Charts
- Thread starter nomadcruiser53
- Start date
captd – I will agree with you there, but I look at that as a negative not a positive. I do not have unlimited space in my boat to spread out charts, just like I don’t have unlimited space for a huge monitor. Now I could fold the paper up so it does not take up so much room, but then, I am only looking at a part of the chart.captd":3coitv59 said:
If I wanted to, I could put a 27” flat panel monitor in for my charts but that would be as silly as me trying to use paper charts in the boat. Big is not better in this case.
________
Dave
Oldgrowth,
Of course you are right , I was only jerking your chain. Historically it was always recommended to carry paper in case something happened to the chart plotter or Gps. If you were plotting your course on paper and all the modern conveniences quit you could navigate to your destination with a compass and dead reckoning. Most all of us, (I would imagine,) have redundancy with two pieces of electronics. Chances are pretty slim that both would quit. I still like having the maptech collection of charts in a book about the size of a large magazine. It keeps my wife occupied with looking way ahead and out of my hair. Although sometime she comes up with info that I missed. Like good places to drop the hook. It is kind of like having a good compass aboard. You rarely have any need to look at it, but I bet everyone has one.
I fish with guys that have one Garmin GPS with no back up. Fishing out of Crystal River it is a good idea to have paper and a good compass on board. Or........Spend $100 bucks and buy that little Gecko. Than have a
small local chart ( water proof) tucked away in a cubby hole.
Food for thought
Captd
Of course you are right , I was only jerking your chain. Historically it was always recommended to carry paper in case something happened to the chart plotter or Gps. If you were plotting your course on paper and all the modern conveniences quit you could navigate to your destination with a compass and dead reckoning. Most all of us, (I would imagine,) have redundancy with two pieces of electronics. Chances are pretty slim that both would quit. I still like having the maptech collection of charts in a book about the size of a large magazine. It keeps my wife occupied with looking way ahead and out of my hair. Although sometime she comes up with info that I missed. Like good places to drop the hook. It is kind of like having a good compass aboard. You rarely have any need to look at it, but I bet everyone has one.
I fish with guys that have one Garmin GPS with no back up. Fishing out of Crystal River it is a good idea to have paper and a good compass on board. Or........Spend $100 bucks and buy that little Gecko. Than have a
small local chart ( water proof) tucked away in a cubby hole.
Food for thought
Captd
I wonder how folks plan long trips without paper charts? Do you put the chart plotter on small scale, and then zoom in and out to determine where you want to go? I have all of the coast line of US on DVD's as well as Topo's of all of the US and Canada. Even with a 17" screen on my laptop or a 20" screen on my main computer, I have to zoom in and out a lot--so I find using the paper charts easier in planning. As for detail--then I have detail charts for entrances or coves--agree that these may not be necessary for planing. I often circle or highlight hazards and make some notes on the paper charts in my planing. I'll have to say that when I am cruising I often spend several hours a day planning where to go the next day, reading cruising guides and history books about the areas.
We all have our different ways, and they work for us. I like to present all of the options for new boaters.
We all have our different ways, and they work for us. I like to present all of the options for new boaters.
Bob – I normally do the charting on my PC with a 22” LCD, then transfer it to my CP.thataway":3j8ozbam said:
The way I do it is place a waypoint at the starting point, then place one at the ending point. I then use my selection tool and click on the course line at strategic points and move the line, then place waypoints so the course is roughly along my intended route. I then zoom in and starting at the beginning, I do the same again to make fine adjustments so I miss obstacles and make any deviation in the course for side trips.
For a long trip with many side trips, I may go over the course several times deleting, moving or adding new way points.
It is very fast and easy to do it this way.
I then transfer it to my chart plotter.
________
Dave
Different parts of the country have different challanges. For example in S. Florida, there are lots of bridges--for the most part C Dories can get under all of these bridges--but larger boats this is a real problem. There are options of going under fixed bridges, shorter distances, or there are choices of going over shoaler waters and shorter distances. For example the question about the San Franscisco to San Diego trip. In this case I would suggest the $39 DVD which has all of the US charts on it. For the most part the large scale charts are on these, but every once in a while they aren't.
I had a revelation about a month ago. I always have the laptop with us when cruising, or traveling, for e-mail, games, and a full collection of charts.( regular raster Maptech charts). Did the same thing Oldgrowth did.... The revelation was that I could order the Gps engine antenna from maptech for $100, plug right into the UBS port and it now gives me a large chart plotter on my laptop. With live positioning using Maptech 'Offshore Pro". On the road I use mapsourse road info from Garmin, and when I get home I open the topo maps with Terrain Navigator by Maptech for Montana. It gives me large scale live tracking and positioning on all three programs. Could have been doing that a couple years ago if I had known. All info is transferable to the M-4 Garmin with Maptech software. Garmin will not tell anyone how these programs work together, but Maptech will.
That $100 was the best investment of all.
Captd
That $100 was the best investment of all.
Captd
mikeporterinmd
New member
Do standard laptops take the pounding that can happen on a boat OK?
Are harddrive crashes an issue? I've always been afraid to take a
laptop out since I don't actually own the ones I use...they belong to
work.
Mike
Are harddrive crashes an issue? I've always been afraid to take a
laptop out since I don't actually own the ones I use...they belong to
work.
Mike
Most laptops these days are fairly shock resistant - I had mine on board on almost all occasions that I am out with no problems in 4-5 years. However, if one is really concerned, there are special "ruggedized" laptops available from many vendors. Most laptops have accelerometers that shut down the hard drive when to much speed change (a bump) is detected.
I'm waiting for a HUD on all the windows with floating text that tells me what I'm looking at by pushing a button on the throttle and shows radar returns as well. It would be useful to have a 1080P image of what should be there on foggy days. They have something like that in the F-22 don't they?
Tom
Tom
We had a Vic Commodore on our sailing trip to Europe--4 years and 41,000 miles it was still working fine. We had laptops on all of the boats since 1982, and never had a failure--one had the "w" key fail several years after we were thru using it on the boat. But I consider a lap top to be good for about 3 years--by that time technology has overtaken and it is probably time for a new one. But I use the laptop about 8 hours a day every day of the year...My desk top computers last for many years...my business computer is 10 years old and still running Windows 98--it does about the same things the Vic did!