Afternoon Folks:

Anybody have good first-hand advice as to which handheld GPS to get to use on a (very wet, and subject to repeated flipping ) catamaran? I am particularly interested a GPS which has easy access to (my normal stomping ground) the Great Lakes.

Thanks In Advance!

Paul
Milwaukee, WI [color:"blue"] [/color]

I highly recomend searching through Kayak forums for this information. A lot of them have GPSs that see a lot of water!

Do a search on GPS on this forum. There have been many discussions on this in the past. I think the most popular models are the Garmin Etrex, Forerunner 101, and the 60 series.

I think the Garmin Legend is the best value. You can probably get a black/white screen under $200. We had this talk before on the open forum.

Wyatt

my vote goes to the garmin gpsmap 76. For only 3 benjamins, you get the mapping function, which for cruisers is a nice feature. Plus there is a huge screen and easy to use joystick and buttons. It also hooks into you computer for use with a wide array of gps softwares that make over-analyzing geeks like myself very happy.

I have a Garmin Fortrex 201 that I picked up for less than $175. The beauty of it is that its waterproof (its been in the drink a couple of times!), weighs 3 ozs and I wear it like a wristwatch.

It has all the functions I need, plus it has a count-down timer for racing.

The only draw back is the mapping. While it has it, the small display is a bit awkward. However, I rarely used the mapping on my other GPS (That I lost overboard!!!). I wanted speed, VMG, ETA, heading, weighpoints,etc. Those are the features most of us want anyway.

I know that GPScity.com are doing the Foretrex 201 for US$129.95. The 101 may be a better option as it uses batteries instead of a charger.

Thats about half the price we pay in the uk, I'm going to buy one of these next time i'm in Texas.

Gareth
www.fourhulls.com

the batteries in the 101 are suceptible to water penetration. The 201 with an internal rechargable battery works great and survived the whole Tybee 500 and several dousings in surf...that is...unless your velcro wrist strap comes loose during a capsize.

I got my Etrex Legend from
GPS Discount.com
They were pretty competative on pricing.
Good Luck!!

I use a Magellan Meridian Gold that is waterproof and floats. A friend of mine dropped his into the water from a kayak and attests to that. I bought it at WalMart for $199 less 10% because the manager kept me waiting . I think they list it in their on-line catalog. It is a little larger than the Garmins but I like the size of the screen.

Howard