Posted by Chuck Tribolet on December 27, 2001 at 13:29:02:
In Reply to: I love it when Chuck discovers stuff ... posted by Karl S. on December 27, 2001 at 12:06:53:
Whalers are very wet, especially when there's a
stiff breeze fom about the 1:30 or 10:30 position.
The bow throws water up, the breeze blows into
your face and all over the console.
I wiped out an Apelco 5200 VHF, which is rated
"waterproof". Apelco's diagnosis: "severe
saltwater intrusion". They replaced it on
warantee. It's out in my garage. Now all the
elecronics on the whaler are rated "submerisible".
That means 3', 30 minutes. It
ain't a Nikonos, but it's a lot better than
"waterproof" which just means splashproof, maybe.
I know a couple of guys who run 162s on small
inflatables.
Also, you should remember that the 162 is now a
year and half or more old. Garmin has a whole
new series now. Displays are getting bigger,
processors are getting faster. The bottom has
dropped out of the LCD market, and I'd expect VGA
res (640x480) GPSs to be $500-600 this time next
year.
Chuck