GPS waypoints for a long trip

[Orchidius]

Hi there,

I've been putting a lot of time and effort into the planning of the route for a Transatlantic trip starting in Europe to the Caribbean and back. A big part of this has been reading books and (old) tripreports/books by sailors who've made similar trips in the past. One of the things a lot of them mention is the use of GPS (plotters) for planning trips and more notably just being able to import proven waypoints from pilots and other sailors. This would be very useful for (harbour) approaches and rounding difficult points.
Of course this was all still very high-tech back in the days, but it's very common right now. We'll be using a separate chartplotter in the cockpit, (plotter) apps on the ipad and OpenCPN on the laptop with all CM93 charts.

I've found a wealth of information in books and online, and have a fairly detailed route in mind. What I haven't been able to find yet though, is specific waypoints along that route to follow.

So I guess my main question is wether these lists of proven waypoints exist out there? Do they get passed along by cruisers along the route, or is it all a matter of just using common sense and the information available to you on the spot? How do you guys do it?

Thanks!

[Stu Jackson]

I would treat all waypoints provided by others with a hefty grain of salt.

If you have a chartplotter, then use it by hovering the cursor off known nav aids, and then check them when you get closer.

Great for general planning purposes, but useless for close in maneuvering.

Also be careful of the DMS and decimals.

Disclaimer: I will never use waypoints from someone else.