Quote:
Originally Posted by Madhatter23
I just bought a used chartplotter, my first one (Simrad CE33). I am planning on taking my first cruise, from LI to Georgia in the spring. My question is, is the GPS chart mapping in the unit sufficient by itself, or do I need to get the CMAP's to use in the unit also? I got a good deal on the plotter, but don't know how detailed the internal charts are. Anyone??
On a side note, do people share their cruise waypoints with each other? If someone has made this trip, and I am sure people have, would they keep a list of their waypoints to share with others, or am I giving too much credit to sailors?
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With most chartplotters, the inbuilt chart is a general chart, but not usually specific with close-in details - buoys, rocks, harbours, etc. I know with my Navman, that I could not navigate safely with the in-built chart, and I have a wide area C-Map chart of where I sail.
I input my route before I sail, then I can check on progress.
I once sailed on someone else's boat, who only put in waypoints one at a time. He then input the next waypoint. He did this at one time, and put a Long of .50 instead of .05. You can guess how much that threw the navigation off!! Luckily, we were clear of hazards, and instead of going down one channel, we ended up at the head of another channel that met up with the one we should have come down! On the return trip, I put all the waypoints in before sailing!!!!
As for sharing waypoints, I "do" give my waypoint lists to others, but it is entirely up to their own safety to check my waypoints when they input them into their own chartplotter. I also ask and get waypoints from other users, but always check them when put onto the chart.
My method for waypoints is to put them onto my chart, but check them in good weather for distance off a coastline. Then, if the weather closes-in, I am more sure of their position. That and checking the radar.
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