[markkearns]

Need some advice on a Plotter.

I live in Cape Coral. Usual boat trip consists of 10 minutes on the canal, 15 mins on the river to the open ocean. The issue is that there are a lot of very low spots on the way. There are also a ton of little islands that I would love to explore but I am not sure how to get to them due to the low river depth. I dont have a plotter and figure one would help me with this.

I am not looking to get to the Bahama's....just looking for one that I can use local.....easy of use and price would be my two requirements.

Any advice or suggestions??

Thanks

[ShabahZ250]

The kicker to some of these plotter units is, you can find one with a low price, but then you have to buy the card, software, or digital charts. They usually run up to $200 in addition to the cost of the plotter.

The new units are awesome, have satellite imaging to give you a photographic aerial view, can pick up weather, can interface with your ECU with the engine, and so much more. I didn't really need all that, and I just wanted a chartplotter that would help me navigate in addition to the charts. So what I did is bought a used, pre-loaded plotter. In particular, the Garmin GPSMap 192c. Granted it's a few years old, and there's many newer models, I couldn't beat the price. It came pre-loaded with bluechart america, which is Garmin's digital chart software that costs around $150. And with it being pre-loaded, it was pretty much already ready to go. I bought it on ebay for a little shy of $200. So if you don't want to spend a ton of money, and don't necessarily need the latest greatest model, definitely check out ebay!

The photo shows it installed and working, however the photo doesn't show any of the detailed marine charts because I'm still not on the water yet!

[MAJIC]

I bought a combo fish finder/gps from Humminbird - 757c. Awesome machine. The extras for the detailed maps are worth it especially in your situation dealing with inlets and rivers. If you're only going for a GPS, try to get one with a built-in antenna. It eases installation. I got color and the larger screen - it makes it much easier to see in all light conditions. Wiring the transducer took a lot of work as Mariah didn't seem to design a very good wiring channel from the transom to the console. All in all - worth the price! Look for used - make sure it's water tight.