Simple Navigation and Weather Station

[Tmacmi]

We are just going to dip our toe into the cruising world. We will be mostly hopping from town to town along the Lake Michigan coast. We may be out into the lake 5-10 miles, depending.

The boat has an older garmin system that doesn't lock onto radar and its not mounted at the wheel.

The current owner says he just uses his phone and Navitronics. That's fine since he's 35 and can actually see his phone.

What all do you recommend for navigation and weather given what we plan to do.

Thank you,

Tysen

[psk125]

Listen to the NOAA marine weather forecasts on the VHF weather channels. NOAA is where ALL the other weather forecasters get their data. For navigation, you are not likely to be moving so fast that one of you can't take the wheel while the other goes below to take a look at the GPS screen. Having some charts and looking them over before you get there would be useful, too. Radar is great in fog, storms, or the dark; situations you probably want to avoid. What is a GPS system that “locks onto” radar, and what does it do?

[Tmacmi]

Originally Posted by psk125

Listen to the NOAA marine weather forecasts on the VHF weather channels. NOAA is where ALL the other weather forecasters get their data. For navigation, you are not likely to be moving so fast that one of you can't take the wheel while the other goes below to take a look at the GPS screen. Having some charts and looking them over before you get there would be useful, too. Radar is great in fog, storms, or the dark; situations you probably want to avoid. What is a GPS system that “locks onto” radar, and what does it do?

I misspoke. The GPS system no longer locks on to satellites.

So far I have been using my phone with the Navionics App, Weather.com, and Windfinder.

I want to move away from using my phone because of its size. I'm considering just getting an IPad and using that. I was startled that my phone almost shut down because of over heating. I wonder if the IPad is also at risk of that.

[belizesailor]

For just day sails, you could check the weather before leaving then monitor WX channels on VHF. And/or upgrade to tablet.

[psk125]

Originally Posted by Tmacmi

I misspoke. The GPS system no longer locks on to satellites.

So far I have been using my phone with the Navionics App, Weather.com, and Windfinder.

I want to move away from using my phone because of its size. I'm considering just getting an IPad and using that. I was startled that my phone almost shut down because of over heating. I wonder if the IPad is also at risk of that.

So you’re saying that the GPS doesn’t work, since it has to lock onto satellites in order to work. This could be caused by a problem with the antenna. It could be in a poor location for reception, or it could be poorly connected (or NOT connected!)to the unit. It could be a $5.00 (or less) fix, or, depending upon what’s wrong with it, it could cost more to fix than to buy a new one. You will have to find that out for yourself.

[Pegu Club]

If you have a tablet with gps you could down load “I Nav X” it’s cheap enough and makes a for a useful chart plotter, that’s what we used when we started doing longer trips day long and longer in Long Island, Fishers Islands, and Block island sounds. NOAA, windy, and sail flow are a few of the weather apps we use, there are more to choose from. That and as said above a VHF radio and a few charts.

Fair winds,