Most important nav upgrade(s) for old boat

[Pete7]

Do you think that is the original VHF? in its self that may not be the end of the world and if you tell us the make and model someone might give you a clue about its age.

However, what I would be doing is to spend a little bit of money on a new quality VHF antenna. They don't last for ever and its often difficult to notice the gradual deterioration. Since it is a major piece of safety equipment, lets get it working properly. Lots of threads on here to help, but reading this one is very worth while. Just don't penny pinch with el cheapo items from the discount chandlery.

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...nna-99651.html

[john manning]

My business sells and installs nav instruments.
Feedback from customers is :
Moving map GPS is the favourite. OpenCPN on a tablet or any equivalent is good enough for most people. Remember to get an on board power supply for the tablet.
Handheld VHF is sufficient.
AIS is preferred to radar. Especially if the AIS signal is fed back to the map screen.
Radar is becoming a last choice. (I would hate to be without radar on my yacht)
Depth gauge gets appreciated once people are taught how to use it in relation to charts.
Wind speed and direction is something few appreciate until it is installed.
The compass (an absolute essential) and speed display are becoming the least used instruments.
Auto-pilots are always too expensive until they are installed and used. Most would never go back.

Be very wary of second hand units. Buy them only if you can see them working in a boat. Be careful when getting them out of the sellers boat. Only buy units installed inside hulls, not those at an external helm. Check the manual for all the components required for installation. If the manual is not there do not buy.

[Lihuedooley77]

Amazing Grace,

Wow ! Crealock 37. Great boat. Erica owned a Cutter Rigged Crealok 37 that she bought new , about 1981 . She actually had the boat on lease back in the Newport Sailing Club, Newport Beach, Ca....where I worked as an instructor and charter Capt.
She was one of my students, and the rest is history, Still together in 2020.

Yep, she sailed with paper charts, knot meter, time piece, and a hand bearing compass and the ships compass, and the VHF radio.(. Later , I bought her a hand held GPS. She sold Phalarope long ago.

Now as to sailing the san juan islands. I have not sailed there, but was stationed up at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station when home based, back in 1964 to 1966. And the weather there can be quite interesting, with sun, fog, rain and snow.

With those situations, I believe we would add in radar, and maybe a binnacle mounted GPS.

Off topic : After returning from Vietnam, and arriving at NAS Whidbey Is, the very first bar that I went to stateside, was a neat place in MT. VERNON, your town. Long years ago.

Beautiful country up there. And also great sailing grounds from what I hear.

[MeHearty]

Any chance you bought the boat in Friday Harbor? I tried to see a Crealock 37 there about a year ago but the owner was hard to reach and flaked out on us. Don’t recall the name of the boat but it was a combination of a male and a female name, not the greatest choice LOL.

[zemurray]

surprised to see so many iNavX recommendations. I find it the worst navigation app there is. I know I’m not alone, many sailors and captains I’ve talked to that we know cannot stand that app.

we use an Ipad Pro, GPS enabled with Navionics. Navionics is by far the most intuitive and easy to use navigation app. For diversity and an alternate app, I also use iSailor. iSailor is a great app and has great charts but it is a bit more cumbersome and manual to route.

We use phones for backup devices for navionics, and we have two other GPS sources on board with paper charts as a last resort.

battery life has never been an issue with Navionics. My ipad will last two days navigating without a charge. We have large lithium USB C battery to use if we need to get power to the Ipad while using. The only drawback I have found is in a heavy rain, the screen can become non responsive to touch. Nothing a towel or as a last resort ducking inside cant handle.