Mounting chartplotter in small sailng boat

[bedouin]

The time has come to upgrade the electronics/instruments and that includes replacing the small GPSMAP with a genuine chartplotter. That is mounted on a swing out bracket (that used to hold the whirly gig depth sounder) so it can be used from both the chart table and the cockpit.

As it swings out it partially blocks the companionway the is a little inconvenient and limits the size of any replacement - but a permanent (external) mount gives the problem of it not being accessible from the chart table plus there is not much bulkhead space to mount it, not to mention the possible interference with the bulkhead mounted compasses.

I can't be the first person to face this dilemma so I am wondering how other people have addressed it.

Buying a bigger boat is an obvious solution but a bit expensive

 

[RichardS]

What's a "whirly gig depth sounder"?

Richard

 

[johnalison]

What's a "whirly gig depth sounder"?

Richard

Was you born yesterday? Yes, I suppose you must have been. We had our whirlygig sounder on a swinging bracket. The system worked well enough and we lived with it for fourteen years.

The only solutions I can think of for a small boat (or medium for that matter) are to have two mounting positions, one in the cockpit and one below, with waterproof connectors, or, as I do, use an iPad as a repeater.

 

[RichardS]

Was you born yesterday? Yes, I suppose you must have been. We had our whirlygig sounder on a swinging bracket. The system worked well enough and we lived with it for fourteen years.

That's very helpful John ..... and confirms that you have also no idea what it is.

Richard

 

[cindersailor]

The Garmin GPSMap 620 solved this problem for me, but unfortunately they have been discontinued. This has an internal battery but also fits in a powered cradle with data connections too. It suits my situation so well that I have recently replaced its screen when it cracked (after 7 years) rather than update to a more recent model. Edit: just found that Mailspeed Marine are selling refurbished units inc UK chart for £449.

 

[zoidberg]

That's very helpful John ..... and confirms that you have also no idea what it is.

Pleez sur! Pleez Sur! I know... I know....

Only to be used with black and white 'Fathoms' charts......



Edit: Nominations for Smartipants ( bowdlerised ) Of The Week are now closed.

 

[scruff]

A tablet with Navionics and a waterproof case is the obvious answer... I use android tablet which means I have back up on my two android smart phones as well for redundancy...

I see little need for a standalone marine plotter these days.

 

[pmagowan]

Fit a modern Garmin at the helm and t will transmit stuff by wifi to your tablet below.

 

[bedouin]

A tablet with Navionics and a waterproof case is the obvious answer... I use android tablet which means I have back up on my two android smart phones as well for redundancy...

I see little need for a standalone marine plotter these days.

I have been considering the tablet as a solution for working at the chart table and so concentrating on mounting the chartplotter for visibility in the cockpit. I don't see myself going for a tablet only solution - for a start I think I want a chartplotter with buttons as in my experience touch screens don't work well when wearing helmsman's gloves.

 

[Tranona]

The time has come to upgrade the electronics/instruments and that includes replacing the small GPSMAP with a genuine chartplotter. That is mounted on a swing out bracket (that used to hold the whirly gig depth sounder) so it can be used from both the chart table and the cockpit.

As it swings out it partially blocks the companionway the is a little inconvenient and limits the size of any replacement - but a permanent (external) mount gives the problem of it not being accessible from the chart table plus there is not much bulkhead space to mount it, not to mention the possible interference with the bulkhead mounted compasses.

I can't be the first person to face this dilemma so I am wondering how other people have addressed it.

Buying a bigger boat is an obvious solution but a bit expensive

It depends on how you intend using the plotter. there is a distinct trend now to have the plotter permanently at the helm rather than at the chart table. So visibility from the helm is the prime consideration, particularly if you re using it for pilotage. For use at the chart table a tablet as a repeater is useful, but also something like Navionics on it helps with planning (along with paper charts). I find having raster charts (Memory Map) on the tablet also useful. An alternative to a tablet is a lap top at the chart table which allows a range of alternative charts/plotters.

 

[RichardS]

Pleez sur! Pleez Sur! I know... I know....
Only to be used with black and white 'Fathoms' charts......

I've never seen one of those before. Is it that scale that whirls around or is it something inside it. Why does it whirl?

Apologies for the thread drift but it's my natural curiosity kicking in.

Richard

 

[Tranona]

I've never seen one of those before. Is it that scale that whirls around or is it something inside it. Why does it whirl?

Apologies for the thread drift but it's my natural curiosity kicking in.

Richard

Did not realise you were so young! Such things were standard fitment from the late 60's onwards. Made in Poole in a huge factory by the standards of the day, along with many other pioneering electronic bits of kit such as tiller pilots.

Piece of useless information - the factory was demolished earlier this year after being empty for several years. Will no doubt become yet another cluster of 1000 sqft commercial boxes.

 

[Lucky Duck]

 

[bedouin]

For me visibility at the helm is absolutely key - it is primarily a device to show position, nav information, AIS etc from the helm. However in a small boat with tiller steering even that is not easy if I want to be able to opeate the controls without letting go of the tiller

 

[bedouin]

I've never seen one of those before. Is it that scale that whirls around or is it something inside it. Why does it whirl?

Apologies for the thread drift but it's my natural curiosity kicking in.

Richard

It is actually a neat piece of kit. The rotor constantly spins the sounder sends out the ping when it is at the top and the light on the rotor illuminates when the echo is received. The result is you see a light alongside the scale at the relevant depth with nothing in the way of electronics.

In fact they are a little better than a modern digital depth display because they can give clues as to the nature of the bottom,

 

[Sticky Fingers]

I don't have a space issue but I only have a chartplotter at the helm, I use an Android tablet with VMH charts down below. For a small boat, a portable device might be a solution for the cockpit too if you could find one that was waterproof and readable in bright sunshine. Another alternative would be a tablet linked to the Plotter using Wifi. I'm sure they all do something similar, my Garmin setup offers this. The Garmin apps are free, you sync to the plotter over either a boat-wide wifi network, or the plotter can act as a base station (but no internet).

 

[BelleSerene]

I have been considering the tablet as a solution for working at the chart table and so concentrating on mounting the chartplotter for visibility in the cockpit. I don't see myself going for a tablet only solution - for a start I think I want a chartplotter with buttons as in my experience touch screens don't work well when wearing helmsman's gloves.

A friend who has a classic yacht has mounted his B&G chartplotter on a swinging brass bracket on the inside of the bulkhead to one side of the companionway, so that it swings out to be viewable from the cockpit. Certainly, the utility of a chartplotter is for cockpit work in the real sailing environment, not for chart table work. He had his bracket made up or adapted from some other classicalia which shouldn’t be hard, and the chartplotter’s manual will have a 1:1 scale paper cutout of the area you want around the unit into which you bolt it. If (depending on your boat) you don’t need a nice piece of brass, Googling ‘monitor swing bracket’ and selecting ‘images’ might throw up some inspiration and perhaps you could fashion some aluminium plate from eBay to fit the plotter.

 

[RupertW]

It is actually a neat piece of kit. The rotor constantly spins the sounder sends out the ping when it is at the top and the light on the rotor illuminates when the echo is received. The result is you see a light alongside the scale at the relevant depth with nothing in the way of electronics.

In fact they are a little better than a modern digital depth display because they can give clues as to the nature of the bottom,

That’s what I loved about them too - had one in each of my first 3 boats,two on hinged brackets as above.

The double or triple echoes plus the sharp or soft nature of each was intuitive for finding slipways or seeing fish and I loved the way you knew whether it was on fathoms or feet by the sound as the scale change was just changing the whirly speed.

The first digital I saw felt dead in comparison

 

[Sticky Fingers]

I think all of us started sailing in the 60s / 70s will have some fond (or otherwise) memories of those!

 

[Hydrozoan]

Using as I do a PC chart plotter on a RAM mount adjacent to the chart table, I have occasionally pondered the use of a ‘flip-down’ 12V TV screen on the deck head near the companionway entrance as a repeater, visible from the tiller.

It would involve some loss of headroom when not in use, but with a rotating as well as ‘flipping’ mount (which some have) it could also serve as a TV/video screen when facing into the saloon.