What is the best GPS for sailing solo. Want to do some distance racing with new reacher.



Doug Snell

H17 #6325

"Stress Free"

I think the Garmin's are the best. I have and really like the Garmin 12 - simple and inexpensive ($145).



Whatever you get, be sure to keep it in a waterproof bag ($20) or it's toast. No brand or model is waterproof by catamaran standards.



Alan Thompson

I20 - San Diego

Hi Doug, You may not have meant it that way but I cannot think of any reason why single-handing would require any different kind of GPS than double-handing. I agree with the Garmin 12 choice - the value leader! I have even used it while downhill snow skiing to determine top speed! It is tough and literally can take a tumble without quitting! It also gives you something to do while riding back up the ski lift - watching the altitude and speed... lets you know if the brochures are accurate about the listed vertical distance of each hill.



Mike

Doug, I also use the GPS 12, and have been very pleased with the unit. Also use on our SeaRay and inflatable. Mike, geat idea, I will take it with me next time we ski Whistler, BC.



Caleb Tarleton, H-17

Cast my vote for the Garmin 12. Mine has worked well for three years, although not flawless. One day it just popped up an error message that wasn't listed in the manual. I sent it in to Garmin and they sent me a replacement.



You might also want to get the cable to interface it with your PC. I've never been fond of keying in waypoints on the GPS keypad. With some basic charting software you can lay out your routes and upload waypoints quick and easy. It is also fun to download tracks from the GPS and overlay them on the chart. Having the PC interface is also a good way to archive your waypoints and routes, giving you a backup if the unit dies.



As others have suggested, never trust the waterproof claims of manufacturers. I haven't found an electronic unit yet that can withstand the rigors of constant saltwater dousings year after year. The $15 or $20 for a waterproof cover will go a long way toward protecting the unit.



Cheers,

Doug,



I would like to offer my opinion on this question too. I am considered by some to be a leading authority on Solo Cat Sailing.



I sail a Mystere 6.0 with a spinnaker, but usually with a small hooter instead. Before that I sailed a Hobie 18 with a medium sized hooter.



99% of my sailing is done solo. Also, I can offer good wisdom on waterproofing due to the fact that I do one hell of a lot of intentional capsizing. I sail the ocean, so this also brings in the question of salt proofing the electronics.



The combination of what model gps I use and how I handle it results in a nice answer to your question of what gps to use while soloing in regards to usefulness, ease of use, and waterproofing.



I use a Garmin Etrex Legend. That is one of the higher end in the Etrex line. This model has a built in base map that covers most of the entire world. Yes, world! There is buoy and other navigational aid marks in it for the U.S.A.



This means that you can go hit the water before you have ever inputted any information (way points) in it, and find channel markers, lighthouses, major shore contours, etc. just from having this unit along with you.



You can search it on "city" and it will go right to that area, or just let it lock in on a fix and you will be able to view a map of your surroundings.



The display gives you an option of roughly five different pages. Each page has plenty of optional viewing preferences. There is a joy stick that resembles an eraser head type of cursor control on a lap top computer.



All of the controls on the unit are designed to be used with one hand, the left hand. However, I find it just as easy to use in either hand, right being easiest for me.



The page that has the most available information at once is adjustable to read out 4 or 5 readings, or something like 8 readings.



You also have a choice of font size between small and large. The large numbers make it easy to get information at a glance. Each field, whether you are using the 5 or the 8, is individually customizable to read what you want it to display.



The number of choices in those fields is remarkable. I don't have mine here, but from memory here are only a few of them:

velocity made good

present course

speed

highest speed attained

time

time to mark

distance to mark

bearing to mark

overall time

est. time of just about anything

and much more.



The Legend comes with an interface cord included. You can buy software or download any number of multitudes of freeware all over the Internet. Setting up cruising trips and placing routes in the unit is always a fun time, at the home computer.



The unit comes with an attachable neck strap that would allow you to choke yourself if you felt suicidal. I have found a great use for this strap however.



I wear a spray suit that has a pocket on my right thigh with a flap on top of it and a piece of velcro there to keep the flap shut. I shove the lanyard into the pocket before the gps. Now when I pull my gps out, the lanyard is still in the pocket. I am going to sew a loop into the pocket to attach the lanyard to, but for now.. the lanyard gets all hung up on the velcro and provides enough friction to keep the unit from going bye bye.



When soloing on the wire, flying a hull and three sails, I can easily reach into my pocket and pull this baby out for a reading. The best part? It continuously reads the satellites RIGHT THROUGH THE NYLON FABRIC POCKET! So when I pull it out, it is totally up to date.



When I first got it, I was going to use a waterproof pouch with velcro on the back of it and have a place to attach it to on each side of my boom. The unit fits sideways very nicely on the side my boom.



After finding out how easy it is to use from my pocket, I'm done. I used it for months and months without the lanyard attached. I was still thinking about how best to secure it. By the way, it is easy to hold this thing in the same hand as the tiller handle. So I can keep it out for a long time when I want to do some speed comparisons while I change course and change sail or board trim.



When I first got it, I was using zip lock bags. They did a good job of keeping it dry. It fits in those little tiny zip lock brand snack size bags. BUT, handling it and trying to use all the controls is a little slippery. So I've gone away from that.



I've made it a point to keep it in my pocket during dousing of hard spray and to try to pull it out during "dry" moments. And then, I try to hold it next to my leeward hip so as to provide some spray blockage.



But over the time I've had it, a year, and after all that I've subjected it to, I have come to be very confident of its water tightness. I do occasionally get a tiny bit of moisture inside, visible on the display screen. When this happens, I place it in a dry room and open up the battery compartment. Within a day it is back to normal.



There appears to be a microscopic vent in it, covered by what should be gortex. The vent is on the back, near the top, and has a raised area around it that resembles a very small pour spout..or maybe a nipple of some sort.



I believe that the moisture gets in through there when the unit cools down and is slowly drawing in some atmosphere in order to equalize itself. Gortex can't be perfect, right? Anyway, that is just my speculation.



The fact is, I never use any bag on it other than my somewhat spray proof, water infiltrated pant pocket. It has never let me down until just a few weeks ago when one of the joy stick functions was a bit sticky. I actioned it several times in a row and the problem went away. A minute amount of switch contact corrosion I presume.



The contact points for the computer interface are brass and have a leaky rubber cover over them. After lots of salt water use, they become a little corroded. I simply scrape the layer of white/green dust away and everything is fine. Sometimes I take an old toothbrush with some toothpaste and shine them up like new. This minor corroding has never been a problem. The contacts on the patch cord are gold so it it relatively easy to get the required connection between the cord and the brass contact points on the unit.



I hope there are some who will benefit from my long winded answer. I "can'///t find the wind" so I must make my own. :-)

Gary, I wear my GPS12 on lanyard around the neck, then stuffed into my jacket at the neck. Seems to work well, and I can retrieve with either hand. Caleb

Hi Gary, Apparently you have not capsized with the GPS yet. I know from experience that it is just a matter of time before the GPS quits working after immersion. All those sailors writing in about this know from experience. For the first year all you lose is immediate use of the unit because Garmin is good about replacing under warranty. After a year, you lose the use of the unit for good. BTW, the Garmin 12 works right through my ski jacket pocket also.



Related to this topic is waterproof marine radios because they are just like the waterproof GPSs. Waterproof in warranty only. I hate to cover mine up, too, so I know that it only takes a capsize or two to lose functionality. I had a little adventure in the Key Largo Steeplechase by myself on my Mystere 6.0 after my crew was taken to shore by some helpful powerboaters to attend to his separated shoulder. After a capsize alone, I pulled out my radio which was now toast and left me all alone on my side. So it does matter that these things work when you need them and you can be sure that they will only by keeping them from being immersed, better yet, totally dry. I recommend anyone sailing alone to have a radio and GPS, on their person. Once you hit the water, having them anywhere else is taking a big chance that you will not be able to use them. I find a fanny pack works well to keep things I need with me without being in the way.



Gary, have you ever thought of trying something like a big watchband to strap your GPS to your wrist?



Mike Fahle

I will vouch that the Etrex Legend (while being a terrific item that I don't leave home without!) does not like being trolled from the trampoline lacing behind a sailboat in the ocean. However, the fact that it still works at all is incredible (you just have to give it a fonzi style slap occasionally to get the display to come on! )

Hi Mike,

One exception to your general rule on waterproofness is the ICOM M15 handheld VHF radio. It's the one we had with us on the C100 where we flipped 3 times. It was not in a waterproof bag. I have used it in a total of 4 C100s and Down-The-Bays, numerous ATBs and a variety of other races. It has been 'bulletproof'. It was still working great when water was visible swishing around in the display of my Magellan x-7000 supposedly waterproof GPS.



It is the only waterproof piece of electronics bigger than a watch that I have actually found to be truly waterproof.



I cannot speak highly enough of the quality of the ICOM M15. It has been, in my personal experience, waterproof in more than warranty.

Mike, you're wrong. You made a wrong assumption about my immersion habbits with my gps and my overall experience with my waterproof gps and radios.



I have indeed capsized many many times and fully immersed my gps, while it was in operation. I routinely take my un-bagged garmin etrex legend, as well as my two waterproof vhf radios into the pacific ocean with me. (that is into the ocean as in into the water, full immersion) And from there I continue to use them, wet and salty.



I can assure you and Jamie too, that both the icom M1V and the Standard Horizon HX460SS are not resiliant to being submersed and subsequently relied upon for transmission, in a salt water immersed environment.



The battery contacts on the back of the batteries on both of these radios I own, will bleed electricity through the salt water. On the icom M1V, the contacts are used in the charging module.



On the HX460, the battery has some innocent looking things on the back that appear to be phillips head screws. Guess what?? Use your tongue if you don't feel that I am speaking the truth. Go ahead and get out the fancy schmancy shunt device and measure it accurately if you want.



What you will find out is what I have known for a year. If you expect to be able to make a distress call from one of these babies after being in the salt water for awhile, you have better take the prescribed precaution that I tell you here; Put electrical tape over these contacts.



The leakage is so bad that it will eat the conductive silver finish right off of the radios carcus. (HX460 in silver color)



I have informed the manufacturer (icom) of the flaw; something that a simple electronic diode can cure. They asked for the radio, replaced the battery with another one that has the same design flaw.



I am an electrician and I have shown this situation to Alan Thompson, an electrical engineer, as well as Glenn Brown, another electrical engineer. Don't bother disbelieving me, it could mean your life on the water someday.



Anyway, back to the thread; gps. My experience with my Legend is that if I protect it from high pressure spurts of water, it can withstand being submersed in the ocean and the accompianied impact that it sees when the pocket it lives in on the front of my thigh goes smashing onto the water during a capsize. No, make that several capsizes. On purpose, with the gps, intentionally.



This is my experience and you can not take it away from me. Please don't tell me that I have not done these things. Feel free to take all the precaution with your gps that many here will insist upon. But I will continue to enjoy the un-sheathed use of my unit.



By the way, my unit does not have any aids either. If you can not afford to potentially be left without the use of yours one day, or can not afford to buy another if this should happen, by all means...cover it up with one or more layers of waterproof bags. Just don't expect to be able to use the features that it came with, while negotiating the control of your catamaran.



GARY

Solo Sailor, Solo Righter

Mystere 6.0 #310 "Whisk"

I have a Garmin 176 (B&W) mounted on the front cross beam of my Inter 17R. The display is about the size of the TackTick tactical digital compass. It is simple to change its orientation to facing port or starboard tack for best visibility, and the large display can be customized with one or four large fields, or a map, or both if desired. It will log miles and elapsed time as well as bread crumb trail on the map. I use it in tacking and jibing drills to review my course from God's eye view. I put it in a zip lock quart bag and then clip it into its bracket and it is waterproof. The supplied bracket mounts easily in the beam track groove with a washer and short bolt, and the unit unclips in seconds. Garmin units use BlueChart cards for complete regional chart coverage; my card covers from Tampa to New Orleans. I've tried digging it out of a pocket or wearing it around my neck on a lanyard, but on a single-handed boat with a chute I don't have a free hand! It's not cheap, but if I ever go open ocean or need to plot a long course, the large display can't be beat.

Gary,



You bring up a good point in your last post. For those who choose the Garmin ETrex or similar models that have buttons on the side, it may be difficult to operate through the waterproof bag. The bags were designed with GPS units like the Garmin 12 in mind (i.e. all controls on the front face).

Another "feature" of the waterproof case is that it adds flotation to your GPS unit if it should ever fall overboard while not attached to the lanyard.



As someone who has spent much time in the outdoors in all conditions (professionally as a member of a mountain rescue unit and a sea kayak instructor/guide, as well as multiple outdoor hobbies) I've come to believe in redundancy. Not only do I keep my VHF and GPS units in waterproof cases, but I don't rely on them soley. Whenever I'm on the water, I leave a "Float Plan" with a reliable person. I carry an emergency signal kit that includes flares, smoke, dye markers, and a signal mirror. When paddling or sailing in unfamiliar waters, I always have charts and a compass onboard, in addition to the GPS. (I consider the GPS a luxury item.)



The bottom line is that I don't trust any one item completely. Even a bombproof, waterproof electronic unit can run out of juice at the most inopportune moment.



Cheers,

I would highly recommend the Magellen Meridian Marine. Use the West Marine's waterproof bag (sm) for a perfect fit. The Meridian Marine has 16MB of NAVAIDS built in. There is no "joystick" (all push button) and buttons are located on the face of the unit which makes it very easy to use in a bag.

I bought mine mail order (yahoo shopping) for $269. It has a large LCD B&W screen that's easy to read in daylight. It also has a very bright backlight. I get about 12hrs of use out of the 2 NiMH 1500ma AA rechargables (radio shack). Check out www.magellengps.com for details and photos.



-JeffT (Orlando, FL)

Mike:



Majority seems to say Garim 12. Emailed some friends in fleet and they agree. If you have a site for some free software, give me the link.



Doug Snell

H17 #007

"Stress Free"

I wanted to add a note to my already lengthy post about the gps that I use. I always had great luck with waterproofness, even when others were not.



The other day, I received a replacement garmin etrex legend gps from Garmin International. I had sent mine in for water intrusion malfucntions.



The unit that came to me had a new faceplate (as per the workorder attached) On first rinse of water, it imediately took on water under the faceplate. I now see how some people would have called this unit "anything but waterproof."



On a good note however, Garmin has always fixed it for free and given me an additional 3 months of warranty coverage that starts with each repair.



GARY