marine charts on GPS

[LC boating]

i have been contemplating the purchase of a gps for some time and after reading a thread on here discovered the lowrance xog, i am particularly found of this unit because it is a "crossover" and inexpensive.
anyway the problem i have is that i will be doing most of my boating in vermont but for 3 weeks every year it travel to the coast (maine), and in order to purchase the charts, that would cover the area of Vermont and Maine it would be about $400 and the gps is only $200.
has anybody found a good source for inexpensive digital marine charts???
i just don't want to spend 2 times the price of the gps on charts.

 

[tommays]

Re: marine charts on GPS

The lowrance nautipath chip is 99 dollars and has been very good in the Long Island NY saltwater areas

 

[erikgreen]

Re: marine charts on GPS

I bought a copy of Fugawi Marine ENC... this is a PC based program that lets you use the ENC charts NOAA publishes, which are updated by them regularly. On the downside you have to do some work to upload the charts to your GPS unit and it's not compatible with all units.

And of course after doing this I bought a Garmin chart plotter, which needs the proprietary charts anyway... /sigh.

I use Fugawi to pre-plan courses and print paper charts for backup though.

Erik

 

[trouttamer]

Re: marine charts on GPS

lc,
i own the lowrance ifinder h20, can purchase on line for less than 169$. i also bought the lowrance software sd card called fishin hotspots east, again can buy on line for less than 100$. i use mine in upstate ny, lake champlain and i took it to maine as well along the coast. the sd card is highly detailed and i highly reccomend this unit.

 

[88sundowner]

Re: marine charts on GPS

lc,
i own the lowrance ifinder h20, can purchase on line for less than 169$. i also bought the lowrance software sd card called fishin hotspots east, again can buy on line for less than 100$. i use mine in upstate ny, lake champlain and i took it to maine as well along the coast. the sd card is highly detailed and i highly reccomend this unit.

will the ifinder work on land also? i just did some reading up on it. seems like a cool little piece but cant confirm it working on both land and water. I want to use it mainly in the boat on Lake Champlain but i'd also like it for trail riding the ATV's in the fall.

 

[sar3195]

Re: marine charts on GPS

I have the IFinder H2OC. It works fine for all coastal waters of the US with the Nautic Path chip. $99.

THe H2OC works on land if you purchase the Map Create 7 CD and the Card reader from Lowrance. The one problem with the land based maps is that they are not updated that often. The other problem is the H2OC will not give you turn by turn directions on streets. It gives you a straight line from and to.

THe H2OC is a marine GPS and in my opinion should not be purchased as both a land and water GPS.

I find it fine for what I intended it for, navigation on water and marking my spots.

The XOG may be a better choice but I would make sure to try and use it before purchasing.