Will a standard car GPS work on the water?

October 8, 2009 by admin · 8 Comments
Filed under: Boats & Boating 
gps
One Kill asked:


Just like the title says. I am not looking for any specific water ways or anything like that, just a general direction and location finder. Will a card gps allow me to do this?

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Comments

8 Responses to “Will a standard car GPS work on the water?”
  1. Henry says:

    Yes it will work for general direction and will tell you your lat/long, but obviously will not give you any type of turn by turn directions. Henry

  2. catman says:

    No. A car type of GPS works off of maps that you install and if the information s off of any of the maps that you have installed then it will not work. Now if what you want is to find general location then yes it will attempt to work but the information will be inaccurate.
    The difference is that a gps for marine use , uses latitude and longitude readings to locate your position, and a car type GPS also uses the same lat-long coordinates but then co relates them to the moving map and the water way coordinates are to far off of the roadways to be of any use. catman

  3. jtexas says:

    some of those automotive GPS’s are specialized for use on the roads. I really think you’d be better off with a handheld unit. jtexas

  4. Smiley says:

    I know Garmin makes a special GPS unit that can be used on the road, sea or air. It has all three modes that you can select. Smiley

  5. veer says:

    Yes. You can use a general car gps on water for finding your location, marking way-points or tracing the path etc. If you want to find the way, you can get relevant waterway maps from commercial providers or you can use tracks made previously by you or others on a similar tour. veer

  6. Uni Q says:

    you will need a special nautical gps. nav n go, makes a software called igo that may have this. check out this item. it might be what you are looking for. at least ask if it can do nautical for you. good luck. Uni Q

  7. ROB says:

    I use mine on lakes and the river,,, it shows me if theres a way around a corner I cant see or inlets I can go checkout to fish… its cool for general use… but dont rely on it to give you too much info… I wouldnt use it in the ocean… ROB

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