I am in the market for a good GPS. I have just about decided on the
Lowrance Globalmap 4800M. It looks like the most bang for the buck. I
cannot afford one of those fancy color sets but this looks great at
just under $400. It has a five inch diagonal screen, up to 1000
waypoints and just about everything else I will need to sail the
Southwest Florida coast and perhaps a few trips beyond. If anyone has
any comments on this GPS I would appreciate it. I doubt it however
since it only came out in January. It was however, a replacement for
the Globalmap 3200, with some additional features.

Below is a summary of my short term plans, just in case anyone has any
comments that might be of assistance to me.

In June I will be taking my 34 foot sloop from Guntersville Lake in
North Alabama down the Tennessee to the Tenn-Tom waterway, from there
to Mobile and then out through the bay to the Gulf of Mexico and
around to Pensacola. That will be our new home.

It is 150 statute miles from my Marina to the mouth of the Tenn-Tom on
Pickwick Lake. It is 450 miles from Pickwick Lake to Mobile. And the
best I can figure it, it is about 75 miles from Mobile to Pensacola,
perhaps a little further via way of the Gulf. Of course I will be
motoring all the way except for the short trip in the Gulf and perhaps
a little in Mobile Bay where I hope to get the sails up.

So I guess our average speed will be about six knots, or perhaps seven
statute miles per hour over the ground. It will be downstream all the
way. Giving we will have over 14 hours of daylight we should average
60 miles per day. That will be allowing for delays at the 15 locks
along the way. I believe the trip should take about 12 days. Does that
sound reasonable?

About the boat. It is a very old boat, built in England in 1964. The
hull is solid fiberglass and in good condition. The engine, a Yanmar
27 horse, is in excellent condition. The boat came with an Atomic 4
but that was replaced by a previous owner. The deck, wood sandwich
between fiberglass, was not in such good condition. Portions of the
wood had rotted. I tried injecting resin into the defective places but
only with limited success. I finally just put about a quarter inch of
fiberglass over the entire deck. Now it is sound, at least in my
opinion.

Needless to say I am looking forward to the trip.

Comments and/or suggestions by anyone would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Ron Patterson