nothing more annoying than being shown all the wonderful features available on some very pricey gear - only it needs an expert with a manual to get any of it working properly.

Add in a bit of a sea state and someone unfamiliar with the latest 'must have' and it becomes next to useless.

I manage quite happily with a basic handheld gps with rolling road. Lat and long, distance to next waypoint, SOG, I don't really need much more. When going further to new destinations, maybe in marginal weather, a fixed plotter at the chart table is handy. Any member of the crew can see where the boat is in relation to its surroundings, as long as they don't start messing around with the buttons!

When my plotter broke I replaced it with an iPad, iNavX charts and digital yacht iAIS. Chart updates get emailed direct and are a click away, ship encounters a little less stressful with the ais info and the biggest bonus you can take it home with you, theft seems to becoming more of a problem these days.

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

Seriously.....maybe a 3rd GPS handheld kept somewhere safe and dry in case your Ipad fails, & you drop both GPS's overboard after one too many whisky shots - but what else really do you need? Even if sailing offshore.

They all aren't going to fail.....and should cost you not much more £1,000 max all up for the lot depending on the model of GPS handhelds you get.

Paper charts a thing of the past, & laptops, netbooks etc who needs them.

Anyone agree?

All good, until you want radar. Then you might as well have a fixed plotter as well.

 

[Fantasie 19]

Seriously.....maybe a 3rd GPS handheld kept somewhere safe and dry in case your Ipad fails, & you drop both GPS's overboard after one too many whisky shots - but what else really do you need? Even if sailing offshore.

They all aren't going to fail.....and should cost you not much more £1,000 max all up for the lot depending on the model of GPS handhelds you get.

Paper charts a thing of the past, & laptops, netbooks etc who needs them.

Anyone agree?

The single point of failure is the GPS satellite system itself.... it's extremely unlikely to totally fail, but you might want to plan for it - so paper charts as a backup may be valid....

 

[prv]

The single point of failure is the GPS satellite system itself.... it's extremely unlikely to totally fail, but you might want to plan for it - so paper charts as a backup may be valid....

I was going to say that you can still look at the charts on a plotter even if it's not getting a GPS signal. But then I realised that it's a bit hard to draw out a running fix on the average plotter screen . I use paper for primary navigation by preference anyway (with a Yeoman for quick plotting) so I guess I'm fairly well-placed for fallback if GPS were blacked out.

In fact, because the Yeoman design predates yacht GPS, it can do DR for you if you have NMEA speed and heading available. Type in values for set and drift and it will upgrade that to an EP. A potential source of much smugness if sunspots or whatever knocked out GPS for a bit!

Of course sod's law says you'd then lose power

Pete