Navigation Systems

[Tmacmi]

Our new to us boat came with a Garmin 192c. This Garmin came out in 2005 and currently doesn't acquire satellites. As near as I can tell it also hasn't had a software or map update in quite some time.

It is also located on a bulkhead in the cabin which isn't so convenient.

We sail Lake Michigan on the west side of Michigan and we will mostly be harbor hopping up and down the coast. There will be some trips across the Lake to and from Wisconsin. On those trips and a few of the harbor hopping trips we will be outside of cellular range.

Is there any reason I shouldn't just pull that Garmin out and use a GPS enabled Ipad?

What do people use for weather reports when they don't have cellular service or maybe outside of VHF shore stations. (that last will be rare)

What other tips for navigation systems do you have. Obviously this isn't blue water, but the Lake is big and can get nasty quickly.

Thanks

We sail Lake Michigan on the west side of Michigan and we will mostly be harbor hopping up and down the coast. There will be some trips across the Lake to and from Wisconsin. On those trips and a few of the harbor hopping trips we will be outside of cellular range.

Is there any reason I shouldn't just pull that Garmin out and use a GPS enabled Ipad?

What do people use for weather reports when they don't have cellular service or maybe outside of VHF shore stations. (that last will be rare)

What other tips for navigation systems do you have. Obviously this isn't blue water, but the Lake is big and can get nasty quickly.

Thanks

[Lost Horizons]

Originally Posted by Tmacmi

Is there any reason I shouldn't just pull that Garmin out and use a GPS enabled Ipad?

One reason is, iPad is not waterproof. However, a GPS chart plotter is not essential on Lake Michigan. There are almost no places you can ground the boat, and you can memorize the few that there are. Cellular coverage is essentially uninterrupted. I don’t think you will ever be out of VHF weather coverage.