Garmin 250 way point limitation

[Jklotz]

My boat has the current generation of Garmin GPSMAP chart plotters. The routes are limited to 250 way points. I am currently planning a 4 day cruise that has way more than that. I've broken it down into days and there is still more than 250 for each day. Only thing I can think of is to break it down into 1/2 days, trying to place the break somewhere I don't need to be paying a lot of attention to so I can load another route. Anybody got a better solution?

 

[hmason]

I'm curious as to where you are traveling from and to that requires that many waypoints. Appears to be over 1,000 waypoints.

 

[sleaper]

The 250 waypoint limit on the GPSMAP units feels a bit stingy for longer cruises, especially if you like planning things in detail or hugging the coast.

Breaking it into half-days is probably the cleanest workaround, just like you’re doing — I tend to split mine at obvious "low workload" sections too, where I'm not dodging rocks or shipping lanes, so it's easy to pause and load the next leg without drama.

A couple of extra thoughts that might help:

• Consider converting dense sections into tracks instead of routes — Tracks don’t offer turn-by-turn nav, but they can follow the coastline or path closely without eating into your waypoint count. You can still have a basic route running for the key markers, and visually follow the track for the detail.
• Use Garmin ActiveCaptain or HomePort on your laptop/tablet to pre-plan and manage segments. You can upload them individually and label them by day or leg — just makes it easier to swap them over quickly when you're underway.
• Some people also use proximity waypoints or "alert zones" as a backup instead of fully routing everything. That way you only log the critical markers and give yourself some breathing room in the count.

Would love it if Garmin just upped the limit with a firmware update, but until then... it’s definitely a bit of a juggling act.

Let us know how you go — curious where you’re cruising too!

 

[Jklotz]

Cruising AICW. I am using Bob423 tracks in Aquamaps. Autopilot does a far better job following them than I can hand steer. Course' I can disengage with a single button press for going under bridges, etc. I'm only using active captain to transfer routes to the garmin - I'll paly with it some more to see about the segment management.

 

[SteveK]

• Use Garmin ActiveCaptain or HomePort on your laptop/tablet to pre-plan and manage segments. You can upload them individually and label them by day or leg — just makes it easier to swap them over quickly when you're underway.

I miss Navionics on my laptop. Just checked and Active Captain is very basic map. No route planning. What benefit do others see?

 

[wng8jones]

Consider "OPENCPN".

 

[HeadedToTexas]

I miss Navionics on my laptop. Just checked and Active Captain is very basic map. No route planning. What benefit do others see?

All Garmin offers today is the tablet version of Navionics. From there it is a several step process to get routes to their plotter. Used to be so slick. Now it is awkward.

That said, a tablet with a mouse is about 60% as good as Navionics used to be on a computer browser.