awthacker
Registered
My Garmin that I use in my work truck has an "offroad" feature that takes coordinates as inputs. Is this good enough for finding wrecks within 2 miles of shore, when used with a fish finder. Has anyone ever tried this?
Garmin Nuvi GPS for locating wrecks?
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Hmmm, I have to take a look at my Garmin Nuvi 755 to see if that will work. Are you saying theres a feature that if you punch in the coords #s the Garmin will take you there?
I did contact Garmin and asked if it would be suitable for marine navigation and they flat out said no.
I use an old Magellan handheld for finding wrecks that works everytime so I never really bothered to try the Garmin.
If it works on land it will work over water,every square meter of the surface of the Earth has a number.. Very interesting!
I did contact Garmin and asked if it would be suitable for marine navigation and they flat out said no.
I use an old Magellan handheld for finding wrecks that works everytime so I never really bothered to try the Garmin.
If it works on land it will work over water,every square meter of the surface of the Earth has a number.. Very interesting!
I would get a dedicated handheld unit which is water "proof" if I were you. I use my Magellan handheld even though I have a integrated GPS/sonar. I find it entirely accurate and some units can accept Navionics maps or other types of base maps. The Lowrance H2O is another good choice, available in color or grey scale.
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If you can put in lon/lat directly I would think it would work, however without being WAAS enabled it's going to be off a little more than I like and then there is the waterproof issue. It's going to get wet, how bad and how soon are the only questions. IMO go ahead and spend the money on a waterproof one with WAAS, otherwise you will soon spend the money to get a waterproof one and more to replace the one you had.
The waterproofing isn't really a concern. I'll only be using it for about 4 or 5 days while vacationing. Other than that my boat never goes in the ocean. But then there will always be next year, and the year after that, and so on. I've seen nice B/W handhelds for under $150, which would probably be worthwhile.
I've got some other expenses before going out into the ocean, like SeaTow, and am trying to balance costs. There's another one... if I was only going to be 1-2 miles offshore, could I rely on my cellphone. Others on the boat would have theirs, too, presumably with different service, in case mine doesn't work. Or should I definitely have a VHF radio?
I've got some other expenses before going out into the ocean, like SeaTow, and am trying to balance costs. There's another one... if I was only going to be 1-2 miles offshore, could I rely on my cellphone. Others on the boat would have theirs, too, presumably with different service, in case mine doesn't work. Or should I definitely have a VHF radio?
IMO cell phones are secondary and for non emergency use on boats. If you need help fast trying to figure out what the phone number of the coast guard is not a good idea, but more importantly, you miss the most important feature of a VHF marine radio, EVERYONE is listening. One party can get your cell call, everyone in a 10-20 mile radious will hear your call for help and can respond, they may only be a mile or less from you. Sinking can happen in minutes, having a bunch of boats headed your way is really nice. You don't need a fancy one, all have pretty much the same specs, the extra cost comes from the features and to some extent brand name.
You are already under gunned in a 15 foot boat, I would not stack the deck against myself and tempt the wrath of the gods. The Gulf of Mexico is every bit as dangerous and actually IMO more dangerous than the Jacksonville area Atlantic. Life jackets, signal gear, first aid kit, decent gps that can track back and enter lat/ long, vhf (hand held or panel mount), cell phone in plastic bag etc are just as required in the Gulf as they would be in the Atlantic.
Midland NT1VP Nautico 1 VHF Marine Radio with NOAA
I have seen these at Wall Mart, barely splash proof but they work I hear.
iFINDER H2O | Lowrance
There is also a color version. The reason I am suggesting a handheld vhf (in addition to price) is that this conversation is taken in entirety including the "small boat" thread where the OP is wanting to dive from his boat just outside the Destin Pass. In good weather, which is the only weather he will be going out, there at the Pass, say at the Bridge Rubble, there will be dozens of boats coming and going if not anchored beside you throwing a fit because you are diving and they are fishing. Therefore, long range communication is not liely needed, alos the USCG station there has a very tall antenna and as well other boaters can relay your call for Sea Tow or help should the plug pop out and the little tub goes deep six. If people are to busy to pick you up, just swim to shore. On my kayak, I have a handheld vhf, handheld gps and sometimes I mount a old Lowrance sonar, I am able to communicate, navigate and locate.
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Midland NT1VP Nautico 1 VHF Marine Radio with NOAA
I have seen these at Wall Mart, barely splash proof but they work I hear.
iFINDER H2O | Lowrance
There is also a color version. The reason I am suggesting a handheld vhf (in addition to price) is that this conversation is taken in entirety including the "small boat" thread where the OP is wanting to dive from his boat just outside the Destin Pass. In good weather, which is the only weather he will be going out, there at the Pass, say at the Bridge Rubble, there will be dozens of boats coming and going if not anchored beside you throwing a fit because you are diving and they are fishing. Therefore, long range communication is not liely needed, alos the USCG station there has a very tall antenna and as well other boaters can relay your call for Sea Tow or help should the plug pop out and the little tub goes deep six. If people are to busy to pick you up, just swim to shore. On my kayak, I have a handheld vhf, handheld gps and sometimes I mount a old Lowrance sonar, I am able to communicate, navigate and locate.
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captain
Contributor
The VHF needs to be a 25 watt permanent mount unit with seperate antenna. A hand held does not have the power or range to be of any great use.
idive2
Contributor
I have the handheld H2OC Lowrance and use it for boating. In the car it really does not navigate for you but does show your location and can mark coordinates. You can use a programmable chip for marine use or buy the chip for the marine charts. I went with the chip, so I just change to the saltwater chip when using it on a boat. It will give you a tracking course in a straight line so it could be used this way on water. I think the color unit is much easier to read but it's a 100 bucks more. The extra chip is also about 100 bucks. I think the guy told me it would float if dropped in the water and would be somewhat water resistant, never tested this. I suppose in a kayak or something this could happen.
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