new GPS? Chart plotter system

[ronpierce]

Looking to install a good GPS and chart plotter system on my 44' CSY. It is moored in Simpson Bay and the work will be done there. Any suggestions from anybody as to the best buy for the money would be. I will be primarily sailing in the Caribbean for the first couple years. Hoping to stay under 3-4K.

[ronpierce]

thanks for all the help. Wish you all were novices in my world over the years

[River Cruiser]

Cranky cause you didn't get a reply in a couple of hours? Sorry we couldn't of jumped sooner. Standard Horizon

[dave777]

Originally Posted by ronpierce

Looking to install a good GPS and chart plotter system on my 44' CSY. It is moored in Simpson Bay and the work will be done there. Any suggestions from anybody as to the best buy for the money would be. I will be primarily sailing in the Caribbean for the first couple years. Hoping to stay under 3-4K.

There are awesome options with a budget up to 3 to 4K. Are you only looking for GPS & Plotter? First of all, make sure the GPS is not a separate antenna but built in. Then decide how big of a screen you want, your price will follow.

Many will display radar overlayed by paying another $1K to 1.5K for an antenna. Do you have radar already? Also, AIS is practically a freebie now.

The features have increased dramatically over the past few years.

The other big decision for you is what will be the source of your data for the plotter. I don't know the Carribean but U.S. waters has lots of free to download (already paid by taxpayers) raster and vector charts at NOAA.
If you have to pay for local charts of Carribean that could influence your decision. Perhaps that is your first question to answer.

I currently have Raymarine, and sadly can not recommend them for anything. I have OpenCPN and if you have a PC on the boat then you absolutely need to get it, and if you don't have a PC, even a laptop yet, think about it.

I don't know the other vendors yet but the Lowrance units look pretty could, you could get a complete touch plotter between 1 to 2, rugged waterproof etc.

Some vendors will let you view the plotter elsewhere on the boat on an iPhone or Tablet.

Whatever you choose, let us know what you like or don't like about it.