GPS/Depth Finder Combo? New Sailor!

[evansprater]

Hello all,

I just purchased my first sailboat this week... A 1978 Tartan 30' sloop. A few friends and I will be sailing her back from Pensacola to Carrabelle, Florida next week. The current owner says he has a handheld GPS and just uses charts on his iphone for depth?

I'm thinking though a GPS/Depth Finder combo would make things a loott easier. Do you think I should go ahead and get the combo unit - or would I be able to save money and manage just fine with a handheld and charts on my phone? If I do go for a combo unit, it seems that Garmin is the only company that offers an extremely diverse range of downloadable charts, as I plan to sail through Mexico and Central America later this year... I couldn't find anything comparable for the cheaper Humminbird units?

Any feedback is appreciated!

Thanks!

[Ozbullwinkle]

A built in GPS Chart Plotter/ Fish Finder (Depth Sounder) preferably at your helm is the way to go as you will find that if you encounter adverse conditions handheld units are not practical as you won't have enough hands as you will be too busy on the helm and could even end up with the handheld unit going over the side!

Have you had a look at the Raymarine units especially the E series which has a great feature in that they wirelessly connect to iPhones or iPads which then act as repeater stations and show exactly what is on the screen of the main E series unit. This is a great feature and is certainly worth the money.

[evansprater]

Yeah everyone keeps saying the combo unit is the way to go. I'll check out the Raymarine units, but do they offer as wide a range of purchasable maps as garmin? I was looking and garmin has EVERYTHING for the entire planet it seems.

[Juniper]

I have a Raymarine A50D that I'm quite happy with, $6-700 all loaded with NA charts

[evansprater]

Gahh! That's a liittlllee more than I want to spend. I'm looking at the Garmin 421 on Amazon at $347, but with the charts costing another $130 it seems like I might as well go for the Raymarine...?

[Ozbullwinkle]

Originally Posted by evansprater

Yeah everyone keeps saying the combo unit is the way to go. I'll check out the Raymarine units, but do they offer as wide a range of purchasable maps as garmin? I was looking and garmin has EVERYTHING for the entire planet it seems.

Raymarine uses CMAP charting which has very extensive coverage as well.