marine GPS

[jasonstein]

Re: marine GPS

Great, i'm going to work through the boatingbasicsonline.com course for Florida over the next while. I am also getting the charts for the area printed off to study and i found out that the boat i bought has a decent GPS on it. (Elite-5 DSI) Good thing is i have two months to dream of warm weather and study. Thanks for pointing out that i need to be very cautious. I plan on also just putting the boat in some of the freshwater Canal's and lakes to do some more stress free fishing/boating. I have operated a boat on lakes in Northern Ontario before but I get the idea that this is very different. I'm looking forward to learning!

 

[Gator1996]

Re: marine GPS

Maybe I missed this part, are you planning on trailering the boat to Florida from Canada? I would be more worried about that than running the boat in a freshwater lake.

 

[zippy83]

Re: marine GPS

Maybe I missed this part, are you planning on trailering the boat to Florida from Canada? I would be more worried about that than running the boat in a freshwater lake.

I was wondering the same thing....

 

[ssobol]

Re: marine GPS

Hi guys, i'm just in the process of buying my first boat. (2006 Stingray 185) and am going to be heading down to cape coral for a good month to get away from the snow and cold here in Ontario.

My question is about a Marine GPS. Is this almost a need when navigating new waters? I was hoping i could just spend a few bucks and get one for my vehicle GPS (garmin nuvi) but searching quickly i don't think that is possible. Also looks like Marine GPS's are not cheap and don't even include maps for Ontario and Florida.

Any suggestion's out there as to an affordable marine GPS that is fairly basic and affordable? I know nothing about them but i'm thinking something that i can put two points in and it will map a safe route between the two. I really don't want to spend $500 at this point. Maybe in the future but not now.

thanks,
jason

I used a Lowrance H2Oc on one of my boats for awhile. It is hand held, has a color screen, and you can install a map chip in it for the nautical charts. You can also load your own maps using their map software (Map Create 6). These units are out of production but you can get one on eBay for ~$100. I have a unit with the coastal US chip (a few years old) and I may have the map making software (I'll have to check).

 

[jasonstein]

Re: marine GPS

Maybe I missed this part, are you planning on trailering the boat to Florida from Canada? I would be more worried about that than running the boat in a freshwater lake.

I'm picking the boat up in Georgia, taking it down to Cape Coral then bringing it back to Ontario. I'm not too concerned about the trailer as I own a company here in Ontario that we custom build trailers. I have logged thousands of miles pulling trailers and know how to build/rebuild them from the ground up. A boat trailer is very basic compared to what i'm used to.

 

[jasonstein]

Re: marine GPS

I'm looking forward to getting the Elite-5 DSI that I found out is coming with the boat and playing with it!

 

[jasonstein]

Re: marine GPS

Great, i'm going to work through the boatingbasicsonline.com course for Florida over the next while. I am also getting the charts for the area printed off to study and i found out that the boat i bought has a decent GPS on it. (Elite-5 DSI) Good thing is i have two months to dream of warm weather and study. Thanks for pointing out that i need to be very cautious. I plan on also just putting the boat in some of the freshwater Canal's and lakes to do some more stress free fishing/boating. I have operated a boat on lakes in Northern Ontario before but I get the idea that this is very different. I'm looking forward to learning!

Maybe i did not make sence here. I meant to say I get the idea that running in the gulf on the ICW is a very different ballgame! I can always fall back on just putting the boat on some freshwater lakes!

 

[kahuna123]

Re: marine GPS

I apologize if I came out too strong. I was born and raised here and have seen too many well intentioned nice people think what applies up North works here. What ends up happening is a lot of hard earned money buying the wrong product Or bringing the wrong for what will work and last in this environment.

I talked to a certain brand salesman one day his quote " Never make fun of that brand, it gets them started cheap and then they will move on to a more expensive brand".

I hate to see people move here and waste their money.

I live in a community where almost every house has deep water access. I can count 100 grand in wasted money in a rocks throw