How to set up your chartplotter | Motor Boat & Yachting 

Phil B what do you mean huge heads? I was looking at a Botnia Targa 25 as my first boat to gain my experience.

Drew O’roirden: Hi Drew, where do I start? Well firstly let me say I’m 6’3” and 100kgs and every single boat designer must be (thinks long and hard how this will go down amongst the lighter built community) either a jockey or a MotoGP rider. One to make you laugh; some many years ago I had a good look round an ideal starter Powerboat. It was a Hunter Landau and was about 20’ long with a 50hp outboard on it. Ideal for coastal hops and well built with a unique Hull shape. I went to try out the heads in the bow area... it had a circular hatch above it for ventilation and an escape hatch for the forward berths. When I sat on the toilet by head popped out of the hatch and my shoulders jammed against the hatch. It was an amusing experience for all watching me but I vowed never again to be caught out by designers who had a hull and an accountant who told them this is what has to go into that hull to make that degree of profit. So the Targa 25, great boat. I looked at one two years ago on brokerage up by Swanwick Marina on The Hamble. Wonderfully appointed but not enough headroom in the cabin. The Targa 27 beckoned! At a greatly increased price point. Then they made the Targa 27.2 from about 2018 onwards. Accordingly it’s b****y expensive: but its save it grace is the huge heads accessed from inside (unlike the older models) and by doing away with the fore cabin it allows the designer (who must be tall) to run riot with accessibility. I don’t need a massive family boat, but I do need one with RIB like seaworthiness which Targa supply in buckets. Oh yes and the heads in my Nimbus, not good if I need to sit down. My right knee wedges the door open by about 4”. It’s never been used as an overnighter by my wife and I yet and I’ll probably be creeping up to use the marina facilities in early morning if we do. Best of luck with the boat search. Get to try them out on the water as the Boat Show “shininess” wears off drastically when you realise it’s a plastic fantastic that blows sideways at the nearest hint of a breeze. Seaworthiness over family accommodation every time!

Phil B hi thanks for your prompt and honest reply. I am looking at the botnia T25 because I am watching the virtual boat show from wessex marine, and they are reviewing the Targa 25 GT. I am not a boater and am a complete novice to anything on or near water. I live in a land locked county but my father (who I never met), recently passed away and I have been told he was Royal navy so I thought I would see if I liked boating. I am 65 and want to have a hobby that can be a challenge but fun. Maybe I should try to get a test of the 25 before winter or the next lockdown. Stay safe and many thanks for your time and passing on your own experiences.

Drew O’roirden: Drew, if I may just countenance caution. Without going into too much detail in an open conversation... please don’t lash out all that cash on a brand new top of the range boat without some help. Good second hand is my mantra on cars, motorbikes and boats. I can relate to the naval connection with a smile and I can see the home of the Royal Navy from my house. But please if you do one thing, do this: Go to an RYA approved training centre and spend two days to get yourself a Powerboat Level 2 qualification. When you find that it makes you smile and lights up your (and your family’s) life then think about “next steps”. Many people will encourage your to open your wallet. My role is to make sure you open it wisely. Talk to Wessex Marine and reference this particular thread. I’ve met them at Boat Shows and they have been wonderfully tolerant of my ambition. They may be able to guide you down a path of building up to bigger boat ownership. In my experience it’s good training that allows the user to relax and enjoy the boat as it should be. I see far too many “incidents” that arise from poor decision making when berthing (lets call it parking!). If the family are then frightened it drives the skipper and his/her family away from the sport and the subsequent loss of cash when the vessel is promptly put up for sale. If you want to track your ex RN father you should contact one of the RN veterans business divisions at Whale Island, Portsmouth, Hampshire (if I go to another page to bump my memory it will delete this half finished thread!). Well worth a Google I think. Be safe on the water.

Drew O’roirden: A bit of information on tracking down your father’s records. I got the name of the department wrong - well it has been seven years nearly. Try these: hmscavalier.org.uk/information/ www.ctp.org.uk/military-disclosures-addresses www.nmrn-portsmouth.org.uk/useful-sources Best of luck!

Yes, they're called "Tracks". It's the same on Garmin, on hiking GPS units or Smartphone versions, etc. The "Route" is the one you follow, the "Track" is where you've been. And yes you can convert a Track into a Route, including going in reverse to make it easy to return from whence you came. www.manualslib.com/manual/1332358/Raymarine-Axiom.html?page=71#manual

@@darthkek1953 THANK YOU !!!

@@darthkek1953 Routes are limited to rather few data points/waypoints, so a very long or very detailed track could have far too many data points to be able to be converted to a route. If you plan on saving a track to use as a route, set it to record at relatively long intervals. 30 seconds, one minute or so. And perhaps stop the track and start a new once every couple of hours, to limit the number of data points in any one track.

Use a stylus

They're easy to clean, smartphones exist and work. A bigger problem is glass dashboards on flybridges or open boats, the wet can get in the way. In that case a physical mouse (or mouse stick as this one is) is very handy. But in a cabin they're just as easy to use as smartphones or tablets.