More electronics?

[Brettoh]

The wife and I have just started to venture out to the reef from Mackay and recently did an overnighter in our little Sailfish.
Its pretty isolated out there, 120 km off the coast and I got to thinking whilst moving from one reef to another at 9pm at night, what happens if my Simrad Evo 2 fails? Im ok with sounders cause I use a furuno FVC 585 rather than the eimrad sounder but the simrad is what I use for navigation. And then I got to think about a radar. And then I thought about the budget..lol
The last thing I want to happen is to lose navigation and potential redundancy and questioning what electronics I should have should I have if I suffer equipment failure?

Im interested to know your thoughts/
Should I consider another multifunction unit? If so what features could I bet utilize that the furuno and existing simrad not provide that I can benefit from?
Should I consider a radar?
Someone mentioned an AIS identification system to reduce the risk of being seen by commercial vessels.?
What do you reckon?

[scottar]

What Happens? You drop anchor and sit there until you get it sorted or the sun comes up.

Personally I run 3 seperate GPS sources - one that incorporates a radar which is invaluable for night time navigation IMO - especially when looking through a hard top screen. The second unit also incorporates a back up echo sounder for the stand alone Furuno colour unit and the third is a PC based system that is also full time hooked up to the engine for diagnostics which has got me out of trouble once - allowing an oil injection prime to clear an air bubble which was putting the engine into limp mode. Add to that the GPS in the mobile phone running the Navionics app for relief shading .............and hopefully I will never get lost LOL.

Having lived through a night time "GPS malfunction incident" in the early days of GPS that resulted in two breakers through the clears and a long, wet, cold night sitting in the open ocean not knowing exactly where we were and not game to move for fear of connecting with rocks in the area, I don't think it's stupid at all. There is something very comforting with having multiple independent displays all saying the same thing in my book.

AIS - is an option and isn't stupid if you spend a lot of time in areas with an abundance of shipping or trawlers. They still need to be looking at their screens to see you unless they have the alarms set on their units. You will need to complete a radio operators certificate of proficiency and apply for a MMSI number to go down that track though. Also remember that if you forget to turn it off when fishing, your "secret" spots.........won't be so secret to anyone in range.

Which unit - your call - but I wouldn't be looking at anything that utilizes data from the furuno or the existing Simrad if you are after true redundancy. If the furuno unit is being run as your main sounder you could look at a Furuno combo to allow easy interfacing for using the mark facility in the sounder to put a mark on the plotter but it will be an expensive option if you get radar to suit as well.

[blacklab]

ppppppppppppppppp

[gazza2006au]

In NSW its a legal requirement for 2kms offshore to carry a non digital compass

[shortthenlong]

In NSW its a legal requirement for 2kms offshore to carry a non digital compass

How does that help the OP with his questions?

Matt

[The Mad Cat]

I run 2 chart plotter GPS combos and have a hand held GPS as a backup in the event of a serious electrical failure. The other obvious advantage is this allows me to have one unit as a sounder and the other for navigation. Years ago we had a fishing trip ruined because of a sounder failure south of Broome. Only had 1 sounder (a tinnie) and it happened on a Saturday of a long weekend with perfect weather, so no chance of getting a replacement till Tuesday which was when we were leaving. I have had a backup in every boat since.
You can't be too prepared for a problem.

TMC

[Dignity]

How does that help the OP with his questions?

Matt

Not as silly as it sounds, I have multiple digital units but in the early days had to resort to the good old compass, even today I still know what heading I am going out on and have a very good idea of what my return bearing is. Possibly due to my eyesight as I need reading glasses and it's much easier for me to look at the compass.
I do like TMCs idea of the hand held which I have in the tinnie but could take in the big boat, I'd need to be sure there are enough WPs loaded though and spare batteries of course.

[NAGG]

Having experienced GPS failure during a morning of sea fog off Broken bay - once was enough
Every boat since has had two sounders with mapping / GPS .

99 times you wont need it - but it's better to have it than not .

I run two Lowrance HDS 12s - One is run as a dedicated traditional sounder while the other is Navigation with side scan ..... I can switch from one to another.

Th other thing I carry is my Ipad which has the Navionics App . Additionally it also has zoning apps (Eye on the reef - Qld) .


Chris

[Tracker]

I have a garmin c60 in my ditch bag which is quite a good backup(if the gps system is still working).
I also have a compass right next to gps combo.Now that would be accurate hey.
I wonder how many boaties swing their compasses?

[blacklab]

ppppppppppppppp

[brett62]

I still carry my charts, parallel rule as well a hand held compass and the permanent mounted compass in the boat. That's all we had years ago and fished mainly at night on the reef having to travel back to port through the night when the weather turned. (weather forecast were very unreliable) Had you navigating around reefs to get back. Some would remember when hand held GPS's hit town and got one when the price came down and made navigating that much easier. I still remember having to wait for a fix from satellites to get your position and many times you couldn't get a fix as was not many flying around back then.

Certainly much easier now with all the technology. I don't care if the GPS dies while I am out cause would find the way home with out issues. What I would miss is finding some good country and then trying to get back on the same location again. Bloody brilliant when you can get back with in 50 m of your marks. My first boats I didn't have a sounder as they were very expensive and only the pro fishes had them. First sounder I had was a Koden and cost $600 which was a shit load of money but it was a game changer. We seem to have better charts with more detail then the ones these days. Most night fishing was for reds in 300 ft and with no sounder the chart was all you worked with and the compass. I would love to get back to some of the old fishing grounds with the new gear. Well that is the plan once I get this boat done.

[gazza2006au]

How does that help the OP with his questions?

Matt

If your out of sight of land and electronics fail good luck with that..

A compass will get u back to land it may not be your starting point but sure is better than driving in the oppiste direction with no navigation

Not sure if your being a dick or if that was a genuine question

[baitable]

Navionics plus i phone = back up GPS unit... its really not that hard...

[scottar]

Navigation with a compass and chart - yep it can be done but we simply didn't get into the sort of areas that are possible with modern day GPS. Things were done "at a distance" and I'll bet at a very controlled pace if remotely near obstructions. Even trawler operators who in most cases were navigating off radar marks using triangulation and comprehensive note books admit that GPS changed the way things were done - allowing access to areas that previously were basically off limits due to being too close to potential hazards. I couldn't imagine attempting to navigate out of the centre of somewhere like the Swains on a compass and chart alone in the middle of the night. A little bit of set and drift and I suspect there would be a bit of a crunch. In areas that are predominantly open though, I still see some merit in having one.

[Volvo]

Totally agree two of each for safety , GPS Compass , Boat Comapss as well as a small one on dash , two GPS Units , Fixed VHF and Mobile GPS was alway my practice and had times when each was in need from failure of the other especailly out so far.
Spare anchor , rope n chain which is still a practice even with my smaller Tinny .Always backup..