Freebird,let us know how your trip goes,if i ever quit wasting money on my 27 ft baja and buy a bigger boat i want to make same trip,Smitty!

Th trip from FL to Bahama's is more than just a ride--it's 60 miles from Palm Beach to West End and there a lot of considerations--especially weather--and the first rip takes a lot of planning--at least in my mind.

Fuel is issue--availabilty and cost; food and "beverages" can be interesting; customs (US Dept of) is another thing you need to understand and some rules you have to deal with.

Definitiley do the trip--but over-plan and it will be great.

Poorsche

Thanks for your response. I will be going with two friends (two other boats) that have made the trip a few times. Planning to make it around early June, weather permitting, and looking forward to it.

Must go color. The 186c has the depth finder and temp also.
Great units

I've had monochrome and color GPS--I wouldn't even think about anything but color. THe data they ahve on the cartography chips now demands color display if you want to get all the benefits of them

Poorsche

Well I guess I am behind the times.In the early eighteys we learned to navagate on the charts,set and drift,no gps.Three hundred foot barg and 100 ton tug.Been offshore.I do not trust GPS or anything else I just take it in to consideration and fly by the seat of my paints thats all.If I were to plan another trip to and island I would still have a back up chart plotted and a working compass .Guess it's all what you are use to.

Garmin 2010 C, great GPS and colour chartplotter + possible to add echo sounder. Must be fast when updating the plotter and this one is.

I love it!

I have the garmin 2006C and love it. It is easy to use on the fly and easy to see in the sun light. You can also get the BlueChart chips pretty easy. Great unit and the chips are programable......

I love the Garmins. They are easy to use. My dad has the 2010c and I am looking to replace my 176c with the 182c.

have you seen the new 16:9 ratio widescreens? That's where I'm going.
I think the Bluecharts are too busy, and when you use the "declutter" you loose to much of value. C-Map NT+ only way to go IMHO.