not to take money away from bill ;-) .... i've been using for the last three years the west marine VHF55. ~$100. i've been very happy with the radio - has scan function, weather (both US and CN), good broadcast power and reception. i have the 'old' grayscale garmin GPSMAP 76. it is fine. the screen is a bit small. you can load current charts into the unit. ~$150. for charts i have NOAA 18423 (bellingham to everett including san juan islands). the scale is large ... 1:80,000. for canada it will depend on the route. CN charts are EXPENSIVE (not 'taxpayer supported' like in the USA). so i'm going to wait until the route is set before i purchase. for winter reading i've collected from the library: * exploring the san juan and gulf islands (2nd ed) by douglass d. & hemingway-douglas, r. isbn 1-932310-00-2 * dreamspeaker crusing guide v1: gulf islands & vancouver island (2nd ed) by yeadon-jones a & l. isbn 1-932310-13-4
both the above are recently updated. many others available (like the 'afoot and afloat' series). look for publication dates that are recent. dave scobie M15 #288 - SCRED visit Scred's www-site: http://www.freewebs.com/m15-named-scred --- On Sat, 11/8/08, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: How about some guidance on radios for the San Juan adventure?? Under $300.00 and Hand held.? I have a decent GPS?? Also what charts and where to get them??? thanks in advance _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
