Sailing Watches

[taime1]

So as I am heading into work this morning, in bitter -24○C temperature, my windshield cracks along its entire width probably from a chip I had not attended to. As it was still dark, I contemplated the xmas lights and thought of the holidays now past and the gifts given and received and one in particular made me laugh a little.

My parents, in their good-hearted nature, took a cruise and decided to purchase watches for their (grown-up) kids as souvenirs. These are the kind of watches with a bunch of dials that come in a fancy box, accompanied by a business card holder and a pen. The kind that has that plastic $89.99 price tag inside, but they "only" paid $20 and thought it was a good deal.

I'm by no means ungrateful and was pleasantly surprised by the gift, but I had a feeling the deal wasn't all that good. Turns out, none of the dials on the watch face are real, the buttons on the outside are just for show and you can't even push them, the thing does tell time - but that's it. I would have made an effort to wear it (at least once in my parent's company) but the wrist strap on mine was already broken and missing a pin.

All that to say, careful when purchasing a watch on a cruise ship. But this leads me to my question: do any of you have sailing watches? I'm now thinking of upgrading my old faithful Timex to something perhaps with nautical functions.

Fom the limited searching I've done, Casio has a Pathfinder model which has a bunch of features like compass, temperature, barometer, and other racing timer thigs that I know nothing about which some sailors seem to like.

Any thoughts?

[RobertB]

I am no expert on what make a good sailing watch but am a big fan of my Tissot T-Touch. This has standard chrograph stuff like Dual time zones (useless), stopwatch, alarm, and calendar but also has a barometer, altimeter (OK, my sailboat should not be experiencing any changes in altitude, if so, I probably am in seas a bit too heavy), thermometer, and compass. Most functions activated by a touch crystal.

[BOAT]

i PHONE?

[taime1]

The Tissot is quite nice, but the $1200 pricetag is just a little steep. The I-phone is about half that price, although it probably doesn't fit as nicely around the wrist...and you need a data plan, though maybe not for most of the watch-like functions.

[Freedom77]

I'm like the guy who buys a suit with two pairs of pants and rips a hole in the jacket, Over the last forty+ years I've been buying digital Casios with the time, alarm and stop watch and light features. I have had three in all those years. In the current one( $30) the battery has lasted for 12 years. It is good to 100 meters and waterproof. Rembember the more bells and whistles you add on the more things can fail or break. K-I-S-S!! Fair Winds and Full Sails...Old Salt...

[trdprotruck]

One nice feature if you're racing is a countdown timer that beeps and repeats. That way you can set your timer to the horn blows and have a perfect count down on your watch for crossing the starting line.

[BOAT]

Actually this brings up a pretty good point. I have I-phone, I-pad, i-pod and all the other I-prefix crap that has infiltrated our society like so many versions of the McDonalds Mc-Fries and McCheese and the inevitable Big MAC moniker that attached to Rogers latest big boat (thus almost giving him a McHeartAttack).

But what about the lowly chart plotter??

Does it not show time with the accuracy of a chronograph? Is not altitude and longitude part of its function? Are not all our charts and aids to navigation right there in its files?? And just like the old chart locker – I don’t need to pay a monthly fee to have my charts on board?

Could we not in fact replace almost all the functions of the I-gadgets and wrist gear with one item?

I do not mean to switch subjects, but as the owner of a brand new 26M I am still in the process of outfitting the new boat and all the info I can get about a unit is helpful – (they did not have all these new gadgets back in the 70’s when I was sailing so the Rolex was the expensive alternative) and I would like to have an autopilot like the one created by people on this blog that works with said unit. All advice is appreciated. Sorry for changing the subject.

[raycarlson]

for a Mac sailor, get real. maybe after i purchase some sailing shoes,a sailing hat,some sailing glasses,and a sailing suit.

[JohnCFI]

I have a Garmin 451S Chart plotter, and also bought the charts chip for my area. That along with the depth sounder that plugs into it, has provided me with everything I have really needed. Santa gave me a NASA Clipper Wind System (which saves craning to look upwards at tell-tales). I don't think I could wish or want for much more that that.

I concur on the footwear, hat and sailing suit as being the first great needs.....

[Calin]

I have one. It fell twice (broken wrist strap) and it was inside the boat

[DaveB]

I do on my I-Phone, App called CHARTS, cost $12 and does everyting. ( Charts were you are at, plotter,speed, Lat-Long, Trips, will also find all service for marinas,motels,fuel,satilite etc.)
I still carry local paper Charts in all areas I cruise as also a Trex GPS backup.
I also practise DR incase all elect. fails (DR is Dead Reconing were you plot your cource on paper, involves speed, distance, leeway and wind/current data)
Dave

Actually this brings up a pretty good point. I have I-phone, I-pad, i-pod and all the other I-prefix crap that has infiltrated our society like so many versions of the McDonalds Mc-Fries and McCheese and the inevitable Big MAC moniker that attached to Rogers latest big boat (thus almost giving him a McHeartAttack).

But what about the lowly chart plotter??

Does it not show time with the accuracy of a chronograph? Is not altitude and longitude part of its function? Are not all our charts and aids to navigation right there in its files?? And just like the old chart locker – I don’t need to pay a monthly fee to have my charts on board?

Could we not in fact replace almost all the functions of the I-gadgets and wrist gear with one item?

I do not mean to switch subjects, but as the owner of a brand new 26M I am still in the process of outfitting the new boat and all the info I can get about a unit is helpful – (they did not have all these new gadgets back in the 70’s when I was sailing so the Rolex was the expensive alternative) and I would like to have an autopilot like the one created by people on this blog that works with said unit. All advice is appreciated. Sorry for changing the subject.

[BOAT]

Way back in the old days we took courses from the Rio Hondo Boat Squadron and they taught us how to navigate. Old habits I guess, but the charts on the I pad are just like my old charts that I use compass and declination and magnetic correction from the olden days. It looks the same, but really, can the old charts and I pad really compete with the plotter? Perhaps so - it seems to me that speed through the water is where the plotter has an advantage aside from all the nema data it can display about the motor. But wind direction is a real tie breaker too.

You throw an internal auto pilot on that with helm control in the pedestal and it's going to be hard to beat the plotter.

Then on top of all that an ais transponder? Hmm, the plotter is getting better and better looking the more I think about it.

I guess the REAL question might be: What is the right plotter to buy?

[mastreb]

I strongly recommend the Casio Pathfinder, especially model PAW1500, as the best sailing watch I've owned. It's my second pathfinder, both of which work well. I have a dozen other watches of various types, but the pathfinder is what I wear every time I sail.

--It's solar powered and will last essentially your entire life without a battery.
--It has a nice backlight and because it's solar powered, it doesn't kill the battery to use it.
--It's very accurate and receives atomic time updates every night--more than enough accuracy to perform celestial navigation should you need to.
--It has an electronic compass that is more than accurate enough to navigate by (I've done it). The compass can be calibrated to your local magnetic north lines.
--It has an on-display tide chart that I've used just about every time I come into or go out of Sweetwater boat ramp to determine whether to go to the inside or outside dock.
--It has lunar phases on the display, but I use that for my telescope hobby, not sailing.
--It has barometric pressure and is very accurate at predicting changes leading to stormy weather.
--It has temperature, but be warned this is only accurate when it's been off your wrist and come to ambient temp.
--It's 20 BAR (600 feet) waterproof, so you don't have to worry about a thing.

Comes in a stainless bracelet or a resin strap. I have the stainless. Can be bought for a very reasonable $250.

[MAC-A-TAC]

Taime.1

Check out this Timex http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001AZR4Q ... 515&sr=1-2

MAC Out

[yukonbob]

So as I am heading into work this morning, in bitter -24○C temperature, my windshield cracks along its entire width probably from a chip I had not attended to. As it was still dark, I contemplated the xmas lights and thought of the holidays now past and the gifts given and received and one in particular made me laugh a little.

I've seen the defrost crack happen many times…when the temperature gets colder and people blast their defrost right on the glass it can pop clean across the bottom.

BOAT- I'm a big Garmin fan…have three. Browse their site and see what functions you want…and yes they do do everything you listed and more ie time, water temp, depth, tides, location, depth/anchor/course alarms, route plotting, and with maps a whole new set of options opens up . And a chart plotter is far more at home in the cockpit of a boat than an Ipad. When looking at units remember that the base US/CAN coastline and lakes are absolute garbage. Plan on spending another five hundred bucks getting good charts for your area. I'm also not a big fan of the touch screens, but the bigger displays are nice. I know they have barometric altimeters in their handhelds but am not sure if they've incorporated it into their CP's, although by now I'm sure they have.