Is GPS overkill?

[Cymru]

Hi All,

Taking delivery of a (new to me) 2001 2900 SCR on Saturday and would like to ask your opinions on whether you think GPS would be overkill for a Lake. It's going on Lake Allatoona in Georgia. It’s a fairly large lake with 270 miles of shoreline and my first thought was to have a GPS fitted but then I started thinking that it would be overkill. That said, do you think it is an item that you should think about with the same regard as a fire extinguisher, a safety item or is it just indulgence. There is very little chance we'd take this boat off of that lake.

Your thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Dave]

I wouldn't call it overkill. I would say it is a luxury item though. Plenty of boating was done for years without GPS. It could be usefull if you might loose your way or if there are shallow areas that you might run aground in. A GPS can also be useful in situations of poor visibility. You will have to consider the level of detail on the GPS's chart and if it will actually be useful.

In any event, you should at least invest in a paper chart of the lake.

Besides that useful stuff, GPSes are kind of fun to play around with. You can record you track and download it into Google Earth, for example, so you can show others where you went. You can enter tracks so you can see what time you will arrive somewhere at the other end of the lake. You can record max and average speeds. All really not too useful but fun to tinker with if you are into gadgets and have the time.

A Garmin 276C came with my boat when we bought it. It is a nice little unit and completely adequate for my needs. I would suggest that if the cost doesn't put you in a bind, you would probably enjoy having a GPS aboard.