GPS

regularman

New Member
Has anyone else tried using a gps while sailing a C14? I bought an e-trex and used it last time I was out. It worked really good for boat speed. I could tell pretty quick when I made sail adjustments wheather it helped or hurt my speed. Mine is waterproof (but not bouyant!) and has a little sling so you can hang it around your neck and runs something like 20 hours on 2 AA batteries. It can also tell you distance traveled and a bunch of other stuff I haven't even tried yet.
 
Paul its around $100 at wal-mart. You can use it for hiking in the hills and not get lost. when you turn it on it automatically tracks your trail. It tells exact lattitude and longitude as well. people use them for "geocaching". Its like a treasure hunt or something. Anyway, it can tell your speed in Mph,Kph, or knots. It also remebers your max speed, tells the exact direction you are going and you can also punch in waypoints along your trip and it can tell you how far you are from different waypoints and estimated time of arrival. Its also handy for checking the accuracy of a speedometer in a car. Its a toy really, but I like to know how fast I am going and know when I am gaining or losing when I change things around.
 
Thanks, Kim. I'll definately pick one up and give it a try next spring! I always wonder how fast I am actually traveling.
 
You are welcome, paul. I found it out by talking to someone on a larger boat that had a $1500 GPS. They said its speed was more accurate than their knot meter because of currents, etc. The cheaper ones use the same technology and satellites, its just that the bigger high $$$ ones have charts and stuff programmed into them and can show them where they are on a map. Keep a lookout at walmart, kmart,circuit city,best buy, etc. occasionally they go on sale. Mine came with a book that I haven't read through all the way that tells what all it can do. It would be nice to find a bouyant one, if they make one. I am always afraid I will sacrifice it to the lake spirits.
 
I picked up an old Magellan Trailblazer XL with the swivel mount for $25 off eBay. It's not waterproof so if I capsize, it's gone, but I wanted to see if a GPS really would help. The old ones like mine eat batteries (I use NiMH rechargables) and take a fairly long time to initialize, but for the price, it was worth taking a chance. If I were to buy a new one, I'd look for one with a compass function. The trailblazer does have a sort of compass, but the display's not all that intuitive. It does have a big display though, which is nice.

Many charts (but not those of Lake Lanier) have the GPS coordinates for buoys, etc., which would be quite useful to have pre-loaded.

I lashed the swivel mount to the mast below the boom and put the GPS in that -- you can see the readout from the helm position and I don't have to worry about it going overboard. Having instantaneous feedback is a big help as long as you don't forget that it's a tool and you still need to learn how to judge what's going on by feel.

A new one is on the wish ist, but other things are higher up right now. Still, I'm glad I have it.
 

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