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How much do you use your Chartplotter?

8K views 63 replies 29 participants last post by  ccriders 
#1 ·
While cruising for extended periods how often is your chartplotter powered up? Do you leave it on all of the time or do you turn it on to check your position and then turn it back off?
 
#43 ·
When I sail coastal (as we mostly do) the MFD (aka chartplotter) is always on.
Primarily to view the chart (I trust the electronic charts that cover my area:)

GPS position in not that important (but helpful) because i prefer "traditional" piloting while sailing inshore/coastal.

Sailing offshore I can turn the MFD off to conserve electricity.
I still have AIS, GPS, speed, depth available on my instrument displays (Raymarine i70), it even have CPA/TCPA alarm for AIS data.

While anchored all instruments are turned off to conserve electricity.

We got a hang up on saving electricity as we like to sail and stay away from marinas when cruising.
 
#48 ·
My fav is Boat Monitor. Unfortunately, it's not available in the US store any longer and I don't know why. It shows great detail and is the one that is accessible from shore.

Prior to that I used Anchor Watch. Still very good. It will send you an email on shore, if you drag outside the range you establish.

They are each literally a couple of dollars. As close to free as you get.
 
#50 ·
Has anyone used the Simrad or B&G tablet apps for Android or iOS? It's supposed to let you control you mfd or just be a mirror to it, or work independent of it.. Looked neat. I am thinking of one of these for when I get electronics later this year or next year. So I'm just curious, as I would get a mfd for the chart table below and just get a tablet with and otter box or similar case and a ram mount for the cockpit so I can just take it inside when not in use or away from boat..

Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk
 
#51 ·
The biggest benefit for us is the AIS and radar overlay in our chart plotter. AIS is great for catching the "go fast" cargo ships coming down the Puget Sound. They fly along at 20+ kts and it is nice to get an hour pre-warning that AIS provides. Typically we see the 60 minute anticipated track line that AIS provides dance across our bow in the chart plotter. That sure gets your attention. Typically it is long before we are in visual range.
 
#56 ·
You think it's easy to hit something, or get lost in the Bahamas with GPS, chartplotters, and Explorer charts, you should see what it was like back before all that stuff.

Nothing like piloting yourself into one Cay's harbor, and then finding out you are actually in the harbor of the Cay south of that (did that twice on a cruise we did of the Bahamas in 1987). :D
 
#59 ·
Well, I did my first sailing in the Bahamas back in the late 70's, when LORAN coverage barely extended to Nassau... Not that it mattered, as the boats I first took over there didn't have LORAN, anyway :)

The Tropic Isle Sketch Charts were the Explorer Charts of that era, and the YACHTSMAN'S GUIDE was the cruiser's Bible... Both were actually pretty damn good, at the time... Well, as long as the guy with the yellow cottage that formed a critical range with a conspicuous casuarina didn't decide to paint his house a different color...



Certainly, you had to be paying damn close attention to your piloting in places like the Exumas back then, it was very easy to become confused, or not certain of your position... But I swear, I don't think cruisers really got in any more trouble back then, than they are today... Because of that 'uncertainty', most were far more prudent back then, rarely attempting tricky passages in poor light, or knowing they'd have the sun in their face at late in the day...

Now, I see folks are racing around everywhere with little regard for the importance of reading the water, and simply trusting their plotters implicitly, focused on some screen in their cockpit, instead of the water in front of them... Plotters and e/charts sometimes lie, however - whereas the color of the water, with the sun over your shoulder, NEVER does... :)

For example, the color of this water approaching Binnacle Hill in the Bight of Acklins says: "You've got no more than 6 inches between your keel, and a billiard table-flat sandy bottom..."

One really hasn't properly done the Bahamas, until you've sailed at a speed greater than the water depth, measured in feet...

And, no, doing it in a multihull doesn't count... :)

 
#60 · (Edited)
I use the Garmin GPSMap 541 and it is on all of the time while underway.

I don't rely on it exclusively for my navigation but as part of an integrated navigation network made up of: the chartplotter, depthsounder, paper charts, Ports cruising guide, sailing directions, compass and, most importantly: eyesight.

I usually plan my cruises by reviewing my intended route on paper charts, starting from the smallest scale and working down to the largest. Then I get on my PC using an old version of Offshore Navigator. I explore anchorages, areas of concern and points of interest there. I use Sailing Directions and Ports Guide to review any specific features of the areas.

I do all of this at home - usually over the winter.

I copy coordinates from Offshore Navigator into Garmin Trip and Waypoint Manager and load them onto an SD card that I can load into my chartplotter.

I have many of the Georgian Bay anchorages and ports loaded onto my chartplotter now so that I can easily access them if I need to in a hurry. The chartplotter also has a listing of marinas, fuel docks and points of interest that you can access easily while underway. There are also satellite shots of marinas and so on for reference.

Once underway I usually start my day by reviewing my paper charts. I always have my paper charts in the cockpit for the area in which I am sailing - even my home waters. I use the chartplotter mostly as a speedometer, but also to calculate ETA etc. I will refer to it on long crossings (especially away from land) to make sure I am on course. In my area there are very few times when you are out of sight of land so I am conning most of the time.
 
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#61 ·
It's funny how weird it can be to be able to see the bottom when you are sailing, like in the Bahamas. I can sail in the Mississippi Sound, where the water is really murky, and not be the least bit concerned that I only have a foot or two of water under me.

But, it always kinds of freaks me out a little when I am sailing in the Bahamas and only have two feet and can actually see the bottom going by. :D
 
#62 ·
It's funny how weird it can be to be able to see the bottom when you are sailing, like in the Bahamas. I can sail in the Mississippi Sound, where the water is really murky, and not be the least bit concerned that I only have a foot or two of water under me.
Up here on Lake Superior I am quite used to being able to see 20 to 30 feet down. Our water is cold, and crystal clear. We have plenty of deep water, but going into anchorages you can almost always see to the bottom quite easily. I've sailed in more mirky southerly water, and it freaks me out not seeing the bottom.
 
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