GPS questions

I sail in the the coastal waters around Tampa. Given the nature of cat sailing a handheld seems like the only reasonable option.

West Marine is running a sale for father's day. My wife (I) was looking at a Garmin 76Cx. It is waterpoof and floats. It seems to have the functions I want; speed, waypoints, routes, lat/lon, compass, etc.

But it only comes with "basic" maps.

U.S Roadmaps seem to cost $100 which isn't bad.

Getting a price for the coastal charts from their site is difficult.

Does anybody use this unit and what do charts cost?

_________________
The ox is slow but the earth is patient

Don't use that unit, but I'm going to guess that the coastal charts are going to include all the information you would get in paper charts as opposed to just basic maps.

The last nautical gps I used had the updated coastals and it was filled with all sorts of information, much better than the basic one I had in the past.. things like "commercial fishing zones", "sub torpedo test areas", and things like that aren't on basic charts, you just get basic channel markers and basic depths.

JS,
I checked out that unit (the 76 models) over a year ago and selected the Garmin GPSMAP60CSX. I believe it does everything the 76 does excect it will not float. However, the 60CSX unit is smaller but the screen is almost the same size as the 76. It's got a high rez. color screen which I highly recommend if you want to load nautical charts on the GPS.

I usually have mine lashed to a gear bag on the H16 so I can clock speed easily, and it gets baptized regularly in the salt water at Jacksonville Beach. It's pretty well waterproofed and can handle a dunking of down to 3 to 5 feet. I rinse it off with fresh water after sailing and so far all is good.

I use BlueChart- Americas on mine, it shows water depths, structures, some ship wrecks, cable crossings, protected areas, all navigational marks, etc. It has detailed maps that I load for use especially when I go diving in the Bahamas or the Keys. It even shows most of the coast of Cuba if you feel real adventurous.

Beside checking speed, I especially like to see the distance we cover. It's amazing how far you can sail in a season if you go out regularly. I keep a log as to who crewed, where we went, max speed, wind direction and wind speed. As of yesterday, we've logged 164 miles on 9 trips so far in 2008. At this rate, who knows how far...

I got my GPS Discount GPS (GPSdiscount.com- I think). They have some package deals that will match your software to the unit you want. There are other vendors but I had good luck with them.

Good luck, wetasse