I live in Canada and plan to take my cat down the intracoastal to Florida and the Bahamas. Hopefully the boat will eventually end up in the Western Caribbean.
I have no experience or knowledge of electronic charts but have always used macs.
I have the paper charts I need for now, and an old handheld garmin that goes everywhere with me. I have an older powerbook which I'm guessing may not be up to the job.
Which would be best for me----GPSNavX or MacENC?
Where do I get the charts---are they expensive?
What GPS is recommended?
What other bits and pieces would I need?
I think I've got a hint of some of the answers by browsing your site but time is running out if I'm to get the show on the water.
many thanks Tom
Thanks for the super quick reply.
Can the usb gps you recommend be used as a position finder etc. when not using electronic charts?
Any USB/Serial or Bluetooth GPS can give you the the position, via special software that can read GPS data. You don't have to run electronic maps.
But be aware that for all GPS mice (those without display and usb/serial cable) do need a computer which gives the GPS powersupply and shows the GPS data.
If your computer doesn't work for any reason, you don't have GPS data.
That's the reason why I use a handheld GPS (like Garmin 12 or 72, or Magellan) which can be connected to a serial/usb port.
This way positions are always available on the GPS display.
OTOH I always to have papercharts, electronic charts (iBooh G4 GPSNavX) and 2 GPS (Garmin 12 / 72) with me when sailing and a lot of batteries in case the boats batteries run empty. Somertimes I even use the BT GPS from my mobile phone Route 66 navigation application.
When I'm sailing with friends, some of them do have their GPS with them too.
Manou
While I am a big believer in the USB GPS, there are some advantages of using a self-contained GPS such as the marine models offered by Garmin
- They can be used without the Mac.
- When used with the Mac, they can do the navigation. That is our software will use the waypoints and/or routes that are activated on the GPS. No need to have to tell both the GPS and our software about where you want to go to.
- They can be out in the cockpit while the Mac is safe/dry down below.
- Most are portable
I highly recommend everything GPSNavX has suggested, as I use everything stated. For electronic charts in Canada you will need the charts offered by Digital Ocean, ie NDI out of Newfoundland. Their are alittle expensive but are digital copies of our CHS charts, so you will be using a paper chart in digital form. Have a great trip.
Patrick
Patrick,
Have you seen anything on Canadian ENCs? I assume they're being developed as part of the international effort, but I don't recall ever seeing any reference to them, even for future availability.
Scot
I always have at least 2 gps's on board and paper charts of course.
Do garmin have a handheld that sends nmea over the usb cable yet?
Tom
Just finished the Great Lakes portion of the trip. Your software and the usb gps were incredible. What a great addition to the navigators arsenal. I've never used electronic charts before and found them to be an incredible help especially at night .Still have my old trusty garmin 75 at the steering station and plot on my paper charts too.
Many thanks. Tom