New Guy Rants at Garmin

[donradcliffe]

Don't ask your Garmin for directions to the USS Arizona in Hawaii--it takes you into a dead end in an industrial district a couple of miles from the water.

[osirissail]

Yes, That video - Garmin 740 - is scary. Not so much for the capability of the system to plot a course around shallows and obstacles, but for the thought of the "idiots" who will buy it, use it, and end up colliding with every other vessel in their path while they are below sipping a beer.

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by cal40john

Women blame bad GPS directions for driving down boat launch ramp.

Women escape sinking car after crashing into Mercer Slough | 911 | Bellevue News

They were also both from Mexico and didn't speak a word of English.
The GPS apparently didn't speak Spanish.

[David M]

Originally Posted by osirissail

Yes, That video - Garmin 740 - is scary. Not so much for the capability of the system to plot a course around shallows and obstacles, but for the thought of the "idiots" who will buy it, use it, and end up colliding with every other vessel in their path while they are below sipping a beer.

I am thinking the same thing. Perhaps in our litigious society it is in the manufacturers best interest not to make such devices, not to mention the increased number of boats there will be without a proper watch.

[Orrjames]

I have a garmin 546s, not a bad thing really. But .... I started out on an old ass gps with an arrow pointing to the heading with zero maps. In the bayou waterways of S. Louisiana, on a jack-up boat that would rather sink than float. In the dark . It was a horrible time in my life , although it made me look out the window, like we all should. Gps rocks , but has limitations. And as we all know, a man has to know his limitations! Clint Eastwood.

[Exile]

My understanding is that Garmin's "auto-guidance" software will not allow it to fully sync with the vessel's auto-pilot; it requires a manual input after each waypoint (i.e. turn) is reached. Putting in conservative parameters is also obviously essential as the video demonstrated. Kinda like when you know the ICW fixed bridge is supposed to be 65', but you reach for the binocs to read the meter anyway when it's high tide and the vessel's mast is 64.5'!