Chartplotter

[karonoko]

I am in the hunt for a chartplotter for my CD27. I am considering the Raymarine Element S 7”. Fits my budget.
First, any thoughts on that model?
Second, what are folks’ experience with the hru hull transducer replacing their depth and speed through water instruments? I have the original Raymarine speed (fouls with critters) and a newer Moor depth (awesome).
Third, how about mounting…..thoughts? I want to keep my compass so need to mount elsewhere (port bulkhead has the current depth and speed).

Thanks folks! Tom.

[Frenchy]

For a chartplotter, I have a small Standard Horizon mounted in a pod at the helm. But I like my IPad with INAVX
installed much better. The INAVX can be installed for free now, I understand (I think I paid $40) and the IPad can be an older model-
as long as it's cellular enabled and has the GPS chip. You don't need cellular service. EBay has older model IPads.
Charts can be downloaded for free from NOAA.
The nice thing is the screen is large and you can zoom in or out and move around on the chart with your fingers.
For mounting, I bought a unit that clamps on the inside dodger frame. It was less than $30. An older
refurbished IPad can be bought for less than $200. The IPad uses up its battery in less than 8 hours, so you might
want to buy a long charger cord or a spare battery, if you decide to go this way. -Jean

[fmueller]

Chart plotters all have brighter screens than phones/tablets just generally. You may find on bright days the phone/pad really hard to see clearly. My iPhone 11 is a little better than earlier phones and I think screen brightness is improving in hand held devices with each generation.

But I agree iNavX might be all you really need and is fully featured. Plus you can run the NOAA raster charts or the vector charts of your choice.

Most days I no longer have my chart plotter on … just the phone on a long charging wire to a 12 v plug in the companionway. You’ll want to disable “sleeping.

I also have a “rule” which is to have the paper equivalent in the cockpit - usually tucked under my binos which have a compass in them. Paper still much easier to read imho but of course say nothing about where you are exactly. But most of the time I just want to confirm what’s up ahead and for that paper is nice. I say paper but they are actually all MapTech tyvek charts - occasionally I have to wipe the salt off them. My single sheet chart of Narragansett Bay is well worn and has been folded every which way.

[Carl Thunberg]

I'm not a techie, but be aware that cell service in Maine can be very spotty. You should be fine in Casco Bay, but there are lots of dead zones further east. Keep that in mind if you are considering anything that relies on cell service. Personally, I'm not a fan of Raymarine chartplotters because the user interface isn't nearly as intuitive as Garmin. I have had both on various boats. Of course, I also have a Maptech chartbook open in the cockpit. When in your area, that would be "Casco Bay to Camden".

Edit: Thanks for the clarification, Fred. I learned something today. It's a good day.

[fmueller]

Using a phone to navigate does not require cell service … just gps which is world wide. You’ll need internet service to initially download charts but after that navigation just requires reading the satellites which phones do unerringly. In fact my phone grabs gps much faster (seconds) than my B&G plotter which sometimes takes minutes to get going.

[karonoko]

Thanks all. Any thoughts on the thru hull depth and speed transducer?

[jbenagh]

I mounted CC's 742XS on a RAM mount where it's mostly internal but I can pivot to see it from the helm. Unfortunately I do not have a photo or the RAM part numbers.
I really like this since my day guests don't hit the display. When Susan & I sail we are really careful to avoid the plotter. We also rarely sail where we care in great detail and even then we're alone.
I'm looking for better depth/speed/temp sensor this winter. Presently I have depth in the "freaking" middle of the port cockpit locker and the speed taking valuable space in the port v-berth cubby. I'm planning to glass over both of those and put a tri-sensor under the galley where it's both accessible and low-utility space.
Jeff

[Frenchy]

My boat has the old fashioned paddle-wheel speed sensor which will normally stop working after about a month or less
at a mooring. I've found that by carefully priming and painting the unit with anti-fouling, it can still function after a
couple of months. Then, an underwater brushing will usually restore it back to life.
Alternatively, the AirMar CS4500 ultrasonic speed transducer runs about $800. You might have to buy a new display for it,
depending on what you have.
Or, you can glass over the speed transducer hole and just rely on GPS for speed. As for me, I like to keep things
reasonably simple and not spend money unnecessarily. - Jean

[karonoko]

My conundrum is whether to decommission my speed and depth in favor of the speed and depth provided in the Chartplotter via the thru hull transducer that comes with it. Good idea?

[jbenagh]

Tom,
This sounds like the start of a religious debate!
It's certainly possible and I like the philosophy of fewer thru hulls. I think many will appreciate the extra data provided from the speed sensor. If you get speed/depth/temp all in one, maybe the thru hull is beneficial.
Jeff

[Frenchy]

I don't see any speed or combination speed/depth transducers compatible with the Element S7. From what I can
discern (with my addled brain), I only see depth and sonar mapping transducers mated to this chartplotter. - Jean

[Bill Goldsmith]

I like having both the paddlewheel/water speed as well as GPS because it gives me a good estimate of the current I am dealing with on the Hudson River. The water speed paddlewheel always fouls after a couple of months, but I'm not ready to ditch it and I'm not ready to Break Out Another Thousand (when you add the extras) for a supersonic transducer. I'll wait until they come down (a lot) in price.

[keneasley]

I've found that my paddlewheel speed sensor will not become fouled during the season after a careful application of Pettit Hydrocoat Antifouling paint to the paddlewheel and the unit itself.
Mine sometimes reads zero or more often reads the speed at about one-half the correct speed.
Might be an electrical issue but good enough for what I want for now.

In terms of a Chartplotter I really like the "iSailGPS" software with my Appple Ipad tablet.
I bought a "Mount-It! Swing Arm iPad Wall Mount" (from Amazon for $40), a protective water resistant case, and a 6 foot long Lightning cable.

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It is fairly visible during the day and very handy at night.
I like the ability to zoom in on the chart for easy reading of details.
And the ability to download all the charts for free in advance at home.

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I did have to buy a separate Bluetooth GPS receiver (the "GNS 1000") for about $90 because the tablet does not have GPS. But it works very well. I just keep the GPS receiver in the cabin and it links with the tablet. It is smaller than a deck of cards and runs many hours on a charge but I usually leave it plugged into the charger below deck.

[bottomscraper]

What Carl said about cell service in Maine is spot on. It seems to have gotten better in more populated areas but worse in others over the past few years. The smaller Garmin GPSMAP 742xs series (I think 743 now) are nice small units with easy to see displays, built in support for depth/fishfinder and built in maps. Assuming you can find a spot to mount with the appropriate dead rise angle the Garmin GT15M-IH transducer should have no problem shooting through the hull of a CD27, we use one on our CD36. Paddle wheel speed transducers have been near useless in my experience, they work for a few weeks at best and the water in Maine is too cold for weekly cleaning.

[wikakaru]

I don't understand all the problems people are having with paddle wheel speed sending units. All the ones I have owned can be removed from inside the boat for cleaning. There is no need to dive into the water to clean the paddle wheel. In fact, even in warm tropical waters that is a terrible solution because you can't reach the areas that need cleaning from underneath the boat.

When the speed instrument fails to respond to movement of the boat, just remove the safety pin and pop the unit out from inside the boat (this is the scary part as the water gushes in for a few seconds, though some paddle through hulls have little flapper valves that greatly reduce the flow of water during this part of the process) and stick the blank plug into the hole. I keep my blank plug tied to the speed through-hull with a small line so that I can't lose it in the bilge right when all that water is gushing in.

Usually there is just a single tiny shrimp-like crustacean wedged in the paddle, and you can just knock it out and you're done. I usually remove the small pin holding the paddle wheel in place so I can clean out the channel the paddle wheel sits in and to make it easier to reach all the blades of the paddle and the paddle sides near the holes for the axle pin. If you have let things go too long, a dental tool helps to clean any calcium-based marine parts that have stuck on. When everything is clean, just swap the paddle wheel back in for the blank plug. The whole process takes maybe 5 minutes total.

Knowing boat speed through the water from a knot meter as opposed to speed over ground from the GPS is super important for getting the best performance out of your boat as well as understanding what currents are affecting your boat should you need to resort to ded reckoning. A five minute maintenance task every month or so is well worth the benefit.

Am I missing something?

Smooth sailing,

Jim

A badly fouled paddlewheel (left) compared to a spare clean(ish) paddlewheel (right):

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