Technofried

[Tiemo]

Rant coming... The boat I bought could have been sailed around the world with a competent skipper when it came out of the boat yard new in 1991 with typical spare parts and tools etc being added to it. I am the the 4th owner and took ownership in November.

New to boats and most of the hundreds of components and handful of systems I was pleased enough that she had a hydraulic auto pilot, Monitor wind vane, a stout and clean running Yanmar 4JH2E, through hulls the surveyor mentioned the "Bristol" when describing (even if there are too many for my liking), extra sails, good running and standing rigging with a complete back up suite of pre-made standing rigging in the lazarette. The list goes on and on and includes a Raymarine C90W, ICOM M802 with Pactor modem and Standard Hrzn GX2150 VHF with AIS (receiver only I am told).

Life is grand right? Yes... but, today I was basically told to throw the Raymarine equipment off the boat and join the 2nd decade of the 21st century because that crap is Raymarine's worst chart plotter ever, the radar is antiquated by today's standards and if you plan on passage making cruising and crossing an ocean or two you need better ****.

So I'll cut to the chase, finally... How many of you sail by an MFD that resembles a supercomputer, jetfighter cockpit display and combines with Predict Wind to act like Google maps does when getting one across Boston by avoiding accidents and speed traps and pointing out Dunkin Donuts along the way? And, how many out there with lots of miles under their keel feel safe enough doing it paper charts, SSB gribs and a relic like the C90W?

Do I need a 3D, high res radar depiction of Logan's runway to avoid hitting it in the fog or is a paper chart and competent chart work combined with my chartplotter and radar's antiquated brown blob depiction sufficient. Is the old SSB grib download good enough or is it safer to have Iridium, Predict Wind routing services and a wireless B&G point me around weather?

Important info: My biggest voyage this far is a solo out and back from San Diego to Catalina with overnight 15 hr legs each way. And, although the AIS was on or off depending on the equipment's mood the C90W otherwise worked (almost) flawlessly.

Taking a poll and ready to be blasted for whining.

[Paul L]

Why take someone else's opinion on this? You have the boat and the equipment. Learn to use the tools you have. If some are found to be deficient latter on down the road you can replace them then.

[Brian.D]

Some people buy new gear just so they can say, "I got the latest SOTA gear". And some people are happy with the gear they have because it still works. If it ain't broke...

[Muaddib1116]

I feel like this is very much up to you. There are definitely people out there with only the most basic nav equipment, and of course people with a full suite of modern fully integrated electronics. It's up to you to decide if you are ok using what you have or if you want to replace/upgrade it and if that fits into your budget. I know what I would choose if I can afford it.
If you're just asking if there are still people going old school, the answer is surely "yes".

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Tiemo

Rant coming... ..........
Life is grand right? Yes... but, today I was basically told to throw the Raymarine equipment off the boat and join the 2nd decade of the 21st century because that crap is Raymarine's worst chart plotter ever, the radar is antiquated by today's standards and if you plan on passage making cruising and crossing an ocean or two you need better ****.
............

I guess the tens of thousands of the long term cruising boats that have been sailing the oceans of the world for the last 40+ years were really really lucky to have survived their ordeals or perhaps really stupid to venture away from the harbours of safety without the better ****. Gosh, some of those folk circumnavigated several times without even a simple GPS.

However if you have deep pockets and enjoy (emotionally need?) electronic toys, strip out the old stuff and replace it with the better ****

Just my opinion of course .

[Jim Cate]

T his old fart hasn't any chartplotter on board. I mostly use OCPN on a laptop plus paper charts when required. Have so far always found my destination roughly where it was supposed to be. And that includes days before GPS or even NavStar.

The only fairly up to date kit is a good AIS transceiver, and I'm glad for that bit of modern gear.

So my answer is of course you can cruise happily with that which you describe. Don't let other's insecurities bog you down.

Jim

[belizesailor]

Older Raymarine gear is pretty durable. I'm still running old ST series instruments, RL70C chart plotter, PathFinder Radar...none of which are any longer supported by Raymarine, but still work just fine.

Recently did a crossing on a boat with a brand new Raymarine Axiom chart plotter...wished for my good old RL70C when the touch screen began misbehaving due to getting wet! Imagine that, boat instruments that malfunction when wet...brilliant! [emoji849]

[billknny]

I'll tell the same story here I have told many of my former students who would ask similar questions about what you "need" to do some voyage or other.

When evaluating the importance of a particular piece of gear, do a thought experiment. You have sailed to a remote atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. If that piece of gear failed, could you sail home?

If "YES" then it is a luxury. To me carefully selected luxuries make life better, and I am not saying you should do without, but it is not required. I do like a comfortable life, but I carry paper charts (and know how to use them!) so I can get home.

If "NO", then you need at least two of them.

[Marathon1150]

Originally Posted by Paul L

Why take someone else's opinion on this? You have the boat and the equipment. Learn to use the tools you have. If some are found to be deficient latter on down the road you can replace them then.

Perfectly stated! We crossed the Pacific and rarely turned on the chartplotter (which in our case is about 15 years old). Used the radar while crossing the ITCZ to keep an eye on approaching squalls and the unit (a Furuno, also 15 years old) worked well enough that we could dodge them to the extent possible).

We use both the Icom M802 with Pactor IIe modem (also 15 years old) for Grib files (mostly synoptic charts) but did succumb about 4 years ago and bought an IridiumGo which we use for PredictWind. Both are useful and having sailed from British Columbia to Mexico in 2009 without an IridiumGo and where the weather off of California can be quite unpleasant, the HF/SSB, people on land and the Grib files were all we really needed. They just take more time and more knowledge to use.

And as stated by others, lots of people have crossed big oceans and circumnavigated without any of this stuff - though they probably did have a sextant, a compass and charts.

[Adelie]

What boat did you get?
Who told you to replace you serviceable kit?
Bare minimum navigation equip for me would be:
A. Ship’s compass
B. Depth sounder
C. Knotstick
D. Handheld GPS
E. Rechargeable batteries
F. Solar powered battery charger
G. Davis Mark-3
H. Kolbe long term almanac
I. Paper charts appropriate to intended voyage.
J. Shortwave radio receiver.
K. 3 or 4 $20-25 Casio watches
L. Handheld VHF

[svrecess]

Keep in mind that even the newer chart plotters do not have a seamless way to integrate predict wind. For instance, b&g Zeus 3.. it will not work with iridium go to download weather. I think it works with Wi-Fi, but definitely not iridium. You would think by now they could use the iridium API to do this but they are lazy. What you have to do is use the iridium with the predict wind offshore app to download the file, then you transfer it to a micro SD card which you can then load into the chart plotter. It's such a p i t a that I and nobody I know actually does that. Much easier to just use a laptop. And besides the b&g predict wind overlay looks like crap and Zeus 3 uses old processing chips, so it's slow. In my opinion, companies like b&g do not do a good job of advancing their technology... When you can get a tablet or laptop that does everything you need and more smoothly... With an NMEA interface of course, and for a much cheaper price. Something else about the b&g chart plotters. The screens get incredibly hot! I don't think it's just the sun too.. as a computer guy, the systems do not impress me as well as the marketing does. Their support sucks too really.. More often than not they tell you to go talk to the dealer! Nobody can tell me for example how I can prove that the 3D motion sensor is actually being used to help calculate true wind speed and direction! I hate b&g lol

[Mike OReilly]

Here's what I'd do; toss the person who gave you that bad advice over the side, and keep the working equipment .

Seriously, does your stuff work? If so, use it. Unless you need to be hip with all the newest tech, or you have way too much money to burn, I'd use the tools that are already there.

As others have said, you don't "need" a fancy MFD, or most of the stuff now available. I like Adelie's list if you're considering need.

[tkeithlu]

Total agreement on keeping the working stuff. I have a slightly different list. Assume you are sailing at night or in fog on occasion. Then:

OpenCPN on a small rugged laptop, with it's own GPS antenna
Paper charts; I print what's on Open CPN and mark location every half hour
Depth sounder
AIS
radar
compass
VHF
hand-held GPS for when lightning strikes
hand-held VHF for deck crew and in the liferaft.

Yeah, we all sailed without radar for many years, but I argue for it because without it, you must accept the possibility of being run over or hitting anything that is not on the chart. Take the Norwegian and US Navies (puleeze): If they can hit the side of a tanker, they certainly can run over you.

If you've got the space, and evidently you do, replace individual components as the old ones die. You don't need a space ship, and redundancy (Nav with the AIS, for example) helps.

[misfits]

I run a simple boat, combination depthfinder/knotmeter, compass, tablet running Navonics, laptop running open cpn & a vhf.

Do yourself a favor & don't drink the koolaid. Over the years I'm amazed at the folks that need all the "stuff" so they can go sailing. I don't get it but I am after all a misfit

[Tiemo]

All great responses. Thanks. Someone asked so, the tech was referred to me and is a former West Marine tech that works as an independent now, and the boat is a Pacific Seacraft 37. Yes, I am keeping the older eqpmt and my money - to spend on things that matter like reliable receive and transmit AIS as well possibly foregoing the asym and installing a second pole and a continuos line furler for use with a drifter opposite the jib, as at this point it looks like I may be solo a good amount of the time.

The suggested lists of truly important eqpmnt as well your questions to ask oneself about what is "really" needed seem spot on.

I've hacked around with OpenCPN and need to invest time and effort in using it.

I did drink the kool- aid on batteries and some day will update as to the ongoing debate and the truth behind Firefly's carbon foam design. I installed 4 of them plus a new Lifeline engine battery. I've upgraded to a Victron solar controller and monitor. I also bought a replacement unicontroler for the C90W from a guy in Canada that prints them with a 3D printer as Raymarine's fail and they don't make replacements, of course.