Need advice on a GPS/Fish Finder/chart plotter

kom526

They call me ... Sarcasmo
Looking to get a little gadget, <$1000 preferably to keep me from getting too lost out on the water. I can down to Tall Timbers, SGI, Colonial Beach etc. A little insurance never hurt. Anybody use android/iOS for Nav purposes? 24’ boat weekend pleasure stuff with the fam
 

Bird Dog

Bird Dog
PREMO Member
Garmin.....nothing more needs to be said.
Find what fits You budget...you’ll never regret it.

Take a look at the Gerry C’s set up and go backwards...
 

kom526

They call me ... Sarcasmo
Garmin.....nothing more needs to be said.
Find what fits You budget...you’ll never regret it.

Take a look at the Gerry C’s set up and go backwards...
I'd have to take it waayyyy back from what Capt. Jim has got going on in that cockpit or better yet, nerve center of operations.
 

stgislander

Well-Known Member
PREMO Member
If your looking for something to run on a iOS or Android tablet or phone, your two choices are basically Garmin Navionics boating app or iNavX. With Navionics, you have to purchase the Garmin charts. With iNaxV you can use the free NOAA charts. I've heard good things from the few people I know that use iNavX.
 

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
I have one of the Garmin 441S combination chart plotter/fish finder/ depth sounder units and it's a great little unit. I see them used on eBay all the time for a few hundred bucks.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/28755


There is a good used one on eBay right now for a little over $300..and a new transducer is another $75.
 

Midnightrider

Well-Known Member
there is an app for that.....

I use Skipper on my iphone when i am on my skiff. It beats nothing and i already have dedicated units on my other boats so i dont want the added expense. Its also nice to have as a backup in case my MFDs dies on the other boats.
 

PrchJrkr

Long Haired Country Boy
Ad Free Experience
Patron
Looking to get a little gadget, <$1000 preferably to keep me from getting too lost out on the water. I can down to Tall Timbers, SGI, Colonial Beach etc. A little insurance never hurt. Anybody use android/iOS for Nav purposes? 24’ boat weekend pleasure stuff with the fam
To be completely honest, from your description, if I were you I'd save my money and just get a good hard copy nav map and familiarize myself with the sand bars and shoals on the Potomac. I've never gotten lost out there. The most dangerous waters out there are between St. Clements Island and Breton Bay. There's a little obstacle out there called Heron Island. Learn it's location and remember it well. When we were kids, you could still walk on it at low tide. Now I don't even know if you can see the pile of discarded old crab pots when the tide goes out. A many a prop gets bent out there by weekend warriors. They make for good entertainment when the fish aren't biting.

If the guy gene is too strong, I recommend Garmin. I've got a small Garmin with depth and GPS, although no charts. At least, you can turn on the GPS function when you leave the dock, and it will give you a trail of bread crumbs to follow back home.
 

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
. There's a little obstacle out there called Heron Island.

One of my daughters found that obstacle some years ago during one of her many trips back and forth between St. George's Island and St. Catherine's Island. LOL..no real damage done...she and a couple of her passengers got out and walked the boat back in to deeper water. She's never hit it again.
 

PrchJrkr

Long Haired Country Boy
Ad Free Experience
Patron
One of my daughters found that obstacle some years ago during one of her many trips back and forth between St. George's Island and St. Catherine's Island. LOL..no real damage done...she and a couple of her passengers got out and walked the boat back in to deeper water. She's never hit it again.
The waters around St. Clement's Island, or should I say sand bars, can be very tricky for those not familiar with moving waters and their effects on the bottom. I watched three go fast day cruisers blast down river heading towards Breton Bay. They must've been mathematicians as the chose the shortest distance between two points and struck the bar between the island and Colton's Point instead of going around the island and getting in the shipping channel.

The first boat came to an abrupt stop and churned up a rooster tail of sand and oyster shells that was every bit of 20' high. The other 2 hot rods had time to throttle down and go into some sort of bewildered holding pattern. If he didn't rip the stern drive out of the transom, it's a miracle.

I had an older fellow that worked for me on the P-3 program that asked me about the effects of sand on water pumps. When I asked him why, he said his FIL and he were boating and hit a few sand bars. He didn't know how it happened, as they were well away from the channel markers. On further questioning, it was revealed that he was of course on the wrong side of the markers. God help him if he ever had to navigate St. Patrick's Creek!
 
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stgislander

Well-Known Member
PREMO Member
The waters around St. Clement's Island, or should I say sand bars, can be very tricky for those not familiar with moving waters and their effects on the bottom. I watched three go fast day cruisers blast down river heading towards Breton Bay. They must've been mathematicians as the chose the shortest distance between two points and struck the bar between the island and Colton's Point instead of going around the island and getting in the shipping channel.

The first boat came to an abrupt stop and churned up a rooster tail of sand and oyster shells that was every bit of 20' high. The other 2 hot rods had time to throttle down and go into some sort of bewildered holding pattern. If he didn't rip the stern drive out of the transom, it's a miracle.

I had an older fellow that worked for me on the P-3 program that asked me about the effects of sand on water pumps. When I asked him why, he said his FIL and he were boating and hit a few sand bars. He didn't know how it happened, as they were well away from the channel markers. On further questioning, it was revealed that he was of course on the wrong side of the markers. God help him if he ever had to navigate St. Patrick's Creek!
I learned from the locals to be very respectful of Dukeharts Channel. My experiences with the USCG ANT taught me the bottom moves so much the daymarks and lights were basically useless. Before I left, the push was to remove all the piles and replace them with buoys.
 

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
I learned from the locals to be very respectful of Dukeharts Channel.

Before they finally pulled them out, a couple of the old permanent markers in Dukehart's would run you right hard aground if you used them as guidance. One of the reds off the southwest side of St. Catherine's was probably sitting in all of 12" of water at low tide...LOL.
 

kom526

They call me ... Sarcasmo
I installed an app called MarineWays to my phone and it is a fairly decent app. With my boat on the trailer I used it while riding out with my BIL yesterday. The real issue will be my ability to see the screen in bright sunlight. I will be looking for a Garmin device to put on the console.
 

Bird Dog

Bird Dog
PREMO Member
I installed an app called MarineWays to my phone and it is a fairly decent app. With my boat on the trailer I used it while riding out with my BIL yesterday. The real issue will be my ability to see the screen in bright sunlight. I will be looking for a Garmin device to put on the console.
You’ll be a lot happier......
 
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