New old boat in need of updated electronics

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by tekdiver

I know this is a powder keg.

Me: Been all over Puget Sound over the last thirty years. Used Charts and Compass now looking at new toys and tripping.

Will be doing San Juan Islands in May and some Canada trips later in summer. Would like to setup as expandable or work with so far my head hurts and half the folks I talk to are dumber than the local pilings. Or very prejudice to a brand.

1.) New Chart Plotter/ DS and VHF with ais what say the crew?

The items listed above would be a reasonable setup.

If I was going offshore I would consider a stand-alone AIS with its own antenna mounted above deck level or on the spreaders or a Radar.

Also if I was going offshore & feeling flush I would add a knotmeter/log.

I don’t see much reason t have wind instruments for cruising, racing sure.

[tekdiver]

Wow good to find another sounder who is old school at heart. I never had radar on my boats in the past but going to Alaska and working up the coast of Canada just makes sense. I like your thoughts on simplicity. Funny part is most electronic sales people I have talked to were clueless about serious cruising. I'm an ex-salesman so not an easy sell. Beside my wallet is thin in retirement.
Thanks for your input it was very well revived!

[Imagineou812]

Greetings Tekdiver,
I don't know if you might be interested but I recently upgraded from a B & G 12" Zeus 2 to a Zeus 3 leaving me with a nearly new chart plotter that I no longer need !
The Zeus 2 is NMEA 2000 , so plug and play , you can configure it to any way you like it by just adding whatever modules you want or need ! I E depth, radar,VHF and so on ! So feel free to get back to me if interested ( IfUuuonlyknew@me.com )

Todd
P.S. I live near Everett and work in Seattle !

[nofacey]

Keep it simple!
I live up inside Vancouver island, have sailed Coast & offshore for years.

- given a gps plotter and transmitting AIS, radar is a waste on the Westcoast. Put your money into AIS & a good depth sounder.

Buy an IPad with internal gps, load with Navioncs (or similar) and Ovitalmap, then stick it in a waterproof case, and you’ll have a very capable, flexible chart plotter. I have an Ipad holder & charging cable at my helm for continuous use.

I have (and highly recommend) Vesper AIS, which would allow you to keep your existing vhf.
No matter whose AIS you buy, you will need a second antenna or a splitter - the Vesper has the splitter built in, along with a meter to ensure your antenna set up is effective. And the Vesper connects with the iPad.

If you need a new depth sounder, get something simple, and given a fibreglass Hull, don’t drill any holes, just mount the transducer internally.
If you have extra money, Raymarine Wifish has the ability to connect to your iPad, bringing everything together in one extremely flexible device, for not too much money.

[sailingharry]

A couple comments:
* In the age of N2K, brand consistency is no longer an issue. Everyone plays with everyone. Exceptions are the Radome is linked to the chart plotter, and the Autopilot controls need to match the Autopilot (but the "data" transfers nicely -- compass heading, waypoint data, steer-to-wind, etc).
* We DESPISE navpods. Big honkin ugly things you can't see over/around when you are motoring, and can't use when you are sailing. We much prefer a smaller chart plotter on a swivel arm. When you sit on the leward side to drive, you can swivel it so you can see it. When your spouse is driving and you want to see where you are, just swivel it around. But it is getting harder and harder to do.
* Not sure if this is the new norm, but our boat came with Furuno. It uses freely downloaded NOAA charts (custom formatted, but free and the same charts). No staggering cost to upgrade charts every year. (of course, it also has choices for proprietary charts for overseas, or if you value the value-added stuff that comes with those options). Good to see if your choice has free chart upgrades.
* Since Garmin bought out and lobotomized Active Captain, it has lost a lot of value. But still worth seeing if your chart plotter supports it.

[pilott]

I'm old fashioned, kinda.

I favor a chartplotter over an ipad/tablet - it's more robust/waterproof.
I like separate sailing instruments with their own readout(s) so if the charplotter goes bad, I have back-up.
I agree that an AIS unit that transmits AND receives is the way to go (AIS radios only receive). Rudykruger's suggestion of a Vesper XB-8000 is good - it's ability to be be a wifi gateway allows future expansion if you want to go the wireless route.

If money is tight (I know it is with me!) used gear is a possibility - as long as it works with NMEA 2000. My old boat came with a hodgepodge of Garmin chartplotter and Raymarine sailing instruments, of various vintages 2000 through 2015, and I've managed to get it all to talk to each other. It took a bit of research -mainly on this forum!-and purchasing a couple of plug-&-play adapters.

I'm not sure that all radars are NMEA2000 compliant - you may need to have the same brand of radar and charplotter. Smarter folks may be able to correct me on this.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by sailingharry

* We DESPISE navpods. Big honkin ugly things you can't see over/around when you are motoring, and can't use when you are sailing. We much prefer a smaller chart plotter on a swivel arm. When you sit on the leward side to drive, you can swivel it so you can see it.

Oh I tend to swivel our navpod if I am sitting on one side of the boat in front of the wheel.

Pete

[sailingharry]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Oh I tend to swivel our navpod if I am sitting on one side of the boat in front of the wheel.

Pete

Pete,


We may have a terminology disconnect. What I refer to as a NavPod is this large, rigid, box mounted on/between the poles of the pedestal guard, within which the chart plotter is rigidly fixed. You can't see forward because it blocks the view. You can't see it from anywhere but behind the helm because it is immovable. And it's massive and ugly.


Your picture isn't really clear, but it looks like a swivelable installation mounted under the dodger? If so, that is a super solution!


I have noticed on some of the newest twin-wheel boats that the chart plotter is mounted low on the back of the cockpit center table, on a swivel mount. While this is not immediately at your finger tips, I think it is a great answer -- out of the way, capable of pointing toward the user, in general a really nice compromise.

[Imagineou812]

Sailing Harry,
I guess that it might be necessary to have height requirements in order to operate boats equipped with navpods !!! LOL Kind of like carnival rides !!! No short people allowed due to safety reasons !!! LMFAO

[sailingharry]

Originally Posted by Imagineou812

Sailing Harry,
I guess that it might be necessary to have height requirements in order to operate boats equipped with navpods !!! LOL Kind of like carnival rides !!! No short people allowed due to safety reasons !!! LMFAO

Yup. I'm 5'8 and the Admiral is 5'4. Actually, our height was a major consideration in choosing our current boat. Many very nice boats are too tall for short people to see out the ports! Sucks to be short sometimes. But then again, we've never seen a bunk that wasn't big enough. Lol