[Public-List] Electricity Consumption

[Rod Symmes via Public-List]

Michael ;

      I sincerely hope you will not be put off getting a chart plotter because it will use some of your battery power.  I have a very old Garmin GPSMAP that came with my boat and I would never go back.  I would place it very near the top of my list of most valuable safety equipment ( perhaps just after life jackets and anchors ).  I sail Georgian Bay which is notorious for "just covered" rocks and shoals which can appear suddenly, miles from shore.  For years, when I had only paper charts, there were whole areas I would not sail because I could not place myself on the chart with any real accuracy (while sailing solo, ie. without a navigator).  Those days I would maintain a safe distance of half a mile or more.  With a GPS placing me with an accuracy of  30 feet,  I can sail comfortably to within a couple of hundred feet of those rocks under full sail.  When it is time for lunch or over night,  I can motor very slowly into the tightest of gunk-holes knowing what depth is ahead of what my depth sounder can see.

    The chart plotter has greatly increased my enjoyment and reduced my stress.  As others have said,  turn down the backlight, turn off the auto-pilot and the refrigeration , change to LED, to reduce battery drain but don't give up the GPS.


Cheers,     Rod

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________________________________
From: Public-List <public-list-bounces at lists.alberg30.org> on behalf of Michael Grosh via Public-List <public-list at lists.alberg30.org>
Sent: March 17, 2017 4:57 PM
To: Alberg 30 Public List -- open to all; Jonathan Bresler
Subject: Re: [Public-List] Electricity Consumption

Jonathan, you are making me reconsider just how badly I want a chart
plotter.
Michael G
#220