[Rhodes22-list] GPS

[FredkLange at aol.com]

Vic,

If you can always see the shore, charts are all you need.  But if distance or 
haze prevents you from seeing landmarks, a $150 hand held GPS is invaluable.  
Just enter your waypoints from the chart.

Even if you just sail in sight of shore, it is great to know how long it will 
be before you reach your destination.  I find guests just like to know how 
long they will need to hold it without using the head.

Fred

In a message dated 3/19/04 7:47:01 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
atlantic at engineer.com writes:

> 
> I'm getting a refurbished '87 from Stan next month. Since I've never been 
> sailing I'm a little concerned about getting lost while I'm trying to navigate 
> the Chesapeake Bay. In researching chart plotters, the only low cost one I've 
> found is the Garmin 176C color plotter. This is the older version of their 
> 276C and I think Garmin is trying to get rid of them. They're bundled with the 
> Metro-Guide for streets, the BlueChart for marine use, a blank card, a 
> programmer, etc. The internal antenna version is being sold for $445 after rebate. 
> Just the list price total of the accessories is more than this. They got 
> mostly good reviews except for being hard to read in bright sunlight. Also, they 
> use a lot of power so it's impractical to use batteries - a cigar lighter 
> connection is needed. I'd appreciate any comments you might have on whether or 
> not I should buy this system.
> Vic Huebner
>