Which Electronic to put?

If you only had the choice of one of these electronics to put on your RIB what would it be?

1)Garmin 182C Color GPSMAP
2)Garmin 188C Color Sounder

Im ordering my boat tomorrow and i still cant decide heh

VHF :cool: got to be your first choice. Des

Took VHF off the list :) im just gonna use a Hand Held one i decided

I have the 188c in my rib with the sounder and am very pleased with it. Found it to be very accurate. Have had no experience of the 182c but have just orderred a new 188c for my new Rib due end of this week.

If you're into fishing, certainly the sounder. If not, unless you have a specific need for it, it's of little use IMHO. If you'll be doing lots of cruising and exploring, it may be of some use. However, in our area, you're more likely to go from 30' to a 1' rock! In which case the sounder is again, of little use. I want the sounder, as one of the important uses of my boat in the future will be coaching my wife's disabled sailing team. Knowing water depths across the racecourse will be useful strategic information.

I would seriously reconsider a fixed mount VHF. I frequently carry a handheld, but in my history I have:
1. Dropped it overboard
2. Run down the battery many times
3. Broken the antenna, rendering it useless
4. Left it behind many times

In my entire lifetime of boating I have never experienced any failure of a fixed mount VHF. Not to say you can't have an electrical problem which would cause a problem, but it's never happened to me. And you can't forget to bring it with you or recharge it. Again, just my opinion & experience...

If you only had the choice of one of these electronics to put on your RIB what would it be?

1)Garmin 182C Color GPSMAP
2)Garmin 188C Color Sounder

Im ordering my boat tomorrow and i still cant decide heh

To answer the question, get the GPSMAP, you can add a sender on it and have a fishfinder built in as well!

Alright thanks guys, especialy DCtucker since hes in my area. I didnt really think of the rock scenario hehe. And i rarely go fishing so maybe with the little money i will save from buyin the GPS i can get a mounted VHF too...ill figure somethin out :)

The Garmin 188C is both a GPS Map and a sounder already. I've got one - and really like it.

D...

well i just customized the boat and i ended up putting no GPS or sounder heh. Instead i put a stereo with 2 speakers and a built in VHF. Is a sounder really necessary if i am just going to be cruising around in familiar waters? And you can always ask for directions and save 1500USD on a GPS :)

Don't forget a Mounted VHF is 25Watt output, and a handheld is 5watt max. I know which I'd rather be using in a mayday situation.

since i didnt put a GPS or anyhting on it..how will the speed be calculated? or shoould i ask the RIBCRAFT guy?

The harbour master will tell you if you're speeding! Get yourself a handheld garmin unit at $99 and that'll do everything but draw charts.

hehe if the harbormaster can catch me :)

since i didnt put a GPS or anyhting on it..how will the speed be calculated?

By how tightly your backside puckers when you launch off waves!

Also, by how quickly fuel is consumed.

Other that that, doesn't really matter. I'm curious how fast my boat will go, but not curious enough to have borrowed a handheld GPS. Mine died 2 years ago and I haven't bothered to get it fixed or replaced yet.

My 5 1/2 year old loves driving the rib across Salem Sound at very nearly WOT. :D :D I'd hazard a guess that's in the vicinity of 30 knots +/- a few. Certainly feels fast enough to me.

heh ill watch out for him next time im at the Rockmoore :)

heh ill watch out for him next time im at the Rockmoore :)

Hmmm... the rib's still in the water from the weekend... maybe we should buzz over for lunch or dinner today.

She gets distracted looking at all the boats and people in the harbor. Yesterday she said to me, "It's okay, if we hit a boat we'll just bounce off!" =) =)

hahahahahah thats hilarious!...i unfortunatly just went out to my boat and found that the birds, once again, have bombarded it with crap! lol i think im going to west marine in down town marblehead today to get an owl or something. And the worse thing is it takes hours of scrubbing to get some of the stains off but some stil stay on....I dont know what to do lol.

Drive up the road beside WM, turn right at the end onto Front St, then immediately left onto Redstone Lane. Find one of the 2 driveways on the right that lead down to the old Parker's boatyard. That's where you'll find my Searider on the dock.

Wanna go for a quick rip around? I've gotta go haul the boat anyway.

i would come but i cant drive a car yet :( lol (I'm the only one in my family that acutaly likes to boat :) I use the forums to get info and pass it on to the people that can pay for the boat heh)

Then how the heck are you getting to WM?

I miss the days where I didn't have to pay for any boats!

heh my sister just drove me...i picked up a new anchor and an owl :) 56 bucks :(

Next time try Lynn Marine Supply, Front St in old Marblehead, across from the Landing and the Driftwood (down State Street from the old Town House, turn right, 2nd store). The guy's name is Bowdie and he has a sign in his window that says, "We refuse to match West Marine's prices. They're too high!" Some of the old parts of town are named after his family. Think "Thrifty old Yankee"...

The place is an utter shambles, it's been there for 50 years, and may have been cleaned up once. Most of the good stuff is in the back room. You'll never find anything yourself, but he probably has it, whatever it is you may be looking for! If not, he'll get it within a few days. You'll save 10%-20% vs the Big Blue Box and have a great cultural experince to boot!

hahaha i think ive actually seen that place. Its right across the street from the Landing right? I totally forgot about it. (Been to scared to go in alone :))

hahaha i think ive actually seen that place. Its right across the street from the Landing right? I totally forgot about it. (Been to scared to go in alone :))

You've got it. Don't be intimidated, Bowdie is a great guy. A bit gruff at times, but a great guy nonetheless. It's much more fun to shop there than at WM. And he know what he's talking about too. Always a bit of a gamble as to whether or not you should trust the advice from the here today, gone tomorrow staff at WM's. Just beware, he may talk your ear off!

hehe, next year when (hopefully) My rib comes ill stop by his shop and pick up a few necessities :)