GPS PLOTTER SKILLS MAKING THE MOST OF TECHNOLOGY
The development of electronics in all of our lives has been spectacular over the last decade. Huge TVs at bargain prices, smartphones that talk to us and yes, fabulous kit for our boats. The Decca mark 21 was the piece of kit that transformed wrecking in the 1970s but all it could do was take you to a waypoint and the errors of position were significant.
Moving on, the industry gave us affordable GPS units that even with selective availability switched on gave us accuracies to an astonishing 100m. During the second decade of the 2000s, the marine electronics manufacturers were giving us GPS plotters with large colour screens with lots of features and amazing accuracies. Fast forward to today and the latest plotters have processors with powers to make the Apollo moon landing computers look like toys. So what can this technology do for all sea going folk? The plotters are now so powerful and user friendly they can do so much more than getting you from the mooring to your fishing spot.
Depending on your interests, aspirations, how deep your pockets are and how much room you have available at the helm, you have a choice of equipment from several major manufacturers including Garmin, Raymarine, Lowrance and Simrad. They all produce the kit you need including GPS plotters, fishfinders, radar, AIS and VHF. I have used various brands over the years but confess that I’m
