Best Offshore Cruisers Electronic Nav Package

[felixqld66]

Hey All

Not to re invent the wheel can someone direct me to quality posts for a person wanting to refit some electronic navigation aides to an offshore cruiser.

My new (read first and second hand) Landfall 39 has a Navman GPS /plotter and Navman wind/depth/speed instruments the head units need to be replaced as they function but are difficult to read due to sun damage I assume.

I plan to cruise around Thailand Malaysia for a while then bring the boat back to Australia via some surfing destinations when the conditions are right to do so.

Any advice I will happily read and any directions to quality posts appreciated as I have done some searching and it is hard to find relevant quality posts.

Thanks Alex

[MPB]

After some painful experiences, the one thing that comes to mind when buying electronics, is to make sure that there is I can get the thing serviced locally - I'm not referring to the typical Aftersales support. Retailers rarily exchange non working products after 30 days just because they are under warranty. They will limit themselves to sending the unit to the manufacturer for evaluation - a month or two later you can expect a decision.
knowing that certified technicians exist in your area for a certain brand can save you a lot of grief. Sure you will have to pay for it, but you will get it back in reasonable period of time.

Of course, if you believe that electronic units are failure proof, then the market is wide open.

Regards

[MarkJ]

Well don't worry about after market service in Asia. there isn't any.

It seems like an exciting moment to be in: Lets Buy Electronics!
but its not that much fun because they cost so much and we expect so much from them.

I am upgrading soon and I am looking at Standard Horizon plotters but will keep my Raymarine instruments and auto pilot.

Sorry it doesnt help.

Maybe someone else is in the process?

[jstewart30]

Thanks for starting this thread. I am very interested in this too as I am helping my grandpa completely replace the nav system on his 85' yacht.

I have been asking around since I am definitely a newbie on this and have had Garmin, Raymarine, and Simrad suggested. I have been asking about Furuno but nobody seems to have much opinion or know much on them. I did have one person mention B&G but he thought it was probably not right for me. Not sure why. I am guessing budget.

Looking forward to seeing what everyone has to say on the subject.

[MPB]

In today's copy cat world, especially where electronics are concerned, there are probably a number of brands that source their components from the same Asian factories.
As such you can probably find a number of economic brands that offer the same features as the high-end leaders- sort of like PCs and TVs.

While I have resorted to the cheap way out with home usage products, I don't compromise quality whenever it has to do with the boat.

On the ocean, I won't risk safety in order to save money. This formula doesn't always work, as we all know.

For the last 20years, all my instruments, autopilot, radar and chartplotter are Raymarine. I have upgraded units several time. If I had suffered problems over time, I guess I would have hopped across brands.

[Australis]

I have a Raymarine C80 chartplotter mounted at the helm and wouldn't be without it. You know exactly where you are in relation to the chart and can make positional adjustments without leaving the helm. Invaluable in restricted areas or where conditions are constantly changing. An external receiver gives great accuracy which makes night sailing very comfortable. I am looking at getting a handheld plotter that I can transfer the the C80 Navionics chart into if a backup was required. You can interface other instruments into the C80. There C80 now has later and larger models. An 8" screen works fine for me.
DJR
Queensland

[capt_douglas]

When my Datamarine depth/speed instrument displays went bad, I was able to order just the display for a few dollars. Installation was fast, the water integrity was still good, and I save a bunch of money. You might try that route for the digital displays.

[doug gardner]

m'e not sure what youre budget is,raymarine sells nice stuff,another piece of gear you should have ,and is rarely mentioned is a shaft driven bilgepump,it mounts on the engine shaft,no need to remove the shaft,it will pump 24000 gallons of water an hight our,just type in www.shaftdrivenbilgepump,it shoukld take you to tonga.com i believe,nice peice of safty gear ,only 600 plus shippinganother thing to consider is changing to all led lights,this is not only a big power saver but,most are shock proof and just might save you a dreded trip up youre mast hop'e this was helpfull,oh and by the way if you need any advice about electrical,im yuore guy,im'e a journeyman electrician

[barnakiel]

My best ever is this stuff:

Start Page - www.nexusmarine.se

Second best will be Furuno, then Raymarine and Garmin.

Looking for a sponsor ;-)))

b.

[felixqld66]

Thanks for the replys all

Yes MarkJ it is a good place to be in because it means that adventure is afoot but as someone who works with tools for a living I can and do appreciate good tools but they are still a means to an end. Frustrating trying to sort this process.

The shaft driven bilgepump is a great idea I will look into it, I do have to do some work in the bilge and fit a new strum/grey water tank when I get to the boat.

DJR I like the raymarine stuff and thanks for your take on the c80 I guess I am just going to have to bite the bullet soon as I will buy what ever I decide on and ship them into duty free Langkawi and pick them up there and fit.

I will look into Nexus Thanks for the link barnakeil

Cheers

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by felixqld66

ship them into duty free Langkawi and pick them up there and fit.

Check that carefully because I think there is duty payable on electronics. Duty free for perfume, ciggies and alcohol only?
Ordering from there was a pain and they agent doing it demanded to do the currency conversion that would have cost us 20% more. So it really wasnt worth it.


Mark

[felixqld66]

Hey Mark

I will double check with a couple of people again who recommended Langkawi as an option for that reason but I wouldn't want to be stung with duty at the last moment!

I have a quote request in with West marine on a bunch of stuff will see how big the hole in my wallet is going to be - rather large I think!!!

Cheers Alex

[felixqld66]

Well looking down the Raymarine route with the good exchange rate there are some good deals out of America.

Here's what I am thinking

C120 wide plotter
ST60+ depth/speed/ wind
4kw digital radar
Smart pilot x30 corepack
St70 Autopilot control head
GPS antenna
Type 3 linear drive unit for autopilot

Like that I can fully control the autopilot through the C120W and the ST70 autopilot head can be a repeater for the st60+ instruments which should allow for mounting options.

Cheers Alex

[surfmachine]

Electronics in Langkawi from Australia is duty free and gst free ex aussie, bought a heap in by mail order in Janurary.
Make sure you get a good radar, forward looking sonar and BIG solar panels and batteries, with a battery monitor system!
Good luck from Keith.

[goboatingnow]

Nexus is not particulary reliable gear in my experience and it's somewhat a one off. Better look at the big four ( ray, furuno,simrad,garmin) and stay mainstream.

Dave