[Electronic Charts] Preferred types?

[Valiente]

I am looking at the current Furuno line of chartplotters and radars for our trip, and I note they use either Navionics Gold or C-Map charts. My need is to have radar overlays on chartplot displays, and to have the ability to export these displays onto a PC with an as-yet undetermined nav program. I also need a separate AIS to feed into the PC, and I will d/l GRIBs and related info into the PC in order to create a more complete picture of a given day or few days' worth of passagemaking.

Any comments or critiques of either Navionics or C-Map as chart sources? I will carry paper charts as well, but obviously the quality of the charts themselves comes into play. I am ignorant of how such charts are updated or upgraded, although I suppose I can annotate charts on the PC if I find an uncharted reef or a big discrepancy in the chart itself.

[sailingdog]

I have the c-Map charts on my laptop... they're okay... haven't used the Navionics. Also, have the NOAA ENC charts on my Mac.

[Maine Sail]

Actually I've used the old Garmin G-Charts, C-Map Charts, and Navionics but I actually prefer the Garmin Blue Charts to all the others. That being said theya re all good but the Blue CHart looks identical to what you have on paper which is very nice. I've owned plotters from Raymarine, Northstar, Standard Horizon & Garmin. I've owned numerous radars from both Furuno & Raymarine, and currently own a dead/dying Raytheon CRT, but I'm about to shell out for the new Garmin GMR-18HD radome and a new plotter.

After using the new Garmin dome & plotter on a buddies boat last summer I am impressed enough to not buy either Furuno or Raymarine this time around.

Look, touch, feel and play with these things at marine retailers and then ask about the customer service. In my opinion, and many, many others on this and other forums, Furuno is ok Raymarine is getting better but Garmi is by far the best in the business when it comes to customer service...

[sailingdog]

Of course, this should partially be determined by where you'll be sailing and how accurate the said electronic charts are for that area.

[Plumper]

I have issues with electronic charts that are made by computer geeks vice hydrographers. My experience with C-Map is grim. I bought a complete set for the PNW coast to go with my new Furuno plotting system and within 3 or 4 years I was unable to get updates. I noticed while using them that the digitizing guys had made stupid mistakes when creating them. The most common was putting a rock symbol on the C-Map (+) when the paper chart showed it was a rocky bottom (R). Until I figured it out I was avoiding rocks that didn't exist. The result was having to have the paper chart out beside the plotter all the time. Although a bit archaic now, I still prefer the raster scans of real charts provided by Government Hydrographic Offices (sometimes free). I don't need or use the vector charts that I have on my little ship.

Gaz

[HoffaLives]

I use GPSNAVX on a mac. retails for 50 bucks and can do everything you listed. i agree with plumper re the raster charts as they are as accurate as the original paper and free for the us and only $150 for canada. i guess if a guy has $$$ to burn you can go the route of dedicated chartplotter with 3rd party charts, but it's a massive money sink for what you get.

[Valiente]

Thanks for the insights. My issue at the moment is that I want a stand-alone radar with the OPTION of outputting its "live" screen as a chartplotter overlay. The chartplotter itself could be, after all, a properly loaded laptop with one of the many software plotting programs...but then I'd have to get loads of raster files. I like the Furuno radar as a standalone, but I'd have a bigger buy into their NavNet plotter if I want that kind of connectivity with their radar.

I could go anywhere from 45 S to 65 N in the next few years, so I'm looking for the best situation "on average" in my electronics.

Currently, I just have a Raymarine 420 plotter from '99, which is monochrome with no map cartridge (I think it takes Navionics Gold maps). Basically, it's just a deluxe GPS, which is fine for Lake Ontario. I want plotting ability for places I've never been, that integrate tidal data and AIS so I can go in at night or in fog with a reasonable expectation that if I'm careful, I'll arrive safely...aided, of course, by my eyes and ears.

Again, were this coastal, I wouldn't care, but in the Torres Strait or the Tuamotus, I'll care quite a bit.

[sailingdog]

If you're going to be upgrading from the Raymarine 420, go garmin.. they have a pretty good 18" radome now, with the ability to overlay chartplotter and radar, and screens from about 5" up to 12".

[Valiente]

I'm not upgrading from the Raymarine 420...it just came with the boat and would be a lower draw "spare" for the 90% of the time I just want GPS and SOG.

But I will investigate Garmin. As I've said, I don't want an "integrated" package; I want discrete displays and/or black boxes that can "report" to a PC. With a pilothouse, I don't need the sort of weatherproofing or daylight viewing aspects of the new 10 to 12 inch chartplotters, but I do need a stand-alone, decent 2 KW radar and an AIS that can talk to a PC, which will do the actual plotting and display functions.

I won't necessarily integrate a depth sounder, and I definitely won't hook in the autopilot. That way lies madness.

I have the option of helming from inside and outside, and generally I would be on deck keeping a watch if either the AIS or the radar showed ships in my area on passage. That is simply so I can watch the weather and the sea for sleeping whales, deadheads and half-sunk containers. Only in areas with reefs or upon entering tricky passes or harbours (Bermuda, for instance) would I be eyeballing the chart and particularly the depth sounder. At a certain point, once you are on what you hope is the correct bearing, the chart is useless, and the wife goes up the mast to look for coral heads!