Most important nav upgrade(s) for old boat

[AmzngGrace]

Recently acquired a 1979 Crealock 37 from the original owner who recently passed away. He was a paper chart guy and I have all the charts for the entire West coast/CA/Alaska and the tools. Regarding electronics I have an old depth sensor that seems to be working OK. But other than the VHF Radio, Marine clock, barometer, compass and a cassette player, that’s about it. I know there are quite a few apps out there and I will be sailing around the San Juan Islands and will probably never go outside into the open ocean. What do you think I need to upgrade at MINIMUM in terms of navigation/electronics given the pretty good access to internet and availability of apps to use with my iPad and the fact that I will be cruising in local waters only?

[MartinR]

You should be fine with what you have.

[sailormed]

iNavX on iPad and you are set for your sailing. Buy a waterproof case if you want to use it in the cockpit.

[Lodesman]

You didn't mention GPS. AIS. Upgrade to DSC VHF. Gets foggy there, so radar would be a nice upgrade.

[AmzngGrace]

Thanks all. Regarding radar is that going to be a major decision point or just “buy radar”?
What I mean to say is do I walk up and down the marina and look at the radar and say that looks good and then go online and buy it or is it more subtle than that?

[dhenline]

In the san Juans you are going to have good cell phone coverage. Personally I would buy a good I pad with a built in GPS and just use that. I am pretty confident you can get an App that will even download the San Juan Charts and then you will be able to use them even when cell service doesnt exist.

I am more familiar with airplanes and in the airplane world, my iPad could do everything my 10K GPS unit could do, it just wasn't legal.

don

[tradrockrat]

Originally Posted by AmzngGrace

Thanks all. Regarding radar is that going to be a major decision point or just “buy radar”?
What I mean to say is do I walk up and down the marina and look at the radar and say that looks good and then go online and buy it or is it more subtle than that?

Like everything boat related, it's not about what's best, but what's best FOR YOU.

I went with a stand alone radar system - others think that's a horrible idea. Going a minimum set up like you are talking about, I think a stand alone radar is smarter and cheaper since you're not looking for a massive integrated electronics suite.

I also second iNavX and a tablet. It's all you need.

AIS would be a great addition, and I love my Vesper, but if you're wanting to keep everything you have and just add a modern navigation aid, Tablet with iNavx and Radar is my PERSONAL minimum.

[SailingPNW]

There really is no minimum, assuming your happy with the iPad, and just knowing the depth, for day sailing you will be just fine. For me depth, speed and wind would probably be the minimum. A lot of sailing and needs are based on what makes you comfortable.

Personally I have always liked knowing wind speed so I can reef at appropriate times. I would look at a package for the three and upgrade your depth sounder at the same time. Mixing old electronics is never easy, you could spend far more troubleshooting an old system than replacing it with an newer integrated nmea 2000 system which would allow you to have a single gauge to keep costs down and limit need for additional holes.

Will you be single handing? If so I would consider an autopilot as well, otherwise you will find yourself limited to motoring more often then not, and manning the wheel or tiller for long periods of time makes sailing a lot less fun.

Will you ever be on a schedule? As mentioned in an earlier post the San Juan's can get foggy, especially the straits. if you can sit out the fog and even wait a day or two, it's not a big deal.

If you have a schedule, a real electronics package might be worthwhile. While sailing in dense fog always adds risk, Radar, AIS, and a good autopilot make it much safer, and far less taxing. This starts adding cost though as you would probably want a real chart-plotter then as well.

There are some apps that do AIS but they do require internet to work, I have used these, and they work will within their limitations and are better than nothing.

A lot comes down to personal preference and what your doing, having sailed overnight in dense fog in heavy seas and high wind, I want the autopilot, AIS, and radar as well as a real chart-plotter, but my needs will differ from many people here.

[mvweebles]

Originally Posted by MartinR

You should be fine with what you have.

Agreed - you have the minimum covered with a working depth sounder and a tablet/smart phone. Enjoy your boat for a while, then make a decision on how far to go with electronics based on how your cruising aspirations develop

Enjoy your boat - you're lucky in a way that you found a 'survivor' to buy instead of something with old electronics that had been DIY'd to death with massive holes to mount instruments.

Peter

[roland stockham]

From what you say about intended cruising I would say get a good hand held GPS with a reasonable sized screen and buy an electronic chart for your area. If you have a mobile phone with gps or a tablet use that as backup. You have everything you need for nav onboard but sometime a GPS can clear confusion and be a very good second check for your piloting. On Radar it is not really needed for coastal if you don't sail at night or are in an area prone to fog. If either of those apply it is wonderful. BUT only when it works, make sure it is properly stabilized and has a decent scanner. A good radar will show you every buoy in a mooring field, a poor one just shows blobs singing around so much you can't tell what they are. If you haven't used radar do a course and look at some sets, preferably at sea, before buying.

[bailsout]

I like my hand held VHF with GPS as an inexpensive redundancy. Nice that you have those charts!

[Cpt Mark]

Originally Posted by dhenline

In the san Juans you are going to have good cell phone coverage. Personally I would buy a good I pad with a built in GPS and just use that. I am pretty confident you can get an App that will even download the San Juan Charts and then you will be able to use them even when cell service doesnt exist.

I am more familiar with airplanes and in the airplane world, my iPad could do everything my 10K GPS unit could do, it just wasn't legal.

don

The Ipads are quite capable but they are ot the same as buying purpose built units. In my plane I had a Garmin 696 and my buddy had his Ipad. The Ipad had some useful features the Garmin didn't which were nice but when it got hot in the sun it had a special feature he didn't like so much. The screen turned black , Ipad had to be shut down until it cooled off. He bought the same 696 I have for his plane.

Another difference was in bright sunlight. Ipad was useless whereas the Garmin was crystal clear.

Travelling at 6-8 knots is different than 100 knots so some of this is less relevant. I use a Samsung with Open Cpn as well as my MFD.

[Cpt Mark]

In that area I would have AIS that broadcasts and receives. You normally have a lot of cruise ships and those guys are big and move fast. If (and you will) get out of the San Juans and up into Desolation sound, Princess Luisa Inlet etc and you're needing to time the rapids it's nice to be able to see the cruise ships, tugs etc. coming from 3 bends in the channel back up to your position when they are doing 25 knots. You can't see them visually and everyone is timing the rapids. Radar won't see these guys either.

Radar. Useful if you know how to use it. You learn that on bright sunny days by looking at the radar and comparing to what you can see. Takes practice. I needed radar for coming up the coast in fog season. To buy one with an MFD was $600 more. MFD came with charts of the USA. Integrating my old NMEA 0183 equipment, wind, speed, depth is a $100 doodad to send the info into the NMEA 2000 system. Easy peasy. For me, having the MFD is nice. It works better then a tablet, waterproof etc. It also has a built in wifi so I can duplicate the screen to my tablet and view from anywhere on the boat. Since I singlehand this is a huge convenience to me.

[Tayana42]

I agree with most of the advice above, certainly with autopilot as a high priority if you ever sail solo. iPad and iNavX work fine and in your area I would want radar.

[Calaban-Alleria]

About 3 years ago I bought a boat built 2 years before I graduated high school so was in a similar situation. Sailing in the BC gulf islands here is my solution:

1. Upgraded the old (ancient) VHF with a new DSC capable model with built in GPS,
2. Acquired a DSC/GPS VHF hand held,
3. Purchased a Dual SkyPro GPS receiver, a nice little device that fits in the palm of your hand,
4. Repurposed an old Ipad to run Navionics charting sw (it gets its GPS data over bluetooth from the SkyPro) and put it in a water proof case with a Ram mount. No problems with screen visibility in the sun.
5. New depth sounder but yours is working.

Radar and AIS would certainly be nice but as a basic setup this has worked well for us in coastal sailing up as far as Desolation sound.