Yesterday I took a chance to take a nice little break from moving and the stress of life right now and headed with a good friend, my wife, son and mother in law out to Coon Island. What a great day on the water, not a very far trip by any stretch of the imagination but it was down right fun anyways!
The weather as it turns out was perfect, after the clouds parted and the sun came out geans and a t-shirt was all that was needed. We sat for probably two hours just enjoying conversation and a lunch with snacks.
It however became evident that my old Raymarine was just too large, blocked quite a bit of the view and was outdated. Mostly it's just too big, it mounted to the roof and hangs down blocking the center window line of vision. It's old enough that more of it is case material vs screen. I figured a nice 7 or 9" would probably not block any of the line of vision just because they are measured on the diagonal and the case is much thinner.
So this leads me to looking at the A, E and now ES versions of the Raymarine product. What I really need is a solid chart plotter. I will but not very frequently use a sonar but don't need the dual functioned sonar. Just a solid run of the mill will work. Because I also carry a phone and tablet I wouldn't mind running a plotter without the buttons either if that saves space. I'd like to use the current existing transducer in the boat if possible as it works just fine.
Thoughts? Anyone have one on their boat? Experience and observation?
The weather as it turns out was perfect, after the clouds parted and the sun came out geans and a t-shirt was all that was needed. We sat for probably two hours just enjoying conversation and a lunch with snacks.
It however became evident that my old Raymarine was just too large, blocked quite a bit of the view and was outdated. Mostly it's just too big, it mounted to the roof and hangs down blocking the center window line of vision. It's old enough that more of it is case material vs screen. I figured a nice 7 or 9" would probably not block any of the line of vision just because they are measured on the diagonal and the case is much thinner.
So this leads me to looking at the A, E and now ES versions of the Raymarine product. What I really need is a solid chart plotter. I will but not very frequently use a sonar but don't need the dual functioned sonar. Just a solid run of the mill will work. Because I also carry a phone and tablet I wouldn't mind running a plotter without the buttons either if that saves space. I'd like to use the current existing transducer in the boat if possible as it works just fine.
Thoughts? Anyone have one on their boat? Experience and observation?
