BACKING UP YOUR WAYPOINTS

At one time, I wrote down all of my fishing and navigational waypoints in notebooks. That’s how you saved the latitude and longitude of each spot back in the day.

Today, however, electronic archival systems allow for quick and easy storage and retrieval of digital waypoint data contained in your GPS chart plotters. Known as backing up your waypoints, the process varies from one electronics brand to the next.

With Raymarine models, for example, you insert a memory card in the card-reader slot of the unit and copy the waypoint list to the card via menu selections. You can also copy the file to your home computer to ensure you have a secondary backup. Put the card in a safe place for future reference. Some chart plotters can wirelessly back up files. The Link app for the current Lowrance and Simrad MFDs, for example, copies waypoints, routes and tracks directly to a mobile device.

Whichever way you back up your waypoints, do it about every two or three months, or whenever you find a hot batch of new spots. This is an insurance policy to ensure that your new waypoints won’t disappear into the ether should your chart plotter crash or meet an untimely demise.

A backup file also simplifies the process of populating a new chart plotter with your waypoints. In the past, you had to manually enter the numbers and names in a new unit. Today, you can electronically transfer the waypoint data to the plotter with the backup card or wireless app in minutes.