Replacing an old chart plotter

[Deryck]

The current owner of the Bavaria 37 I'm (hopefully!) going to be buying in the next few weeks has told me that the old Raymarine chart plotter isn't all that good and he uses an app on his ipad instead. The other instruments are all connected to the chart plotter and work OK, hence the reason he hasn't replaced it.

So, I've read a bit about using an ipad or tablet with a suitable app installed and wonder what you guys think of this option and, if it's a good idea, what the best app might be. I saw a vid on YouTube posted by Yachting World which suggested that the Navionics app is very good and, from a quick browse of their website, it does indeed seem pretty good.

Given that the boat is currently in Auckland and the first cruise is going to be to deliver it (with a delivery skipper) to my home base in Wellington, I don't really have the option of getting a whole new chart plotter installed professionally before the trip so the ipad/tablet option seems to make sense (at least for this trip and I can consider more permanent options later).

Any thoughts?

[Stu Jackson]

Have you considered buying a relatively inexpensive handheld GPS with charts? You can always use it for both this trip and for later use as backup and for the dinghy.

[Deryck]

I've considered that as well but was thinking that an ipad/tablet with its bigger screen would be easier to read and have the added benefit of being able to be used for other purposes as well such as storing music/books as well - I guess, depending on the storage capabilities of the ipad/tablet.

But, being a bit of a technophobe, and not knowing as much about anything technology-based, I should probably take advice from others who know way more than I do about such things!

[Kodiak]

Deryck,

The iPad and handheld combo works great and provides a backup.

My iPad is WiFi only so doesn't have GPS. I had to buy a remote GPS. Got a Garmin Glo for $159 AUD that provides wireless GPS to all my iStuff.

I also use a Garmin 78SC handheld GPS which cost about $450 AUD including local charts.

Suggest getting a waterproof case for your iPad. I use a Lifeproof which cost about $120 and works great.

So all up, my nav package cost me more than a Toys 'R Us bottom range chart plotter but gives me redundancy and much more flexibility since, as you point out, the iPad servers many purposes.

Hope this helps.

[boom23]

Find out what model is the chart plotter that's not working. You may be able to find a used one to replace it. That's just plug and play...

Otherwise, a tablet or laptop may suffice for the delivery trip.

[Mirage35]

I would look into the detail of "isn't all that good". Does the old chartplotter still work but is missing some bells and whistles, is it unreliable, or what?

My boat came with an old but still functional chartplotter. I have found that an iPad with iNavX for broad planning and navigation, plus the old plotter for detail work, is a great combination.

[skipmac]

Good advice so far.

- Do ask the PO exactly what the problem is with the old plotter. As mentioned, it just might be too basic for his/her preferences but still does the job.

- iPad or tablet with nav software is just fine (check out the free OpenCPN on the forum) BUT you cannot see the screen it bright, direct sunlight so no good for use in most open cockpits.

- Handheld is a good, cheap option and good for future backup.

- By a slightly used model. People upgrade all the time to the latest and greatest and you might find a deal.

[AJ_n_Audrey]

Deryck,

While I can attest to the accuracy of Garmin Bluechart or iSailor on an iPad in the Southeast US or Bahamas, I'm not sure about NZ. You would have to do some research, but my guess is, yes, there are completely acceptable charts available for iPad in NZ. That said, if it were me, I'd find out the exact deficiency of the existing chart plotter, because it may be good enough for navigation with a $200 (or whatever) chart update, and personally, I'd much rather have primary and secondary electronic navigation options. Also, since Garmin Bluecharts is no longer available for iPad unless you own a Garmin device that has Bluecharts, you might want to consider getting a small handheld Garmin that will allow you port the charts and Bluechart software to your iPad - then you would have three options. While I hate that Garmin stopped support for Bluecharts on iPad unless you own one of their devices, personally I prefer the Garmin interface to iSailor.

[pbaumann]

Originally Posted by Deryck

The current owner of the Bavaria 37 I'm (hopefully!) going to be buying in the next few weeks has told me that the old Raymarine chart plotter isn't all that good and he uses an app on his ipad instead. The other instruments are all connected to the chart plotter and work OK, hence the reason he hasn't replaced it.

So, I've read a bit about using an ipad or tablet with a suitable app installed and wonder what you guys think of this option and, if it's a good idea, what the best app might be. I saw a vid on YouTube posted by Yachting World which suggested that the Navionics app is very good and, from a quick browse of their website, it does indeed seem pretty good.

Given that the boat is currently in Auckland and the first cruise is going to be to deliver it (with a delivery skipper) to my home base in Wellington, I don't really have the option of getting a whole new chart plotter installed professionally before the trip so the ipad/tablet option seems to make sense (at least for this trip and I can consider more permanent options later).

Any thoughts?

Global Sat BU-353 S4 USB GPSC Receiver for around USD 30 plus OpenCPN 4.8.2 (plus portable computer).
Fair winds!

[pbaumann]

Dim the brightness of the portable device screen

[Paul Kelly]

I have an iPad with the GPS and I particularly like the iSailor charts. It's great for telling you where you are and showing what's around you. But I don't find that very easy for route making and following. And GPS applications eat the iPad battery. I've just bought a Matsutec HP33A which is an AIS A and B and a GPS. The GPS is more rudimentary than a chart plotter. But will give you really good route planning capabilities. At $490 US it looks a good buy.

[hamburking]

An ipad running navionics is a reasonable solution. HOWEVER, you must consider a waterproof case, a solid mount, and good power connection. If you are willing to set it up properly, it will work.

I did a delivery with the new owner of sailboat last summer. The owner balked at the cost of paper charts or even the Richardson's chartbook (Lake Ontario). He loaded the 2 week free trial of Navionics on his ipad and declared us ready to go. Thank goodness I brought my old paper charts and garmin etrex yellow. The ipad slid around the cockpit till the battery was low, about an hour, maybe less. Amidst a jumble of cables, he swore it charged fine in the car, but it would not charge on the boat. He spent his time below, messing about on his phone while I took us through the Brockville narrows, Gananaque narrows, and beyond, with the help of my 20 year old handheld gps, a few paper charts, and my good memory.

A properly installed chartplotter earns its keep when the weather turns nasty and the wind picks up.

FWIW, I think I owned that same older raymarine chartplotter. It would randomly hang, or lose fix at the worst possible time. A reset to factory default settings would always bring it back...but there is not always time for that.

[pjShap]

I bought a boat with a RayMarine E120 plotter which worked fine, until I purchased and loaded the most recent Navionics charts. After that it would crash and restart itself at any provocation. Navionics said to update the unit to the latest firmware release. That took some doing because none of the Compact Flash cards I purchased would boot to perform the firmware update. I finally purchased the firmware update on a card from a 3rd party vendor recommended by RayMarine, not expecting any better success. But I was wrong- the purchased card booted into the firmware update screen! After installing the updated firmware and resetting the plotter it stopped crashing and worked nearly flawlessly. If I get over-energetic making too many button pushes too quickly it can still crash, but I think it only happened once in many days of use. As long as I treat it reasonably, it works very well. It's older so it's a bit slow redrawing a screen when you pan or zoom, but it is SO much easier to work with than a handheld GPS. The screen is brighter and easier to see than a tablet or laptop.

So I don't know what plotter you have, but it might be worth seeing if a) you can buy current charts and b) there is a firmware update available.

[Deryck]

Thanks everyone for the helpful comments. Clearly, I need to do some more research - starting with finding out exactly what's wrong with the existing chart plotter in more detail!

Wow! There's a heck of a lot of things to think about with this boat-buying process!!!

[Pizzazz]

My advice would be both to change anything major on a newly purchased boat for the first couple of months unless you know exactly how you want to set it up. Most sailors are very practical people and typically there is a reason why we something in a certain way.

If you have older Raymarine stuff on the boat you may find out that this is a good solution for you. You need to troubleshoot it, incl. software updates, cabling, sensors, charts. Leave this for later.

For now, get two large screen Android phones, could be prepaid, could be second hand, as available in you location, install Navionics and some weather app on both, navigate with one, keep the other one as spare. Good luck.