BajaNomad

GPS Maps

Pescador - 7-18-2013 at 07:21 AM

We have tossed around a lot of information about Marine GPS programs and how innacurate most of the maps are. Garmin's Blue Charts are up to 5 miles off in certain areas. Furuno's charts are almost as bad and Lowrance's programs are way off. This is because the marine charts are based on old marine surveys that date back to the 50's.
At the Fred Hall Show this year, the Navionics representative clearly told me that their new program was partially based on Google Earth shots and should be accurate for the Sea of Cortez . So I bought a new Lowrance which accepts the Navionics Gold Chip and installed it. Great news, this chart system is pretty much dead on. I can see the docks at the marina in Santa Rosalia and tell which one is mine. We took a trip to Punta San Fransisquito and all the rocks, shallow areas, depth contours, everything seems to be right on. So if you are looking for a system that will let you find your location accurately for cruising, fishing, or whatever, this new Navionics chart is very good.

yellowklr - 7-18-2013 at 07:35 AM

YES as i posted last year on this site I have Navionics on my IPhone and its been dead on in the Sea Of Cortez and the Pacific

My old Version on Navionics was off by miles just Like Jim's

Funny to see a boat on the middle of San Marcos Island!!!

BajaRat - 7-18-2013 at 08:25 AM

I went to the website and the product looks great. For the IPhone which version did you get ? I'm still looking for an overlanding google earth setup.... anyone got something that works well ?

BajaParrothead - 7-18-2013 at 12:03 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Pescador
We have tossed around a lot of information about Marine GPS programs and how innacurate most of the maps are. Garmin's Blue Charts are up to 5 miles off in certain areas. Furuno's charts are almost as bad and Lowrance's programs are way off. This is because the marine charts are based on old marine surveys that date back to the 50's.
At the Fred Hall Show this year, the Navionics representative clearly told me that their new program was partially based on Google Earth shots and should be accurate for the Sea of Cortez . So I bought a new Lowrance which accepts the Navionics Gold Chip and installed it. Great news, this chart system is pretty much dead on. I can see the docks at the marina in Santa Rosalia and tell which one is mine. We took a trip to Punta San Fransisquito and all the rocks, shallow areas, depth contours, everything seems to be right on. So if you are looking for a system that will let you find your location accurately for cruising, fishing, or whatever, this new Navionics chart is very good.

Pescador, thank you for the useful info. I will be purchasing my Baja boat this winter and plan on doing all updated elctronics, so your info is very helpful!!

Pescador - 7-18-2013 at 04:14 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by BajaRat
I went to the website and the product looks great. For the IPhone which version did you get ? I'm still looking for an overlanding google earth setup.... anyone got something that works well ?

If you have an I-phone that has GPS on it, the the X-motion app works very well and will give you very accurate information from Google Maps. It does occasionally need a touch from a wi-fi connection to function all the time, but except for that it works quite well.
My partner on the boat has that application and his works well for airplane as well as at sea, but for a backup, I am using the navionics. We went dead on his signal for awhile and we were really glad we had the navionics back up.