Chartplotter Ideas

CnC

Thinking of replacing our older (2011 I think?) Raymarine Hybrid touch with something a little newer. Looking for the "most" simple, basic unit that will give me what I need. We're talking pre-school level here. Not interested in fancy gadget, gizmo style stuff with thousands of features. As long as it gives me an accurate map and depths mostly everything else I can get on my phone. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance

YYZRC

How big is the cutout for the current screen? That is a good place to start, unless you are ok with patching the dash. 

PickleRick

I love my Garmin 43 echo map  with the clear vu.  It's small and uses buttons instead of touch screen.  

Can still use traditional  sonar for finding the fish.   I usually use my clear vu for scouting  where I'm going to drop my anchor.  I look for down trees, stumps, etc that I could lose my anchor on.



This model is sub 400 bucks so it won't break the bank.  I found this model on nearly every  boat I've rented and the tracking  is great and charts perfect for navigating  skinny waters where prop/foot/skeg damage is a regular occurrence. 

The chart plotter is equally useful for marking your destination.  Keep in mind the plotter will take you in a straight line across land  so you'll need to navigate around safe waters unless you pin point the path.  

Will also save points.

Can be flush or cash mounted. 

Being its the common model on rental boats you know it simple...and affordable. 

Aqua_Aura

I bought a new echomap recently as the price was right and it did everything I wanted. That would be my recommendation. 

davidbrooks

The first thing i would do is to determine the space you have to mount it.  That could be your biggest limiting factor.  Older chartplotters were square in shape and the newer ones are mostly in the 16x9 shape format.  Beyond that it all just comes down to price and functions.  I am a big fan of Garmin and Raymarine.  Mostly because i really like the charts and the functions.  I have not had good luck with Simrad so i am very much NOT a fan.  I have had issues with 3 units and ended up tossing the last one in the trash.   Touch screen is nice but i will say that it takes practice to zoom in and out when you are going 25mph in chop.  So there is a definite benefit to having a few buttons. Oh and don't be hesitant to get something that has features you don't plan on using right away.  You would be surprised at the how useful those other features can come in handy down the road.  Two years from now you may want to integrate a fishfinder or radar.

RiverRat232

 Not to hijack the thread but how much do you guys trust the chart plotters in unfamiliar water? I mostly boat in familiar waters with deep, well marked channels. I have the Raymarine Element 7 HV but I am still learning all of it's functions.

Liberty44140

@RiverRat232 When going in to unfamiliar places I run two plotters. Just took my boat on a 350 mile trip to unfamiliar lakes/rivers/ports. I ran my Raymarine Axiom 12 plotter which has the NOAA charts and then ran my iPad with Navionics right next to it. Was nice to have two charts so I felt more confident in where I was. Also could run one zoomed in and one zoomed out. Was very confident running this way. 

I would never advocate for replacing a real GPS plotter with an iPad but I will say this. I've ran my 3G/LTE iPad's next to several Furuno and Raymarine plotters over the years and the iPad is as good, or sometimes better, in location consistency than the plotters. You DO NOT need to pay for cellular service nor do you need wifi, I turn cellular and wifi off when running the boat, but you do need the 3G/LTE capable iPad to use it as a plotter. I use a RAM Mount and a waterproof case. Having both is great peace of mind. 

YYZRC

I believe the iPad runs Navionics wayyyyyy faster than most chartplotters.  The only downside to the iPad in my opinion is that the screen not bright enough.  Some might also cite the lack of physical buttons but I don't find that to be an issue.

PickleRick

@RiverRat232 @J3ff comments often on how skinny the water is in the keys.  In the bay if you hit bottom its 99% coral.  I trust the nav very well as its always got us out and back safely with *knock on wood* no grounding. 


The first year or two we went there I was glued to the screen.

Now I really don't use it unless  I'm heading out to an unfamiliar spot, we usually  try to explore a new spot or two every  year.

The last marina we rented from had a stack of damaged props, maybe 20 of them on display for renters to look at while doing their paperwork. 

We don't get that kind of damage in our local muddy  lakes and rivers  

I second the secondary iPad for navigating if you're cruising.  Being that I'm never more than an hour or two away from where I started so I don't feel the need for the redundancy. 

davidbrooks

I trust mine but i also run the depth finder.  Anywhere that is skinny around me is shallow and i am being cautious anyway.  Having done damage from not paying attention anytime i am out of the channel i am studying the chart and the depth readings.

davidbrooks

I also pull down monthly updates to the OS and update the charts annually.

CnC

The Raymarine we have now is mounted on a RAM arm so hopefully the new unit will mount similar to it.

aero3113

I use my iPad with Navionics and love it. Have no issues with brightness and I use an anti glair screen for the sun. I still want to upgrade my original Lowrance but not in a rush.

Liberty44140

I've used the iPad Navionics setup on three boats and the brightness/sun issue really depends on your canvas/hard top set up. If your top keeps the iPad out of the sun at all times, like my current boat, no issue. 342 did let some sun in at certain angles and so occasionally it was an issue. 

Ignore the goofball and check out the screens. No glare or brightness issues with that amount of sun on the iPad and I do not use an anti glare cover. Just a waterproof case that was around $30 from Amazon.

YYZRC

Can’t. See. Past. The. Goofball. 

Also. Coupe envy. 

RiverRat232

Liberty44140 said:

I've used the iPad Navionics setup on three boats and the brightness/sun issue really depends on your canvas/hard top set up. If your top keeps the iPad out of the sun at all times, like my current boat, no issue. 342 did let some sun in at certain angles and so occasionally it was an issue. 

Ignore the goofball and check out the screens. No glare or brightness issues with that amount of sun on the iPad and I do not use an anti glare cover. Just a waterproof case that was around $30 from Amazon.

Love the helm of your boat with the coupe. Foul weather days can still be boating days. How bad does the weather have to be before you get off of the water?

Liberty44140

Thanks guys.

@RiverRat232 we have run in 8-10 ft waves straight on the bow and while I dont plan to do it again, we were ok. We can do 5-6 ft from behind just fine. We recently went to cross lake erie in 5 ft close chop waves directly to the side and it was slam, slam and with 45 miles in front of us, we turned in for the night. Not worth breaking anything. We get off the lake for lightning of course. But we ran last month for 3 hours in the pouring rain and 2-3 ft waves on the port bow and were very comfortable. Had to turn the A/C outside down to 70 F though to keep the windows from fogging up

YYZRC

FWIW I went with Simrad because the original Merc VesselView units were made by Simrad so I knew I would get good config options for displaying engine data. 

LaRea

@CnC as I've said here many times:  when buying nav electronics, it's not for the good times.  It's for the bad times.  Any cell phone can get you home on a calm, sunny day.  Get a system you can rely on when you unexpectedly get caught in snotty weather after dark in unfamiliar waters.  It'll happen sooner or later.

Liberty44140

Last spring Garmin ran some awesome deals at West Marine. Nice 9” touch screen with an internal antenna for around $700 I think. You may just want to keep an eye out for that…..